Many people thinks that chemicals are dangerous. Meanwhile chemicals are not dangerous at all, some of them are safe to consume and can be used for us. We can found products safe chemical that can be hazardous to consume in food, drink, cosmetic or warehousing packaged.
Even chemicals inside those products are safe, but they left dangerous thing if we didn’t careful about it. (8 Foods Banned in Other Countries but Allowed in The United States).
These are safe chemicals that can be dangerous:
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Food Additives
Food additives are substances added to food or drink to maintain and make it safe to consume, give freshness, taste and texture looks good. Some of it need to be checked for potential harmful effects for human health before it finally consume.
The joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is international body responsible which have a job to evaluate and make safe of food additives. If we found food additives already evaluated and JECFA makes it safe, it means Codex Alimentarius Commission established it can be use in foods and trade in internationally.
Additives are needed to ensure processed food remaining safe and good while it has journey from factories or industrial kitchen and during transportation to warehouse and shop, when it finally reach to customers. FAO and WHO make group of food additives into 3 catergories, they are :
- Flavoring agents
This flavoring agents has function to improve taste or aroma of food.
- Enzyme preparations
This type of additive may not end up in the final food products and have mainly used in baking (to improve the dough), manufacturing fruit juice, making wine and brewing.
- Other additives
It has many reason for using such as colouring, sweetening and also preservation. This additives added when food are ready to prepared and stored to become a component of the food.
It is uncommon for food additives that was believe contained chemical safe for people but later we understand there’s toxic inside. Some new research has shown to us that food additives can damage human nerve cells. This food additive will not get banned because of toxic inside it but it is up to people who choose to consume or not for this food additives.
Also we found it’s popular now for increasing number of organic for food additives but it was more expensive. We may find some safe chemicals that can be dangerous if we use it wrong. (Also read about Foods Banned in Other Countries but Allowed in The United States)
2. Metanil Yellow
There’s lot type of metanil yellow we could found just like acid yellow 36, metanil yellow o, metanil yellow s, metanil yellow pl, and metanil yellow mg. Some of metanil yellow also can be found on food just like street food to make them look attractive and good to the customers. Some street food they contain metanil yellow and give dangerous chemical substance.
Experts say this chemical can give cause cancer if consumed for long time. If metanil yellow eaten by food inside with high quantity and can be caused for liver cirrhosis and cancer if consumed excessively. Besides, we can found effect of consumption of metanil yellow for us. If we get our eye contact with metanil yellow, do immediately clean our eye with running water for 15 minutes and cold water are preferable.
In engineering, we need to understand that use process enclosures, local ventilation or other engineering controls to keep airborne levels below are recommended exposure limits. (Harmful Cleaning Chemicals To Avoid During Pregnancy) If user operations generate dust, we can use ventilation to keep exposure to airborne contaminants below the exposure limit.
3. Rhodamin B
Rhodamin b is liquid chemicals which usually used for coloring paint, textile industry and paper industry. In other ways rhodamin b also can united combined together to animal’s teeth. Even rhodamin b are safe for textile industry but this chemical can be dangerous if we put it to food and it was prohibited by government. (10 Uses of Organic Chemistry in Medicine – Compounds)
Still we found many food we can get outside are combined with rhodamin b. In some city, BPOM (drug and food processing agencies) found rhodamin b in snack food, chili bottle, syrup and some food and drink selling outside.
As a chemical material that can be used for paint coloring and paper, rhodamin b are growing for many needed which their production have relation to sun light. Rhodamin b is chemical alphabet called C28H31N2O3Cl and have green crystal or redness powder and could be dissolved to water and give a final colour red to blue and strong fluorinate. Beside dissolved to water, rhodamin b also could be dissolved to alcohol, HCl and NaOH.
What makes rhodamine b dangerous for food is because on the analysis with destruction mode and their metode, get to informed that toxic material on rhodamin b is not only caused of their organic material but also anorganic on rhodamin b itself. If rhodamin b contaminated with other anorganic material inside like timbaladan arsen, that contamination on rhodamin b with both material (organic and anorganig timbalan arsen) will make dangerous for food.
Also we can found Cl (chlorine) on rhodamin b which this chlorine is an reactive and dangerous anorganic material. Conclusion of this dangerous is chlorine atom on rhodamin b will give some toxic effect if consume by people and this materials are enter to human body. Chlorine atom is part of halogen and while it comes to our body, this organic material will give toxic and carcinogen. Another dangerous thing of Rhodamin B are irritation to contact eye, skin redness irritation.
As we know before that chlorine is a part of material that we can found inside rhodamin b and it was group of halogen. (5 Uses of Chromiun in Everyday Life – Properties – Information) Halogen itself is easy to reactive or high reactive and if it comes to our body it will make unstable inside our body and the end will to cancer for human body.
These are typical food contained to rhodamin b :
- Has colorful color to make it attractive and eye catching
- Feel tickle on our throat after we eat it
- Smells not natural like other food
- It is cheap to sell outside and not like regular price
- It left a bit bitter taste especially to syrup
As we know it, chemicals means chemical elements, compounds or mixtures thereof whether natural or synthetic but it is not include micro organism. Wisely, there are many safe chemicals that can be dangerous if we don’t know how to use it safely.