What do you know about fluorescent brighteners

2026-07-25 16:24:30

Recently, about "sanitary napkins, cosmetics contain fluorescent whitening agent" the view circulated in the network and WeChat circle of friends, causing many consumers to worry about its safety.So what exactly is a fluorescent brightener and what is it made of?This period, the reporter takes you to understand in detail.

What is a fluorescent substance

Fluorescent substances are common in nature, such as shrimp, crabs, jellyfish, fireflies and other animals.The human body also contains fluorescent substances, mainly in amino acids, vitamins, nucleotides and other elements.In addition, soy sauce, pu 'er tea, liquor, black tea, coffee and other fermented food can also produce fluorescent substances.

What is a fluorescent brightener

Fluorescent brightener is an organic compound that emits blue or blue-violet light after absorbing ultraviolet light.Popularly speaking, fluorescent brightener is to use the complementary color effect on optics, make white or light color article (wait like textile, plastic, paper) add white, add bright or add colourful.It does not have a chemical reaction with the object, but relies on the optical effect to increase the whiteness of the object, and USES fluorescence to increase the visual whiteness.Therefore, fluorescent brightener is also known as "optical brightener" or "white fluorescent dye".

At first, fluorescent brighteners were mainly used in the textile field, and later they were applied in paper making, detergent, plastics, coating, ink, leather, anti-counterfeiting, laser detection and other fields, and even in some biomedical fields.

Study on fluorescent brightener

According to the safety evaluation and risk assessment conclusions of fwa-5 and fwa-1 fluorescent whitening agents issued by JSDA, CEFIC, AISE and csci respectively, the effects of fluorescent whitening agents on human body and environment are relatively low.

Do household chemicals contain fluorescent brighteners

Sanitary napkins and cosmetics belong to the category of daily use, among which sanitary napkins do not need to add fluorescent brightener in the production process, if any, it exists in the raw materials.

China's cosmetics management is very strict, "cosmetic hygiene standards" (2007 edition) clearly stipulated in the cosmetics banned ingredients, restricted substances.In addition, the mandatory standard "general label of cosmetics for consumer product instructions" (gb5296.3-2008) also stipulates that the label of cosmetics must truly indicate the name of all ingredients in the product.Therefore, whether there is a fluorescent whitening agent in cosmetics, see the ingredient list on its label.