China bans anti-freeze chemical in toothpaste
China today banned manufacturers from using diethylene glycol – a thickening agent in antifreeze – as an ingredient in toothpaste, one of its most significant concessions yet as it struggles to regain international confidence in the country’s beleaguered exports.
Governments in North and South America, Europe and Asia have in recent weeks banned or stopped the sale of Chinese-made toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, or DEG, which is also used as a low-cost – and sometimes deadly - substitute for glycerin, a sweetener in many drugs.
