Recently, a television program on the market to buy several wet paper towels conducted a test analysis, and declared that "a lot of wet tissue contains propylene glycol, benzene, ammonium chloride and other ingredients." Propylene glycol is a low toxicity chemical solvent, if the long-term use of wet wipes hand, and then to take things to eat, will lead to toxic substances into the gastrointestinal tract, there is a safety hazard. In addition, because of the high solubility of propylene glycol, about 5% of people will have allergic reactions, long-term use of skin damage. ”

This news has aroused wide attention on the Internet, and overnight, wet wipes seem to have become a "ticking time bomb" from the necessities of life. Is it really that bad?

Why is there propylene glycol in the wet towel?

The term "propylene glycol" is a abbreviation, which usually refers to "1, 2-propanediol". You may be a little strange to propylene glycol, but if you add a hydroxyl to its molecule, you can get a more known substance--propanol, the famous glycerin.

Propylene glycol is a viscous, micro-sweet liquid, with moisture absorption, lubrication and certain antibacterial effect. It has a very wide range of commercial uses and is used in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and daily necessities.

So why add propylene glycol to the wipes? One of the most common reasons is moisturizing. Wipes are used on the skin, and after wiping of course hope to be able to keep the skin moist in a short period of time. The role of propylene glycol at this moment and glycerin similar, can absorb some water from the air to the skin, to avoid wiping the wet towel after the evaporation of the skin caused by dryness.

Another reason for adding propylene glycol is antibacterial. Wet wipes Of course is one-time use, but a lot of wet towel is not a single piece of packaging, open the packaging, has not been used up after the wet towel and air contact, if not to take measures, the bacteria in the air is easy to grow on the surface of the wet towel, and then may endanger human health The antibacterial activity of propylene glycol can delay the propagation rate of bacteria on wet wipes, thus protecting the safety of users. This is especially important when wet wipes are used as a female and baby hygienic product.

It's in food and lubricants.

In fact, the toxicity and irritation of propylene glycol are quite low. Its "toxicity" is mainly manifested in its effect on the nervous system, which can only occur when a maximum dose is ingested (for example, an animal experiment shows that propylene glycol can inhibit the central nervous system [1]) when the dose is higher than 13.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. As long as the limit is not exceeded, a small amount of intake or skin contact is relatively safe.

In addition to the application of skin care products, propylene glycol is also a widely used food additive. For example, in the appendix of the "Food additive Use standard" (GB 2760-2011) issued by our Ministry of Health [2], approved the use of propylene glycol for "raw wet surface products (such as noodles, dumpling skin, wonton, burning Mapi)" and "pastry" two types of food, the maximum usage of 1.5g/kg and 3g/ Kg, this dose level, is medium in the standard. Similarly, propylene glycol is also approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for food additive [3]. In the "Anything to add Food" (Eafus) catalogue, the number of propylene glycol is 1615, and the document category code is ASP. This means that, from the available research evidence, the FDA has not found that propylene glycol has no reason or risk of being a food additive. In other words, as long as the scope, excess use, propylene glycol for food for the human body is safe, even if it is long-term consumption, there is no obvious security risks. And compared to pasta, pastries and other food, through the "wet paper towel to wipe the hands of things to eat" intake of propylene glycol dosage is actually less. In the absence of damage to the skin, the absorption dose of propylene glycol through the skin is also very low.

Not only that, the general dosage of propylene glycol on the skin and mucous membrane irritation is actually very small. There are many water-based human lubricants in the market with propylene glycol and glycerol as the key addition ingredients to achieve moisturizing, thickening and other functions. In order to reach a sticky touch, the content of propylene glycol is higher than that of a wet paper towel. These lubricant products for the most sensitive mucous membranes of the human body will not cause irritation and discomfort, and why worry about wiping hands with wet paper towels?

In daily life, the exposure of propylene glycol generally does not bring health hazards, but there are also cases of individual infants and children with poisoning caused by the report. For example, a two-year-old baby has been poisoned by chewing a clean wet towel [4]. Therefore, parents should also take good care of their children, to avoid unnecessary harm.

Are other ingredients harmful?

In addition to propylene glycol, the original report also referred to another substance------benzoyl chloride, which is a common surfactant, has a stronger antibacterial effect, often used as an antimicrobial disinfectant. The current study found that high concentrations (more than 10%) of benzoyl chloride solution to the human skin, mucous membrane has a certain irritation, but within the normal dosage range, it is still safe, and in the need to reduce the risk of bacterial contamination. Pre-operation of the skin disinfection, daily use of hand sanitizer, nasal drops, contact lenses, etc. can be used to choose ammonium chloride as an antibacterial agent. The other most common use of ammonium chloride in daily life is that we are familiar with the creation of a paste, it can play a small wound near the skin and tissue antibacterial action.

In addition, the other ingredients in wet tissue are mostly antibacterial preservatives, surfactants and so on. In normal use, these substances do not pose a significant health risk, but for some people they may indeed lead to allergies and contact dermatitis. If a wet paper towel product makes you allergic, stop using it immediately and seek help from your doctor if necessary.

All in all, from the existing data, whether it is in the wet tissue of propylene glycol or ammonium chloride, they are safe for the human body, normal use of the situation does not need to worry about "poisoning". Of course, wet paper towels may not be able to disinfect and prevent the disease to play a full protective role, when conditions are still carefully wash your hands.