What is glycerol? Application and negative effects of glycerol

Glycerol,the same as glycerin,is a kind of colorless,odorless and sweet viscous liquid.The chemical structure of glycerin is totally different from carbohydrate,therefore,they don’t belong to the same substances.

Every gram glycerin produces 4 kcal heat after complete oxidation,and it won’t change the blood sugar and insulin level after absorbed by human body.Glycerin is usually applied as sweetener and humectant in food processing industry,and appears often in sport food and milk substitutes.

In winter,people usually use glycerin to wipe hands,faces and surface of the skin exposed in the air,keeping the skin soft,flexible,and keeping damage from dust,weather etc. to become dry,preventing skin from frostbite.As glycerin can increase the moisture content of human tissue,it is able to increase the body’s ability to exercise in hot environment.

molecular formula: C₃H₈O₃

molecular weight: 92.90

appearance and traits: colorless and viscous liquid, odorless,warm sweet,can absorb moisture.

melting point(℃): 18.18

boiling point(℃): 290.9

flash point(℃): 177

ignition temperature(℃): 370

relative density(water=1): 1.26331(20℃)

relative steam density(air=1): 3.1

viscosity(20℃): 1412mPa.      (25℃): 945mpa.s

volume expansion coefficient/K-1=0.000615

surface tension(20℃): 63.3mN/m

saturated vapor pressure(kPa): 0.4(20℃)

It is miscible in ethanol,miscible with water,insoluble in chloroform,ether,carbon disulfide,benzene,oil,soluble certain inorganic substances.

Explosion hazard: it is combustible,irritating.

Dangerous characteristics: in case of fire,it has high heat and is flammable.

Main application：

1.For gas chromatography stationary liquids and organic synthesis,also can be used as solvent,gas meter,hydraulic press shock absorber,softener,antifreeze,nutrient and desiccant etc. for antibiotic fermentation.

2.Producing nitroglycerin,acetate,polyurethane resin,epoxy resin.used often in the cosmetics industry,food industry,water-based printing ink,coatings industry.

As it is non-toxic,tasteless and pollution-free,it is the best substitute of diethylene glycol/ethylene glycol for the for the cosmetics/food industry.

Health hazard: not toxic for body after eating,no irritation to eyes and skin.Oral toxicity in mice LD50=31,500mg/kg. Intravenous administration LD50=7,560mg/kg.

Glycerin is the backbone component of triglyceride molecules.When the body consumes edible fat,the triglyceride therein is metabolized by metabolism in the body to form glycerin and stored in the fat cells.

Glycerin can be applied as cosmetics.

The chemical name of glycerin is glycerol.It is sweet colorless,viscous liquid,and it is a chemical product,has good water absorption,usually applied as additive ingredients for cosmetics.

So how can we select qualified glycerin?Generally,it’s best to select glycerin with high purity for skin care.It is pure and has good moisturizing effect when using mixed with water.The skin is moisturizing and soft and comfortable when touching.For example,White Beauty Pure Glycerin,it is purely extracted from plants,of which the purity is above 99%.And it is not added any chemical ingredients and preservatives etc.,not harming to skin.But due to the high purity,it needs test using to prevent allergies.In addition,if the skin has cracked and bleeding,it is impossible to use pure glycerin.Because glycerin is used for moisturizing,it will easily cause infection in the affected area.After all,glycerin is a makeup,not a medicine.

Side effects of glycerin.

What’s need to be pointed out is that,as the function of maintaining water,glycerin will increase blood volume and cause dizziness,nausea and other symptoms.These symptoms will be more pronounced in cases where blood volume or blood pressure is high in pregnancy,high blood pressure,diabetes and kidney disease.So please avoid taking glycerin when you have the above disease or are in a special physiological period such as pregnancy.It is recommended to get a full assessment of health condition before attempting any new supplement or medicines to avoid future problems.

Skin Beauty Tips Using Lemon, Sugar and Glycerin

When you walk down the skin care aisle of any store, the abundance of products can send your brain into overdrive. Unfortunately, you don’t know what’s in many of these products and what chemicals you may be putting on your skin. If you prefer to go the natural route when it comes to skin care, use three products that are guaranteed to have no chemicals in them: lemon, sugar and glycerin. All three will fit into your beauty regimen.

