Ethylene Oxide Is Strictly Prohibited In Food Ingredients

Food Ingredients, Dried Vegetables, Spices And Herbs is strictly prohibited use ethylene oxide to do sterilization. Do you know what is ethylene oxide? This article will introduce more information about the ethylene oxide.

Ethylene oxide is a toxic carcinogen that was previously used to make fungicides. Ethylene oxide is flammable and explosive and is not easy to transport over long distances, so it has strong regional characteristics. It is widely used in washing, pharmaceutical, printing and dyeing and other industries. It can be used as a starting agent for cleaning agents in chemical related industries.

Ethylene oxide has a bactericidal effect, does not corrode metals, has no residual odor, and can kill bacteria (and endospores), molds and fungi. Therefore, it can be used as a gas sterilizer to sterilize some items and materials that cannot withstand high temperature sterilization. . American chemist Lloyd Hall patented the ethylene oxide disinfection method for preserving spices in 1938, and this method is still used by some. Ethylene oxide is also widely used to sterilize medical supplies such as bandages, sutures and surgical instruments.

Mainly used to manufacture various other solvents (such as cellosolve, etc.), diluents, non-ionic surfactants, synthetic detergents, antifreezes, disinfectants, tougheners and plasticizers, etc. Hydroxyethylation with cellulose can synthesize water-soluble resin (its ethylene oxide content is about 75%). It can also be used as a fumigant, paint thickener, emulsifier, adhesive and paper sizing agent.

A mixture of ethylene oxide-carbon dioxide (the ratio of the two is 90:10) or ethylene oxide-dichlorodifluoromethane is usually used, and is mainly used for disinfection of hospitals and precision instruments. Ethylene oxide fumigant is often used for the preservation of grain and food. For example, dry egg powder is often decomposed by bacteria during storage. Fumigation with ethylene oxide can prevent deterioration, but the chemical composition of the egg powder, including amino acids, is not affected.

Ethylene oxide easily reacts with acid, so it can be added to certain substances as an antacid to reduce the acidity of these substances or to prevent them from producing acidity for a long time. For example, when producing chlorinated butyl rubber, if ethylene oxide is added to the solution of isobutylene and isoprene copolymer before chlorination, the finished product can be completely eliminated from alkali washing and water washing.

Because ethylene oxide is flammable and has a wide explosive concentration range in air, it is sometimes used as a fuel component in gasification bombs.

When ethylene oxide automatically decomposes, it can produce huge energy and can be used as the power of rockets and jet propellers. Generally, a mixture of nitromethane and ethylene oxide (60:40 - 95:5) is used. This kind of mixed fuel has good combustion performance, low freezing point, relatively stable properties and is not easy to detonate. In general, the consumption of ethylene oxide for the above-mentioned direct uses is very small. As an industrial derivative of ethylene, ethylene oxide is the second most important product after polyethylene. Its importance lies mainly in the series of products produced using it as raw material. There are far more types of downstream products derived from ethylene oxide than the various ethylene derivatives. Ethylene oxide is 27 times more toxic than ethylene glycol and similar to ammonia. Formaldehyde, ethylene glycol and oxalic acid are formed in the body, which anesthetize the central nervous system, irritate mucous membranes, and are toxic to cell plasma.

Ethylene oxide is mainly used to make ethylene glycol (raw material for making polyester fiber), synthetic detergents, nonionic surfactants, antifreezes, emulsifiers and ethylene glycol products. It is also used to produce plasticizers, Lubricants, rubber and plastics, etc. It is widely used in many fields such as laundry and dyeing, electronics, medicine, pesticides, textiles, papermaking, automobiles, oil exploration and refining, etc.