Tag: Industrial dyes

The first synthetic organic dye, mauveine, was accidentally discovered in 1856 by chemist William Henry Perkin, marking the birth of the modern synthetic color industry. This breakthrough fundamentally changed color production by introducing man-made colors, which are chemically manufactured in a lab rather than extracted from natural sources like plants or minerals.

According to the World Health Organization, the food additive E122, a synthetic red colorant, has an acceptable daily intake of 0–4 mg/kg. This complex substance represents one of the most prominent meanings of what is color 122, a term that, without context, can also refer to a specific shade of gray in digital design or a unique hue in a paint manufacturer's catalog.