Plasticizers, also known as plasticizers, are substances that can be added to polymer materials to increase the plasticity of polymers. They are an important class of chemical product additives. In plaster, cosmetics and cleaning agents and other materials. The main function of plasticizer is to weaken the secondary valence bonds between resin molecules, increase the mobility of resin molecular bonds, reduce the crystallinity of resin molecules, increase the plasticity of resin molecules, and make them more flexible and easy to process.
There are many types of plasticizers, including phthalates, aliphatic dibasic acid esters, fatty acid esters, benzene polyesters, polyol esters, epoxy hydrocarbons, alkyl sulfonates, etc. In a narrow sense, plasticizers mainly refer to phthalate esters (PAEs), which are the collective name of about 30 kinds of esters formed by phthalic acid. At present, it is the main body of plasticizers.
PAEs can enter the human body through the respiratory tract, digestive tract and skin. At present, domestic and foreign studies have found that the pollution of PAEs in the population is quite serious. PAEs have been detected in the blood of precocious girls, urine samples of women of childbearing age, and breast milk.
The acute toxicity of PAEs is relatively low. The LD50 of rats is 30-34 g/kg orally, 15-30 g/kg intraperitoneally, and 1-2 g/kg intravenously. The LD50 of mice is 33.32 g/kg and that of rabbits is 33.9 g/kg. , 26.3g/kg in guinea pigs. PAEs can act on the chromosomes of cells to change the number or structure of chromosomes, thereby making some tissues and cells grow out of control, resulting in tumors. PAEs have obvious anti-androgenic effects in vivo, in vitro experiments and animal models, and have an impact on the development of the endocrine and reproductive systems of infants and young children. The estrogenic effects of PAEs may be related to abnormal reproductive system development, reproductive dysfunction, reproductive system and endocrine system tumors, and nervous system development and functional damage. There have been reports of acute poisoning due to misuse of PAEs, which can cause gastrointestinal irritation, central nervous system depression, paralysis, and lower blood pressure. Chronic toxicity of PAEs is mainly manifested by decreased renal function, increased number of focal renal cysts, and renal tubular pigmentation. In addition, PAEs can also produce liver toxicity, lung toxicity, and cardiotoxicity. Long-term exposure to PAEs can cause symptoms such as polyneuritis, hypoesthesia, and numbness. Some scholars believe that the increase in asthma may also be related to people's exposure to PAEs in their daily lives.
According to the modern lifestyle, it is almost impossible to avoid plasticizers completely, but there is no need to be overly nervous, because the plasticizers that are exposed to in normal life will not harm the human body. However, people should also contact plastic products containing plasticizers as little as possible.
The most easily contact with food in daily life is the plastic wrap, which is divided into polyethylene (PE) plastic wrap and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic wrap. If a plastic product is marked with PVC, it means that it contains a plasticizer. In particular, food with plastic wrap must not be heated in a microwave oven, especially meat, because plasticizers will release toxic substances once they come into contact with grease.