Before understanding fluorescent whitening agents, let's first understand fluorescence. Optical brightener is a luminescence phenomenon. When a substance is irradiated by a certain wavelength of incident light (usually ultraviolet or X-ray) at room temperature, it absorbs the light energy and enters the excited state, immediately excites and emits the emission light with a wavelength longer than the incident light (usually in the visible spectrum). The emitted light with this characteristic is called fluorescence. Once many fluorescent substances stop emitting incident light, the luminescence phenomenon also immediately disappears.
Substances with the above properties are called fluorescent agents, so fluorescent agents are not a specific substance, but a collective term for a group of substances. Fluorescent agents located in the visible spectrum can emit multiple colors of light after absorbing light energy. In our daily life, people usually use fluorescent bleaching agents, whose chemical components are stilbene derivatives, which are characterized by absorbing ultraviolet light and reflecting blue white phosphorescence. White items in daily life will slightly absorb blue light from visible light, producing insufficient blue light, causing the items to turn slightly yellow and affecting the aesthetics of the product. If fluorescent bleach is added to white products, the bleach will absorb the ultraviolet light converted into blue light, and with the yellow of the product itself, the product will be bleached when visible to the naked eye, which is why manufacturers add fluorescent bleach.
So, does adding fluorescent whitening agents to our daily lives harm our physical health? Scientific research has shown that fluorescent agents are not easily degraded when absorbed by the human body, and once combined with human proteins, they can only be decomposed and excreted through the liver. According to medical clinical experience, fluorescent agents can alter cells, which may become a potential carcinogenic factor. But products that add fluorescent agents are usually harmless to the human body, and China has clear regulations on adding fluorescent agents: mobile fluorescent substances cannot be tested in daily products. Flowing fluorescent substances "refer to the added fluorescent substances that are transferred to the human skin or mucosa through washing, chewing, sweating, or contact.
Therefore, there is no need to panic when using purple hand electric shock to detect fluorescent bleach in daily life. The products that meet the national regulations do not have fluorescent fluidity, and fluorescent bleach will not migrate into the human body and will not cause harm to the human body.