Lemon

Lemons are high in calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C, all of which aid in the appearance of healthy skin. From lightening age spots to removing dead skin, lemons can be your skin’s best friend. Rub the flesh of a lemon on acne spots and wait 10 minutes before rinsing it off. The antifungal and antibacterial properties are a natural way to treat blackheads and acne. The same remedy can also help lighten acne marks and scars. If your skin is oily, dab it with a cotton ball dipped in lemon juice every night before bed to help keep the oiliness at bay. Make a homemade body and face wash by mixing the juice of a lemon, a dab of plain yogurt and a few drops of essential oil. Massage it onto your skin to clean off bacteria and dirt while adding moisture at the same time. If your feet are in need of a pick-me-up, soak them in a mixture of 1 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup milk and 2 tablespoons olive oil, along with enough water to cover your feet, for about 15 minutes.

Sugar

Sugar is a natural product used in skin care because it’s a humectant — it attracts moisture into the skin. It also contains glycolic acid, which encourages new cell growth to give skin a fresher, younger appearance. Because it’s a bit coarse, sugar is a natural exfoliant. Make a sugar body scrub by mixing brown sugar and enough olive oil to make a paste. Add about three drops of essential oil if you want to add fragrance. Use the scrub on your body and face to gently exfoliate dead, dry skin. Mixing white sugar and coconut oil in equal parts forms an alternative sugar scrub. Use the sugar body and face scrubs only a couple of times per week; sugar is slightly abrasive and can irritate the skin if overused.

Glycerin

When choosing glycerin for skin care, select vegetable glycerin as opposed to chemically derived glycerin. When you buy glycerin from a pharmacy, it is likely all-natural vegetable glycerin, which comes from plant-based oils. It is a humectant, so it draws moisture to the skin. It is also an emollient that forms a protective oily layer over the skin to trap moisture. Glycerin can be added to your skin care regimen to treat dry, itchy skin, as an exfoliant and as a body wash. Keep glycerin away from sensitive areas like your eyes. Mix up a homemade glycerin cleanser by mixing equal parts cornstarch and glycerin with enough water to thin the mixture. Heat it over a double boiler for a few minutes until it thickens, let it cool completely and use the mixture to scrub your body, including your face. Glycerin can also be mixed with fuller’s earth to create a facial mask, or you can add a few drops to your liquid body wash for extra moisture in the shower.

Using All Three Together

Lemons, sugar and glycerin are great alone, but they make for a powerful skin care trio when used in combination with one another. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of sugar with the juice of a fresh lemon to gently exfoliate dead skin. Combine equal parts glycerin and sugar, as well as a few drops of aloe vera gel, to create an invigorating, moisturizing body scrub. Mix all three together — a little bit of sugar, a splash of lemon juice and a couple of drops of glycerin — to make a moisturizing, exfoliating facial scrub.

Glycerin Soap Ingredients

Glycerin soaps are commercially available, or you can make them at home. Glycerin soap is translucent, unless color is added. Optional ingredients add scent, nutrients, color and texture. Glycerin soap is advocated as a cleanser that is gentler and easier to rinse off than other types of soap, and is often suggested for people who suffer acne or who have sensitive skin. It’s also touted as a natural emollient that keeps skin from getting too dry. In addition to glycerin, the soap generally has several ingredients.

Alcohol

A basic ingredient for glycerin soap is alcohol, a polyglycol. Alcohol is needed for transparency and to prevent large crystals from forming. If you’re making your own soap, you can use synthetic alcohols such as triethanolamine, or use ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol or even high-proof vodka. While alcohol is crucial to transparency, it does require safety precautions, such as making small batches and monitoring them closely because you’re taking a substance with a low flash point and exposing it to heat and air, according to “The Soapmaker’s Companion: A Comprehensive Guide With Recipes, Techniques and Know-How,” by Susan Miller Cavitch. Commercial soapmakers get around this issue by injecting alcohol and other ingredients into a soapmaking vessel that has no air exposure.

Lye

Lye is another basic ingredient of many soaps, both commercial and homemade. Lye is the base ingredient that makes soap an acid. To make the soap acid, consisting of the fats and oils, it needs to come into contact with a base–such as lye–to produce soap in a chemical process called saponifying, according to “The Soapmaker’s Companion.”

Sugar

Sugar is another polyglycol that is added to saponified soap to dilute it and make it clearer and brighter. Castor oil an also aid in transparency. Ratios for these ingredients are important when making soap. Too much sugar, for example, can lead to a soap that is soft, sticky and “sweats,” according to “The Soapmaker’s Companion.”

