Editing Polyethylene glycol (section)

== Human health effects ==

PEO's{{Clarify|date=October 2024|reason=Why are we suddenly talking about PEO, not PEG? What is the difference, if any?}} have "very low single dose oral toxicity", on the order of tens of [[gram]]s per [[kilogram]] of human body weight when ingested by mouth.<ref name="Ullmann'Encyclo-2000"/> Because of its low toxicity, PEO is used in a variety of edible products.<ref>{{cite book|vauthors = Sheftel VO|title = Indirect Food Additives and Polymers: Migration and Toxicology|year = 2000|pages = 1114–1116|publisher = CRC|url = http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Polymers/Polyethylene-Glycols-PEGs.htm|access-date = 22 August 2007|archive-date = 9 August 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070809043819/http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Polymers/Polyethylene-Glycols-PEGs.htm|url-status = dead}}</ref> It is also used as a [[lubrication|lubricating]] coating for various surfaces in [[Aqueous solution|aqueous]] and non-aqueous applications.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nalam PC, Clasohm JN, Mashaghi A, Spencer ND |doi=10.1007/s11249-009-9549-9|title=Macrotribological Studies of Poly(L-lysine)-graft-Poly(ethylene glycol) in Aqueous Glycerol Mixtures|year=2009 |s2cid=109928127|journal=Tribology Letters|volume=37|issue=3|pages=541–552|hdl=20.500.11850/17055|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/314245/files/11249_2009_Article_9549.pdf|type=Submitted manuscript|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The precursor to PEGs is [[ethylene oxide]], which is hazardous.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/potentialcontaminants/ucm101566.htm|title=Potential Contaminants - 1,4-Dioxane A Manufacturing Byproduct | author = Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition |website=fda.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-05-26}}</ref> Ethylene glycol and its [[ether]]s are [[Nephrotoxicity|nephrotoxic]] ([[poison]]ous to the [[kidney]]s) if applied to damaged skin.<ref name="Andersen-1999">{{Cite journal | title = Special Report: Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Ethylene Glycol and Its Ethers| journal = International Journal of Toxicology | volume = 18 | issue = 3 | pages = 53–67| year = 1999 | doi = 10.1177/109158189901800208 | vauthors = Andersen FA | s2cid = 86231595 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

The United States [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA or US FDA) regards PEG as biologically inert and safe.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}  

A 2015 study appears to challenge the FDA's conclusion. In the study, a high-sensitivity [[ELISA]] assay detected anti-PEG [[antibody|antibodies]] in 72% of random [[blood plasma]] samples collected from 1990 to 1999. According to the study's authors, this result suggests that anti-PEG antibodies may be present, typically at low levels, in people who were never treated with [[PEGylated]] drugs.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yang Q, Lai SK | title = Anti-PEG immunity: emergence, characteristics, and unaddressed questions | journal = Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology | volume = 7 | issue = 5 | pages = 655–77 | date = 2015 | pmid = 25707913 | pmc = 4515207 | doi = 10.1002/wnan.1339 }}</ref><ref name="Yang-2016">{{cite journal | last1 = Yang | first1 = Qi | last2 = Jacobs | first2 = Timothy M. | last3 = McCallen | first3 = Justin D. | last4 = Moore | first4 = Dominic T. | last5 = Huckaby | first5 = Justin T. | last6 = Edelstein | first6 = Jasmine N. | last7 = Lai | first7 = Samuel K. | title = Analysis of Pre-existing IgG and IgM Antibodies against Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) in the General Population | journal = Analytical Chemistry | date = 16 November 2016 | volume = 88 | issue = 23 | pages = 11804–11812 | issn = 0003-2700 | eissn = 1520-6882 | doi = 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03437 | pmid = 27804292 | pmc = 6512330 | url = }}</ref> Due to its ubiquity in many products and the large percentage of the population with antibodies to PEG, which indicates an [[allergy|allergic]] reaction, hypersensitive reactions to PEG are an increasing health concern.<ref name="Wenande-2016">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wenande E, Garvey LH | title = Immediate-type hypersensitivity to polyethylene glycols: a review | journal = Clinical and Experimental Allergy | volume = 46 | issue = 7 | pages = 907–22 | date = July 2016 | pmid = 27196817 | doi = 10.1111/cea.12760 | s2cid = 1247758 | url = https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27196817/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stone CA, Liu Y, Relling MV, Krantz MS, Pratt AL, Abreo A, Hemler JA, Phillips EJ | display-authors = 6 | title = Immediate Hypersensitivity to Polyethylene Glycols and Polysorbates: More Common Than We Have Recognized | journal = The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. In Practice | volume = 7 | issue = 5 | pages = 1533–1540.e8 | date = May 2019 | pmid = 30557713 | pmc = 6706272 | doi = 10.1016/j.jaip.2018.12.003 }}</ref> Allergy to PEG is usually discovered after a person has been diagnosed with an allergy to several seemingly unrelated products—including processed foods, cosmetics, drugs, and other substances—that contain or were manufactured with PEG.<ref name="Wenande-2016" />