Doubts on fluorescent agent in cosmetics

The whitening effect of several facial masks appears to be achieved by the presence of a fluorescent substance, which cannot be washed off the skin and is possibly even damaging to it, a netizen nicknamed Binghan wrote on Sina weibo, a Chinese micro blogging website, Beijing News reported today.

Binghan wrote that the fluorescent agent functions as a visual deceit because it cannot reduce the amount of melanin in human skin at all. Zhang Liqing, an expert in cosmetic ingredient analysis, stated there are two types of fluorescent agents: one is migratory and the other is non-migratory. The migratory agent can move into the cuticle or blood, and thus a concern for safety is justified.

"There is a limit on the amount of fluorescent agent present in detergent, but no rules were set on its maximum amount in skin care products," said Li Xin, a researcher of cosmetic development.

She noted that the fluorescent agent added in cosmetic products is mostly made up of artificial chemical compounds. To find out whether a facial mask contains this fluorescent agent or not, customers can check its ingredients table and use UV- light to check. If a product turns light blue when exposed to UV- light in a dark place, it contains the fluorescent agent.

However, some crude plant extracts in cosmetics can also be fluorescent. Independent analyst Chen Nuan pointed out that over half of all plant extracts contain fluorescent substances, and in addition emphasized that not all the natural fluorescent substances are safe, just as there is also no strong evidence to confirm the latent danger of the artificial fluorescent agent.

But Chen did propose some genetic mutation can occure when the fluorescent agent gets into the bloodstream. This might cause people to develop either cancer or allergies.

Li argued it is hard to metabolize the fluorescent agent and advised customers to follow caution when using cosmetic products.