KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Parents of young children have taken to social media to express their concern about shiny particles they said they have found in baby wipes made by Huggies.

The concern arose last week when a mother posted a video on social media of what looked like shiny specks of glass on the cloths. The shiny particles also have been called glass shards.

But the one thing the parents do agree on is that whatever the substance, it has irritated their children's skin.

"I was really upset at first," said Kimberly Miner, a Palm Coast, Fla., mother of two. "There was a really big hard piece on it. It honestly kind of looked like glue."

Miner's husband, Steven, tested the wipes out for himself.

"I took a wipe, rubbed it on my arm and told her, 'see nothing happened.' Well, about 10 minutes later I really started noticing that it was starting to itch on my arm," he said.

Huggies has said the shiny particles are not glass, blaming the sparkling substance on a rare case of fibers combining. Huggies said the particles do not pose a hazard.

In a statement, Kimberly-Clark (KMB), the maker of Huggies products, said, "It is important to note that no glass is used during the manufacture of our wipes."

The manufacturer listed three key findings from analysis by an independent firm:

• We can confirm NO glass or fiberglass was present.

• We found only microfibers used to manufacture our baby wipes.

• A shimmer can be caused by the microfibers reflecting light.

The company also said in the statement, "Based on the findings of the independent testing, we are confident that our product is safe and poses no health risk to babies, so there are no plans to remove this product from the market."

Kelsea Andrews, a Knoxville, Tenn., mother, is surprised by Huggies' response.

She contacted Huggies after finding the sparkling substance in her own baby wipes.

"Their customer service folks have been fantastic and so helpful. But what I was told by the customer representative is they have no idea what it is and they have had no moms send in their wipes. All of these moms are keeping their wipes because they're expecting a lawsuit on their hands and don't want to give Huggies all of the evidence," said Andrews. "They're begging me to send in these wipes so that they can investigate and figure out what's in it. So at the same time they are saying that, how can the company come forward and say, 'Hey moms, it's still OK to use our product' when they're not even for sure what's in it in the first place?"

Andrews says her 4-month-old daughter Elise has been an incredibly happy baby until the last couple of weeks.

"We've been having a few issues with her being a little bit fussy and we've started to figure out what's going on with that," Andrews said. "But as a new mom, I was checking everything because it was so sudden that her disposition changed. We checked her formula, her soap, if her diaper is too tight, fever, gas, and so on."

Andrews said her daughter's differing demeanor is a tale of two different batches of Huggies baby wipes.

"We have bought the wipes in bulk from a couple of different places. We have one batch that is clean. There's nothing shiny or sparkly about it. If we go to the other bags that are from the natural care, it does look like bits of glass in it. It's very sparkly. That is not normal," Andrews said. "I noticed that when I was wiping her with these, she would look red and kind of irritated."

Andrews said she does not believe the specks are glass. However, she has examined the ingredients and speculates it could be some type of polypropylene plastic. According to Huggies, polypropylene is a microfiber that is "commonly used for its softness and strength."

Whatever the substance, Andrews said it is abrasive.

"These shiny specks, they come off on your hands. It's a prickly sensation and it feels like it's digging into your skin. I have been wiping my daughter down with this, her body, her face and her eyes. I cannot imagine how she has been feeling," she said.

She thinks the company was too quick to dismiss concerns.

"They are not issuing any kind of recall and say this is all safe," Andrews said.

Huggies has posted frequently asked questions about the wipes and the substance found on them.

Andrews said she stopped using the wipes and her daughter's behavior has returned to normal.

"We gave her a bath and did not use the bad batch of wipes and she is back to her normal happy self."

The Miners are sending their wipes back to Huggies.

"I don't want any type of compensation," Kimberly Miner said. "I don't even want the money back for the wipes. I don't want any coupons I'm not asking for free diapers I want them to recall the product. That's it."

Contributing: Brittany D Dionne, WJXX-TV/WTLV-TV, Jacksonville, Fla.