MINNEAPOLIS - The compound triclosan is found in much anti-
bacterial soap, cosmetics and toothpastes, but it's presence
could be at a cost to the environment. University of Minnesota
scientists have now found it in Minnesota waters and at
increasing amounts. The discovery has some researchers worried.
Researchers say those anti-bacterial soaps that we think get us
cleaner are actually be polluting our lakes and rivers. That's
according to a new University of Minnesota study published in
the journal Environmental Science and Technology. It says the
active ingredient in those soaps, triclosan, is building up in
lake sediment. In the two-year study, U of M civil engineering
professor Bill Arnold and his team took sediment samples from
eight Minnesota bodies of water, including Lake Superior, the
Duluth Harbor, Lake St. Croix and Lake Pepin, Lake Winona near
Alexandria, Lake Shagawa in Ely, East Lake Gemini and Little
Wilson in the Superior National Forest. They found that all of
them, except Little Wilson, conta