Carbon(in 118 products)
Potential Risk Index®:
About:
Functions:
1. Colorant - Pigments or dyes that are added in order to change or enhance the color.
Graphite is a soft, crystalline form of carbon. Other forms are diamond and fullerenes ("buckyballs"). It is gray to black, opaque, and has a metallic luster. It is flexible but not elastic. Graphite occurs naturally in metamorphic rocks such as marble, schist, and gneiss. It exhibits the properties of a metal and a nonmetal, which make it suitable for many industrial applications. The metallic properties include thermal and electrical conductivity. The nonmetallic properties include inertness, high thermal resistance, and lubricity. Some of the major end uses of graphite are in high-temperature lubricants, brushes for electrical motors, friction materials, and battery and fuel cells. [1]
Carbon has been treated to create small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption. Carbon black from vegetable origin is used as a food coloring (E number 153), which has been widely used for many years in food and beverage packaging.
It is approved for use as food additive in EU.
Recent Findings:
- Most health effects are due to other impurities stuck onto the carbon's surface rather than the carbon itself
- Carbon is irritating to the nose, mouth, throat and respiratory tract (cough, interstitial fibrosis, coniosis, chronic bronchitis, changes in pulmonary function or respiratory failure). Contact may also cause burns to skin and eyes
- The use of carbon in eye cosmetics may cause palpebral conjunctiva
- Inhalation of carbon resulted in lung tumors in rats, but not mice. Case studies on stomach and oesophageal cancer on workers exposed to carbon black showed no increase in incidence of cancer compared to the control population
- Overall, there is inadequate evidence to the carcinogenicity of carbon or carbon black
Scientific References:
Regulatory References:
1. WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - Group 2B [2018]
- Carbon black
2. EU Approved Food Additive [2018]
- E153
Safety and Hazards (UN GHS):
1. Causes skin irritation (H315)
2. Causes serious eye irritation (H319)
3. May cause respiratory irritation (H335)
Potential Health Concerns For:
1. Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (PubMed ID:23694812)
2. Birth Weight (PubMed ID:33905944)
3. Cardiovascular Diseases (PubMed ID:21193387)
4. Child Behavior Disorders (PubMed ID:26241036)
5. Conduct Disorder (PubMed ID:23694812)
6. Coronary Disease (PubMed ID:26149207)
7. Death (PubMed ID:26047618)
8. Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materials (PubMed ID:26880698)
9. Lung Diseases (PubMed ID:11353142)
10. Lung Neoplasms (PubMed ID:22393209)
11. Myocardial Ischemia (PubMed ID:25633926)
12. Neoplasms (PubMed ID:26047618)
13. Premature Birth (PubMed ID:26485731)
14. Respiration Disorders (PubMed ID:19590690)
15. Respiratory Sounds (PubMed ID:17384778)
16. Respiratory Tract Diseases (PubMed ID:26884048)
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