Mouthwash 'can cause oral cancer'

Some mouthwashes can contribute to oral cancer and should only be available on prescription, researchers have claimed.

They claimed there was now "sufficient evidence" that mouthwashes containing alcohol contribute to an increased risk of the disease that they should be taken off supermarket shelves and labelled with health warnings.

In a review of the latest studies, the scientists found evidence that the ethanol in mouthwash was allowing cancer-causing substances to permeate the lining of the mouth more easily and therefore cause harm.

Professor Michael McCulloch, chairman of the Australian Dental Association's therapeutics committee and associate professor of oral medicine at Melbourne University, said the alcohol in mouthwashes "increases the permeability of the mucosa" to carcinogens like nicotine.

He added that a toxic breakdown product of alcohol called acetaldehyde that may accumulate in the oral cavity when swished around the mouth is also a carcinogen.

Prof McCullough said: "We see people with oral cancer who have no other risk factors than the use of alcohol-containing mouthwash, so what we've done in this study is review all the evidence that's out there.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Just when you thought it was safe to wash your mouth out...
Its starting to feel like everything in this modern world is poisoned.

Just my luck I actually bought new mouthwash yesterday and it contains alcohol.

I'm seriously beginning to question now if products are actually tested at all in the modern world before they are put out into the market.

Thanks to the OP for bringing this issue to my attention.

In fact a great many products are NOT fully tested before they 'allow' us to ingest/partake of them, and that scares me, alot...

Oh well that's just peachy and to top it all off, I have a mouthwash by Listerine (I believe?) that is safe for you to use at night just before you go to bed. Now I'm seriously considering pouring it all down the drain and switching to simply brushing and flossing more.

Though one thing bugs me a bit from this article. It said some mouthwash could cause it, so which ones are "safe" and which are harmful that's really some needed information that is being left out

Is there a substance they don't suspect of causing cancer?

Originally posted by Grock
...cancer-causing substances...

There's no such thing. Cancer is the body's inability to regenerate it's own damaged cells. There is only one, single cause of this.

What damages the cells is irrelevant.

I'd say use the mouthwash. For some reason, the evil deceivers don't want us using it.

The more i keep hearing things like this the more and more I'm looking in to natural ways to make them myself, Least then i know what goes in my mouth...

2 ounces water, 1/4 tea spoon of baking soda or sea salt. 1 drop of pure peppermint oil and 1 drop of tea tree oil,

mix it together and you have a fresh mouth wash