There are several health benefits of Borax, which include; Prevention of Arthritis, heals swollen throat and tongue Sores, relief from painful swollen red eye, solves menstrual problems, cures urinary infections, enhances testosterone levels, enhancement of female lipido, Cures womb inflammation, and helps in cancer therapy.
Borax kills ants - mix with either sugar or honey - they eat it, take it back to the nest and die. It is used mainly as a laundry aid. Stain remover, deodoriser, fabric softener. My containter says NOT TO BE TAKEN.
Boron is an essential element in soil. We use it on our orchard and crops, but only when a deficiency is detected. The exception is mango, where an application at flower bud break will improve fruit set.
Our labels say CAUTION: DO NOT TAKE INTERNALLY. The concentration is 11% boron, doseage 5g per litre, one application and then re-test. A deficiency can be seen in the leaves, causes “brown heart” in apples, beetroot and turnips and a breakdown in tissue of some flower buds like cauliflowers. Deficiencies are most likely in very alkaline soils where the lime has been overdone. Most gardeners won’t need it. The label also says - skin irritant, avoid breathing dust or vapour, DO NOT get in eyes or clothing, wash thoroughly.
Maybe Darwin in action for the gullible? Back in Texas dusting wall internals and dark crevices with borax or boric acid products was as routine as swatting flies away in the Aussie bush.
Just wondering if this is a joke. The initial writer took the quote from “Farcebook” ??? But back to the question; Boron is an element and is toxic to humans, Borax is also called Sodium Borate while Boric Acid also called Boracic Acid Powder. (Ref Martindale: the Extra Pharmacopoceia 26th Ed.1973.) Boracic powder was used extensively as an antiseptic in past and as a powder for nappy rash on babies, but use has been discontinued due to poisoning through broken skin, that occurs with nappy rash. keep using it on the cockroaches!
No, sadly it is not. You can check on Facebook or other social media that you have access to or follow the link that I gave to the article in The Conversation, which refers to Tiktok, if you want confirmation.
Nonetheless people have been observed with boron toxicity and since it is of no demonstrable benefit ingesting it deliberately is silly. The small amount you might get from handling ant baits or laundry powder will not do any harm.
Yes, plants need it in very small quantities and its concentration in plants is extremely low (several ppm when consumed or 25-75ppm/0.0025% to 0.0075% in dry weight).
The comments that it is no more toxic than table salt is incorrect and could result in members being poisoned if they assume it is correct. Boron is very toxic at small quantities and/or consumed regularly. This is why there are maximum recommended daily intakes such as that in the link in my previous post, which is:
These limits are significantly less than that recommended for salts (which is <5000mg/day for salt)
It is also worth noting that consuming more than which exists naturally in foods is high risk, as proven by the science (from the previously posted link):
Symptoms associated with accidental consumption of boric acid or borax (sodium borate), contained in some household cleaning products and pesticides, include nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea, skin flushing, rash, excitation, convulsions, depression, and vascular collapse [2,6,46]. The amount of boron consumed in people who accidentally consumed boron ranged from 18 to 9,713 mg, and most were children younger than 6 years [46]. Boron toxicity can also cause headache, hypothermia, restlessness, weariness, renal injury, dermatitis, alopecia, anorexia, and indigestion. In infants, high boron intakes have caused anemia, seizures, erythema, and thin hair [9]. Extremely high doses of boron can be fatal; for example, 15,000 to 20,000 mg can cause death in adults [6,9].
Some have a reaction with as little as 18mg being ingested. This is a minute amount compared to salt.
You may want to read the ‘health issues and toxicity’ section in the Wikipedia entry on boron as an element. Note that boron and borax are not the same thing. The nasty part does not come from the boron in the compound that is borax.
In relation to boron, it isn’t found in its pure elemental form naturally, it is always bonded to other elements making them salts, acids or other compounds. These salts (sodium borate or borax/borates), acids (boric acid) or other compounds are the forms which are readily available and would be the sources used to ‘dose’ oneself with boron. Dosing with borax was the subject of the original post.
