Does a purple light change color when illuminated? The blogger's evaluation turned out to be "pseudo science popularization", with white soap containing fluorescent agents. The blogger | fluorescent agent | purple light lamp

Recently, white soap has become popular on some short video platforms and social sharing platforms - not because of its effectiveness, but because it has been exposed by some evaluation bloggers as "toxic": these evaluation bloggers hold fluorescent detection pens or purple lights, take a photo of different brands of soap, and find that some white soap contains fluorescent agents. Some bloggers are certain that fluorescent whitening agents can harm human health, and such soap cannot be used.

At the same time, in addition to domestic brand products, there are also foreign brand products among the tested soap. So, some bloggers began to question foreign brands, believing that they sell soap containing fluorescent agents in the Chinese market.

Shanghai debunking platform investigation found that such evaluation bloggers are suspected of misleading the public - the presence of fluorescent agents in soap is not illegal and does not pose a threat to health. More importantly, "fluorescent soap" has exposed the phenomenon of "pseudo science popularization" in short videos and social sharing platforms. Some evaluation bloggers use information asymmetry to intentionally sell anxiety, provoke emotions, deceive netizens' attention, and exchange traffic for monetization.

Not prohibited both domestically and internationally, only for color mixing purposes

"According to standards such as" GB/T 26396-2011 Safety Technical Specification for Washing Products "and" Safety Technical Specification for Cosmetics ", the use of fluorescent whitening agents in soap and other washing and care products is not prohibited because its function is only to regulate the color of the product itself and does not threaten human health," said Zhang Yuxin, a member of the expert group and policy and regulatory group of the China Washing Products Industry Association.

He introduced that the fluorescent agent used in washing products is mainly disodium diphenylene disulfonate, which has been used for several decades. Scholars and institutions from various countries have conducted sufficient research on its safety. Not only does China not prohibit the addition of fluorescent whitening agents in washing products, but the use of this component is also allowed in the standards of European and American countries.

Specifically, CBS or FWA-5 will not be absorbed by the skin and is easily washed off. It does not pose any irritant, corrosive, or allergenic hazards to human skin, eyes, etc. In terms of toxicity, according to the normative Appendix D.1 "Acute Toxicity Dose Grading Table" of the national standard GB 151933-2003 Acute Toxicity Test, the fluorescent whitening agent is determined to be non-toxic.

The above conclusions all prove that consumers do not need to talk about fluorescent agent color change.

Zhang Yuxin also explained that some washing products contain fluorescent whitening agents, which are determined by production technology. "White soap and white detergent often contain fluorescent whitening agents, which are added by production enterprises to adjust product colors. For the same brand, fluorescent whitening agents are not needed in other colored soaps."

One sided interpretation misleads the public

In fact, after the topic of "fluorescent soap" became increasingly popular, Zhang Yuxin and many professionals paid attention to the relevant "evaluations" and found them ridiculous, even unwilling to spend time arguing: "This topic was hyped up a few years ago and clarified by various parties. Now, some bloggers have started to" stir fry cold rice "and mislead the public with one-sided interpretations."

Some evaluation bloggers have concluded that "fluorescent agents cannot be added" and "fluorescent agents are harmful to health", based on the fact that some countries and regions prohibit the use of transferable fluorescent agents in products such as facial tissues, sanitary napkins, and diapers. However, experts remind that according to China's national standard GB 15979-2002 Hygienic Standards for Disposable Sanitary Products, the use of fluorescent agents in such products is not prohibited. The prohibition regulations in some countries and regions are not due to the harmful effects of fluorescent agents on health, but rather to the quality control of raw materials. Because adding fluorescent whitening agents can make the product appear whiter, it is not ruled out that some criminals may use inferior materials to produce disposable sanitary products before using fluorescent agents for color adjustment. Although fluorescent agents do not pose a threat to health, inferior materials carry risks.

"However, disposable hygiene products and detergents are completely different categories of goods and cannot be confused. Moreover, the risk of low-quality materials to human health cannot be transferred to normal use of fluorescent whitening agents." Industry insiders remind.

"Pseudo Science Popularization" Unexpectedly Has Traffic Password

The Shanghai debunking platform also found in the survey that some evaluation bloggers pay attention to "fluorescent soap" not because of their concern for public health, but because they value the eyeball effect of the topic. Some bloggers, aware of flaws in their evaluations, use information asymmetry to deceive attention and traffic, and then use the platform's monetization rules to gain economic benefits.

Chemical industry researcher Zhou Chen said that the experimental method used to evaluate bloggers is very unscientific: "They think that when a purple light is shining, the soap will change color, which can indicate the problem, but regardless of the conclusion obtained from this test, it is completely untenable." She explained that if we want to verify whether a product contains fluorescent agents and whether fluorescent agents pose a threat to health, we need to design a rigorous experimental plan, use specialized experimental equipment to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the fluorescent agents in the product, and test the fluorescent agents in daily use from the perspectives of toxicology, exposure science, etc.

"Simply put, it means obtaining experimental results such as' whether there is a fluorescent agent ',' what kind of fluorescent agent is there ',' how much fluorescent agent is there ',' how much fluorescent agent will remain ', and whether the residual amount will threaten health'. Zhou Chen believes that many 'evaluations' online are not scientific, and bloggers like to use methods such as' taking a photo' to conduct experiments, probably because they think this method is simple, the results are obvious, and the viewing effect is strong, but it completely violates the scientific principles of research."

Selling anxiety is also a traffic password for "pseudo science popularization" bloggers. Some bloggers take advantage of the public's attention to food safety and health risks, either taking out of context or transplanting them, to draw conclusions that "this cannot be eaten" and "that cannot be used". This may seem like a friendly reminder, but in fact, it is to deceive clicks, likes, and reposts, using traffic for their own benefit.

It is worth mentioning that when some evaluation bloggers are reminded by comments that the results are misleading, they still use language such as "foreign brands bullying Chinese consumers" and "two sets of standards between China and foreign countries" to provoke netizens' emotions and avoid questioning. According to comments from netizens, some netizens who are unaware of the truth are misled as a result. It can be seen that in addition to encouraging professionals and professional institutions to actively participate in debunking rumors and fighting against "pseudo science popularization," netizens also need to improve their discernment and not blindly follow or trust.

In addition, relevant platforms should further standardize the evaluation content. At present, some platforms have established rules for the use of evaluation, store exploration, and other methods to "plant grass" and "promote", requiring bloggers to actively label such content as advertising soft articles. But from the current investigation situation, the platform also needs to manage various "science popularization posts" and "science popularization videos", and not let "pseudo science popularization" sell anxiety, create conflicts, and mislead the public.