Ototoxicity of Triclosan: A Rat Model Study

Objective: Triclosan is utilized as an antibacterial factor in many industrial products. Although there are many toxic features of triclosan in the literature, there is no study on the effect of triclosan on hearing. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of triclosan on hearing in rats. Methods: In this prospective, experimental animal study, 40 healthy Sprague-Dawley rats with normal response to the distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) measurements were divided into four groups. Group 1, as the control group, was given only corn oil, group 2 was given 5 mg/kg triclosan dissolved in corn oil, group 3 was given 10 mg/kg triclosan dissolved in corn oil, and group 4 was given 100 mg/kg triclosan dissolved in corn oil; triclosan and corn oil were administered by oral gavage to all groups. Results: In our study, low-dose triclosan did not cause hearing loss, but hearing loss was observed in the group that was given high-dose triclosan (100 mg/kg). Conclusion: These findings suggest that triclosan causes hearing loss in rats. This issue should be investigated further to avoid triclosan ototoxicity in humans.