Audit Expert: Gan Qiang
Lecturer at Beijing Institute of Technology, Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry
Whether it was the "Blue Moon Fluorescent Brightener Incident", "Mask Causes Girls to Fluorescent Face", or "Most Sanitary Napkins on the Market Contain Fluorescent Agents", these news have invariably triggered widespread discussion and controversy in society, followed by more and more consumers began to pay attention to whether fluorescent agents were added to products.
Source 丨 Network
So, why do these products use fluorescent agents? Are fluorescent agents really that scary?
1
What is a fluorescent agent?
Before you can understand fluorescent agents, you must first understand fluorescence.
Fluorescence is really a very broad word, including a lot of different principles of luminescence, such as the ability to save high-energy rays, slowly emit visible light ghost fire; the use of artificial chemical reactions to emit light glow sticks; the use of biochemical reactions to emit light fireflies; Victoria multi-tube luminescent jellyfish, under the action of fluorescent protein genes, can synthesize green fluorescent protein, this protein in the blue light to ultraviolet light will emit green fluorescence.
Victoria multi-tube luminous jellyfish Source 丨 Wikipedia
In addition, many fermented foods in life such as soy sauce, white wine, black tea, coffee, etc. will also produce fluorescence. Fluorescence itself is just a physical phenomenon, and the fluorescence you see is a kind of visible light.
In life, people often say that the fluorescent agent is actually a fluorescent whitening agent, the chemical composition is a stilbene derivative, also known as "white dye", it is a yellowish powder, is a complex organic compound.
Bistriazine aminostilbene fluorescent brightener molecular structure
The reason why the fluorescent brightener can whiten is that it can absorb the invisible near ultraviolet light (wavelength range of about 360 nm ~ 380 nm) and convert it into visible light, increasing the reflectivity of the object to the light, so that the reflected light intensity exceeds the intensity of the original visible light on the object.
Fluorescent brightener photon absorption and fluorescence radiation process
Source 丨 Pixabay
Simply put, it absorbs invisible ultraviolet rays and converts them into bluedish visible light, visually improving the whiteness and luster of the object.
Because the white items in life will absorb the blue light in the visible light, the items will be slightly yellow, affecting the beauty of the product. Therefore, the merchant uses a fluorescent brightener to absorb ultraviolet light into blue outgoing light, and the yellow color of the product itself is complementary, and the product seen by the naked eye will be whiter and brighter, thus leaving a "clean, high-quality" impression.
Brightly colored clothing source 丨 Pixabay
Fluorescent brighteners were first used in the textile industry because of their special whitening and brightening effects. Nowadays, fluorescent agents appear in all aspects of our lives, whether it is the clothes we wear, or the washing products in the kitchen, office stationery... There are more or less components of fluorescent agents, and it can almost be said that where there is white, there are fluorescent agents.
Highlighter Source 丨 Pixabay
2
Are fluorescent brighteners toxic or carcinogenic?
However, there are always some micro-businesses and self-media that "poison" fluorescent agents, so there are a series of remarks that we often hear about "fluorescent agents causing carcinogenic teratogenicity" and "fluorescent agents causing uterine diseases in girls" and so on. So, will the addition of fluorescent brighteners to products in daily life really endanger our health?
Laundry detergent source 丨 Pixabay
How could something used on such a large scale be that no one had studied its security. In fact, as early as the 1950s, foreign institutions and enterprises have conducted comprehensive and in-depth research on the safety of fluorescent agents.
The results of the study show that fluorescent brighteners have no irritation to the skin and eyes, no skin sensitization and phototoxicity, transoral toxicity and percutaneous toxicity are non-toxic or low toxicity, no carcinogenicity, no reproductive toxicity and teratogenicity, and no mutagenicity (that is, no genotoxicity).
Fluorescent brightener brightening clothing source 丨 Pixabay
In the past, experts and scholars have done everything in their power to prove that fluorescent brighteners are harmful to the human body. But these assumptions were eventually proved wrong by the scientific rigors of toxicologists.
At present, there is no authoritative conclusion on whether fluorescent brighteners are carcinogenic to humans, and how much fluorescent brightener intake will cause harm to human health, and there is a lack of relevant research data.
The toxicological study of fluorescent brighteners in the test report of the European Union Detergent Association (AISE) "Fluorescent Brightener FWA-5 for Risk Assessment of Household Detergent Ingredients on Human and Environmental Effects" showed that fluorescent brighteners had no carcinogenic response.
The European Institute for Human and Environmental Evaluation (HERA) conducted an in-depth study on the safety of several fluorescent brighteners and concluded that fluorescent brighteners have no negative effects on the human body and the environment, which has also been confirmed by the Netherlands National Environmental Protection Agency (RIVM).
Professor Wu Zhigang, a toxicologist, emphasized that the acute toxicity level of fluorescent brighteners used in detergents is comparable to that of table salt, even if eaten by mistake, it will not accumulate in the body, and can be completely excreted quickly through normal metabolism, and there is no possibility of teratogenicity and carcinogenicity. Unless you eat 10 bags of laundry detergent containing fluorescent brighteners in a short period of time, don't worry too much.
Scientists have been studying fluorescent agents for decades and have not found any problems that deserve vigilance, so there is no need to worry about the sky.
But for very few individuals, there is indeed a possibility of an allergic reaction, but the fluorescence dose required to trigger an allergic reaction is much greater than the amount of daily exposure. The fluorescent agent in clothing may be the only thing to worry about is to cause skin allergies in some specific sensitive people, which is one of the reasons why some countries restrict the use of fluorescent agents in clothes or sanitary napkins.
3
China's regulations on the use of fluorescent agents
Although there is no direct data at home and abroad to prove that fluorescent brighteners have carcinogenic effects on the human body. However, for the sake of protecting human health and safety, China's industry standards stipulate the types of fluorescent whitening agents allowed to be used in clothing detergent products, and also clearly stipulate that the use of fluorescent brighteners is prohibited or restricted in products such as food packaging paper, food processing equipment detergents and tableware detergents.
Clean cutlery source 丨 Pixabay
China's industry standards also stipulate that migratory fluorescent substances cannot be detected in daily necessities such as wet wipes and napkins. Migratory fluorescent substances are fluorescent additives that are transferred to human skin or mucous membranes by washing, biting, sweating, or touching. All kinds of foods, paper products and cosmetics with fluorescent brighteners need to be inspected by national standards or industry standards, and can be sold to the outside world after passing the inspection.
Wet wipes source 丨 Pixabay
Therefore, in daily life, fluorescent brighteners are detected with a purple flashlight, and there is no need to panic. As long as it is a product with an inspection certificate, it is harmless to the human body.
In fact, not only fluorescent brighteners, but also the content of product additives that meet national standards is within the safe range. As long as you usually buy daily necessities or food, do not buy some sanwu products, there will be basically no problem.