Even plants which need boron as a micronutrient take boron up through their roots mostly in the form of boric acid, as the pure elemental form doesn’t exist in soils.
Many things aren’t found naturally in their pure elemental form. A good example since you raised table salt is sodium. Pure elemental form of sodium is highly reactive and will oxidise rapidly when exposed to air/moisture. Many of us who studied chemistry have seen how reactive it is and why it doesn’t exist naturally in its pure elemental form. With table salt, it is the sodium bonded to chlorine which causes the health issues, not pure elemental form of sodium as it doesn’t exist naturally. Likewise with boron.
Pure boron is a dark amorphous powder and can be manufactured. Due to its properties it is used as a rocket fuel igniter and in pyrotechnic flares. Amorphous boron isn’t considered overly toxic to humans, but, this is a very different material to the subject of the thread and forms readily available to consumers.
Would taking amorphous boron be recommended? No,
as there is no good scientific evidence to support it use.
Agree completely with boron compounds not being a particularly good thing to be consuming.
However, the scientific testing has shown that it is not ‘highly toxic’ to mammals as a poster claimed, and pointed out that the lethal dose measurement, LD50, is a similar level to table salt. Few would claim NaCl to be ‘highly toxic’.
According to one study, borax is not acutely toxic. Its LD50 (median lethal dose) score is tested at 2.66 g/kg in rats, meaning that a significant dose of the chemical is needed to cause severe symptoms or death. The lethal dose is not necessarily the same for humans. On pesticide information websites it is listed as a non-lethal compound and of no hazardous concerns.
BTW, the LD50 for table salt is 3g/kg vs 2.6g/kg for borax tested on rats.
If borax is toxic as you say, then so is table salt. And vice versa. If table salt not considered toxic, then neither is borax. Of course, greatly exceeding the LD50 dosage of either kills rats and by extension other mammals.
It is toxic and causes death if consumed at quantity. While you may wish to ignore advice of experts, opinion that it is not toxic goes against what leading experts in dietary supplements and nutrition and chemical suppliers to users of borax. It also contradicts advice of state government agencies, namely:
The Food Standards Code does not permit borax to be used in foods. Sale and use of Borax as a food or food ingredient is not permitted in New South Wales and violates Australian poisons legislation. Borax is a toxic substance and poses an unacceptable risk to human health when used in food.
Ingestion:
Short Term Exposure: Significant oral exposure is considered to be unlikely. However, this product may be
irritating to mucous membranes but is unlikely to cause anything more than transient discomfort.
Now do yourself a favour, and have a read of the link on toxicity of various things that I posted. There are links to nearly a hundred MSDSs there.
There are some real eye-openers.
Did you know that water is toxic?
That aspirin and paracetamol are far more toxic than borax.
That botox, the stuff people inject into their faces, is the most toxic material known? More toxic than Polonium or Plutonium.
Major Health Hazards: Acute oral toxicity: The acute oral LD50 for borax was 5,400 mg/kg in male rats and 5,000 in female rats. Acute dermal toxicity: The acute dermal (skin) LD50 for borax was >2,000 mg/kg in rabbits. Primary irritation score: In rabbits, 0.5 grams of borax did not cause skin irritation Primary eye irritation: Borax was a severe eye irritant in rabbits Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. In children, swallowing 5 to 10 grams of borax can cause shock and death. May impair fertility, may cause harm to unborn children.
My bold. It is toxic. Please do not selectively quote sources to try and argue an opinion which is incorrect and inconsistent with leading experts. It is spreading misinformation.
Experts in their relevant fields (which links have been posted) confirm that borax is toxic and will have significant health impacts, including potential death is consumed in similar quantities which some may consume salt. One can have their own opinion and ignore these experts at their own peril.
