I decided to look into Borax because I started seeing things about how is it has “high” developmental and reproductive toxicity (source). I as I was doing my own research, I found that most people are confusing Borax with Boric Acid.
First off, these two substances ARE NOT THE SAME! It is almost like the difference between water and hydrogen peroxide.
There is this basic chemistry joke about the difference between water (H2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
First off, these two substances ARE NOT THE SAME! It is almost like the difference between water and hydrogen peroxide.
There is this basic chemistry joke about the difference between water (H2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
Borax chemical formula is Na2B4O7•10H2O or Na2[B4O5(OH4)]•8H2O
Boric Acid chemical formula is H3BO3
Different?
HUGE DIFFERENCE!
Borax is a Salt. Boric Acid is an ACID.
Both are white crystalline solids, usually found in powder form, by the consumer.
Boric acid comes from the reaction of borax with an acid (reduction).
Chemically borax is safe compared to boric acid. But what about using it for cleaning? This is my main question.
According to the Environmental Working Group, they say get rid of it, it is not a ‘green cleaner’. But if you look at boric acid on their site, it gives the same rating of F to both. (Source: Borax, Source: Boric Acid)
Most sites you look at with information about borax interchange borax with boric acid, AGAIN NOT THE SAME THING!!! So it is hard to decipher what is what.
Borax.com and 20mulelaundry.com (both manufactures of Borax) are very clear about the difference of the two. They also say that borax is something that should be kept out of reach of small hands. Which makes perfect sense; you want to keep most cleaning products out of small hands.
Greenfootsteps.com and Crunchybetty.com do the best to try and inform use about borax, but the decision to use borax for cleaning is up to you. I am not going to tell you to stop using anything, but for me I am going to keep using my Borax.
Other sources not linked:
Thanks for pointing this out. I did some research a while back and discovered the same thing!
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the exact site I was looking for, but I think you may find it interesting nonetheless since you are so great with the green cleaners.
http://lifehacker.com/5309712/make-a-non+toxic-cleaning-kit
Thanks for that site. I have in the works a kit kind of like that. Also if you are looking for more direct links to cleaning recipes, up at the top is a tab titled "frugal Cleaning".
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