Is musk poisonous?

In daily life, musk is often used as a medicinal material, not only because musk has the effect of stopping bleeding, but also because musk is a good spice. However, musk cannot be used for a long time, otherwise it will not only cause various diseases in the body, but also have the possibility of causing cancer. Especially for pregnant women, musk has the effect of inducing miscarriage. Therefore, during pregnancy, you should pay special attention to your body and stay away from these harmful substances.

Adverse reactions are one of the dual natures of drugs. Each drug has its own unique toxic reactions, and there is no drug that is completely non-toxic.

Regarding the toxicity of musk, experiments have shown that the median lethal dose of intravenous musk water extract in mice is 848±104 mg/kg. The pharmacopoeia stipulates that the dosage of musk in oral pill and powder forms is 30-100 mg/day, and oral administration is safer than intravenous administration.

In terms of therapeutic effects, Chinese patent medicines containing musk include national treasure-level emergency medicines. The "Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine" Angong Niuhuang Pills, Jufang Zhibao Pills, and Zixuedan all contain musk. In addition, there are Suhexiang Pills, Qilin Powder, Dahuoluo Dan, Yunnan Baiyao, Pian Zaihuang, Liushen Pills, Musk Baoxin Pills, Musk Pain-Relieving Ointment, etc., all of which are gold medal Chinese patent medicines sold well at home and abroad. Among the 2,621 prescriptions included in the "National Collection of Chinese Patent Medicine Prescriptions", 295 contain musk, accounting for more than 11% of the "National Collection of Chinese Patent Medicine Prescriptions". Musk shows irreplaceable therapeutic effects in the treatment of bleeding, coma, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Since the 1970s, my country has begun to develop artificial musk. After more than 20 years of research and development, it was successfully developed. The results of a large number of pharmacological and clinical studies have shown that the main pharmacological effects of artificial musk and natural musk are basically the same in intensity, and the clinical efficacy is definite. Since 1994, artificial musk has been used in 760 enterprises across the country. Among the 433 Chinese patent medicines currently containing musk ingredients, 431 have completely replaced natural musk with artificial musk, with a replacement rate of more than 99%. The project "Development and Industrialization of Artificial Musk" won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2015. The potential threat of musk toxicity comes more from cosmetics.

Currently, industrial artificial musks are basically used in various cosmetics and perfumes. The most common types of musks in consumer products are nitro musks (such as ketone musk and xylene musk) and polycyclic musks.

Musk xylene and musk ketone are widely used in the Chinese market. Such compounds enter the body through absorption through the skin, inhalation, and ingestion of foods such as fish that have been exposed to these compounds. Synthetic musks accumulate and can be detected in human breast milk, body fat, blood, and external water sources.

Researchers believe that long-term exposure to these highly stable compounds can disrupt cell function and hormone systems, and have potential reproductive toxicity and bioaccumulation.

Some musk compounds, such as nitromusk, have been banned in Japan, the European Union and the United States because of their carcinogenic effects. Because perfume ingredients are not usually disclosed, musk is rarely listed on labels. On the other hand, the safety assessment did not find that musk had any effect on pregnancy, and there were no reports of musk causing miscarriage.

It is still recommended that all pregnant women, breastfeeding women and other special groups avoid using personal care and cleaning products containing synthetic musk.