Can you eat gentian violet?

When our body is injured, we need some medicine to disinfect it. Among them, gentian violet and mercurochrome are the two more common ones. So, can gentian violet be eaten? Actually, it is not possible. Gentian violet can only be used on external injuries and can effectively prevent and treat wound suppuration. Of course, with the advent of various household disinfectant products, gentian violet is rarely used now.

Gentian violet is a commonly used skin and mucous membrane disinfectant in clinical practice. It has strong bactericidal and astringent effects, but it can also produce many side effects if used improperly, especially for infants and young children. The toxic side effects of gentian violet usually manifest as systemic reactions and local reactions. The former can cause infants and young children to become restless, irritable, crying, and restless at night. In severe cases, they may experience drooling, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, and even difficulty breathing. The latter is manifested as flushing, itching, or rash of the skin around the application of the medicine. If applied in the mouth, flushing and ulcers of the gums, tongue, and oral mucosa may be seen, or grayish-white plaque-like lesions may appear. After wiping off the plaque, there will be local bleeding wounds. Some even have enlarged and thickened tongue.

American toxicologists discovered through animal experiments on rats and mice that gentian violet is a dose-related carcinogen that can cause liver cancer, certain adenomas and sarcomas in rodents. In vitro cell experiments also confirmed that gentian violet can cause mutations and chromosome breaks. However, the results of animal experiments were based on long-term oral intake of gentian violet for 1 to 2 years. If applied externally on normal skin, the dosage is very low and it is difficult for gentian violet to enter the human body. Therefore, in European and American countries, it is strictly forbidden to add gentian violet to animal feed (gentian violet has the effect of controlling intestinal parasites) and it cannot be taken orally, but it is not completely prohibited for external use in dermatology.

At present, there is no monitoring report on the adverse reactions of gentian violet causing cancer in my country, and there are no such case reports internationally. Although gentian violet solution is rarely used in current clinical practice, it is still listed as an external disinfectant in the drug catalogs of various countries and the World Health Organization (WHO).

When using it, in order to prevent the body from ingesting the gentian violet solution, long-term, large-dose and large-area use should be avoided.