Moisturizers

Moisturizing agents like cocoa butter, aloe, honey, vitamin E, olive oil or sesame oil are often added to both commercial and homemade soaps. Coconut and palm kernel oils are especially popular because they help make a fluffy lather thanks to their high lauric acid content.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are often added to glycerin soaps for either therapeutic reasons or for their scent. These include lavender, sandalwood, orange, rosemary, basil, anise, sage, dill, geranium, grapefruit, vanilla, tea tree, sage and lemongrass. There are more than 100 essential oils that soapmakers and soap companies can choose from.

Dyes

Some glycerin soaps are clear, while others have color added. Some people add food coloring to homemade soaps. You can buy both liquid and powder soap dyes at craft stores. Commercial soaps may also use dyes regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act such as FD&C Blue No. 1.

Other Ingredients

Other ingredients, such as oatmeal, finely ground almonds, cornmeal, dried orange peel, flower petals and glitter are sometimes added to soaps to either give them a scent or add to their visual appeal. Herbs are a common ingredient, with chamomile, lavender and peppermint leaves being popular.

Side Effects of Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerin, also called glycerol, is sometimes used as a food additive in baked goods, candy, fudge, dairy products, meat, pasta, cereals, processed fruits and vegetables, condiments, soups, sauces, egg products and fish products. Sometimes it is used to help maintain moisture levels or mix oil- and water-based ingredients, but it can also be used as a sweetener. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regards it as generally safe, though the additive can have some side effects in large amounts.

Laxative Effect

The small amount of vegetable glycerin used in food products isn’t likely to cause side effects. It is classified as a sugar alcohol, though, and in turn can have a laxative effect when consumed in large amounts. Thus, it may cause diarrhea, excessive urination and dehydration if you eat a lot of it. Glycerin suppositories are used to relieve constipation because of this effect.

Other Side Effects

The more common, less serious side effects that can occur when you consume large amounts of vegetable glycerin include nausea, vomiting and headache. Lying down after taking medicinal amounts of vegetable glycerin can help limit the risk of headache and help relieve headaches that do occur, according to PubMed Health. When used as a medicine, glycerin must be prescribed by a doctor and used under medical supervision.

Rare Side Effects

Some less common side effects that warrant immediate medical attention include confusion and irregular heartbeat. These would be extremely unlikely to occur with the small amounts typically used in foods, as they aren’t common even in medicinal doses.

Potential Allergic Reactions

Vegetable glycerin is made from either palm oil or coconut oil, so if you’re allergic to either of these oils, you should avoid vegetable glycerin. Otherwise, it could cause an allergic reaction, with symptoms including difficulty breathing, swelling, rash, itching and anaphylaxis. Use animal-based forms of glycerin, which are made from beef tallow or other animal fats, or synthetic glycerin, which is made from corn syrup, sugar cane or a petroleum derivative called propylene, instead.

Glycerine Substitutes

Glycerin, also referred to as glycerine or glycol, is a simple compound with a sweet taste. Glycerin is used in the food industry, in cosmetics and toiletries, in pharmaceutical products and botanical extracts, and as a component in antifreeze. Alternatives to glycerin are available for all of these applications. Some cheaper substitutes for glycerin in chemical applications are toxic and dangerous if present in food or cosmetic products.

Diethylene Glycol

Diethylene glycol, or DEG, is a liquid with a sharp sweet taste. It is naturally viscous, odorless and colorless. DEG is used as an intermediate substance in the production of chemical products such as polyurethanes, polyester resins and ethylene glycols. DEG can also be used as an antifreeze, as a humectant in tobacco, and as a solvent in cosmetics and paints. DEG can substitute for glycerin in these industrial applications, but is not approved for human consumption in many countries. The Australian government reports that DEG sold as counterfeit glycerin was found in toothpastes and cough syrups, leading to a toothpaste recall in Australia in 2007.

Propylene Glycol

Propylene glycol is a colorless, odorless liquid with similar humectant, or moisturizing, properties to glycerin. Also known as PG, propylene glycol is commonly used as a glycerin substitute in cosmetic and toiletry products because it is typically cheaper. Derived from petroleum, high-level and concentrated exposure to PG is believed to cause abnormalities of the liver, brain and kidneys. PG is found in commercially available stick deodorants, shampoos and other cosmetic products.

Ceramides

Ceramides may be substituted for glycerin in skincare products such as moisturizers and lotions. EczemaNet indicates that skincare products containing glycerin may increase the dryness of your skin if you suffer from atopic dermatitis. Using ceramides instead of glycerin in moisturizing lotions can help regulate your skin cells. Like glycerin, ceramides have a moisturizing effect, working to repair damaged skin. If your skin is particularly dry or prone to cracking, ceramides may be a good moisturizing substitute for glycerin.

Oils and Butters

Vegetable glycerin is often used as a natural skin care ingredient, according to Dinah Falconi’s 1997 book “Earthly Bodies and Heavenly Hair.” Glycerin substitutes include various naturally derived carrier butters and oils which have a similar moisturizing effect to glycerin. If your skin is naturally dry and the dryness is exacerbated by glycerin, you may find that shea butter, jojoba oil, cocoa butter or avocado oil are effective substitutes.

Types of Glycerin

Glycerin is an organic alcohol with a sweet taste and slippery, viscous feel. Used in cosmetics, food, industry, medicine and pharmaceuticals, natural and synthetic glycerins are chemically identical. According to the 2008 Glycerin Market Analysis Report from the U.S. Soy Bean Export Council Inc., sales of natural glycerin have outpaced those of synthetic glycerin by 30 times. This is due to a glut of natural glycerin as a by-product of biodiesel, soap and fatty acid production.

Because glycerin is very hygroscopic, it is added to foods, especially baked goods like energy and protein bars, to preserve moistness. Its taste makes it a superb sweetener because it has a low glycemic index. Glycerin from vegetable oils and synthetic glycerin are kosher and halal. The viscosity of glycerin gives it an antibacterial property. In soaps and cosmetics glycerin serves as a lubricant and moisturizer.

Synthetic Glycerin

When petroleum is distilled, propylene comes off as a top fraction. Glycerin is made by adding chlorine to the molecule and then hydrolyzing the trichloropropane produced. Synthetic glycerin is used in exacting applications in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals because of its 99.7 percent purity. According to the Glycerin Market Analysis Report, prescription and over-the-counter drugs were initially formulated with synthetic glycerin and received FDA approval as such. To change to natural glycerin would entail new FDA approval processes.

Natural Glycerin from Soap Manufacture

Hydrolysis of animal or vegetable lipids with sodium hydroxide produces fatty acid soap and glycerin. Until recently, this process produced the highest volume of natural glycerin. Because of contamination with the parent compounds, the crude material is distilled at a refinery.

Natural Glycerin from Biodiesel

Recent interest in biodiesel fuel from renewable sources of vegetable oil, waste cooking oil and beef tallow has created a market glut of glycerin. Biodiesel is prepared by adding methanol to the oil/fat source. The fatty acid portion of the molecule is esterified to biodiesel, and glycerin is produced as a byproduct. Crude glycerin is distilled and purified to a possible 99.5 percent purity with ion exchange resins. Research today is focused on using lipids from algae or bacteria to produce biodiesel and glycerin.

Medicinal Uses of Glycerin

Glycerin, also referred to as glycerol or glycerine, is a colorless, odorless organic liquid derived from fats and oils. It is thick, with a warm, sweet taste. Glycedrin is used in industrial applications, food preparation and in personal care products. It also has medicinal uses, and is often an ingredient in pharmaceuticals.

Eye Disorders

Glycerin is used to treat eye disorders that are caused by increased interocular pressure, such as glaucoma. It can also be used to decrease pressure in the eye before and after ocular surgery, or during a medical eye examination.

Cerebral Edema

Intravenous preparations of glycerin may be used to treat excessive intracranial pressure. Glycerin draws fluid from tissues in the body into the bloodstream, and also acts as a diuretic by preventing water re-absorption in the kidneys. These actions dehydrate the tissues while reducing blood volume, thereby diminishing intracranial pressure.

Vasodialator

Glycerin is a primary constituent of nitroglycerin. Better known for its explosive properties, nitroglycerin is also used as a treatment for angina, a painful condition caused by constriction of the blood vessels in the heart. Nitroclycerin, when taken orally, acts as a vasodialator, rapidly opening the blood vessels in the body to provide greater blood flow and oxygen perfusion to the heart.

Constipation

Glycerin works as a softening agent and lubricant in cases of constipation. A glycerin suppository, inserted into the rectum, melts at body temperature. The glycerin then causes water to be drawn into the colon and rectum, softening the stool and lubricating the bowels, allowing for an easier bowel movement.

Vehicle for Other Medications

Due to its emollient, solvent, sweetening and moisturizing properties, glycerin is frequently used as an ingredient in other pharmaceutical preparations. It is used in tinctures and elixirs, such as Theophylline, which is used to treat asthma. Glycerin is also used in ointments and creams to prevent them from drying out, and can act as a preservative.