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Borax: Not the green alternative it's cracked up to be
By Rebecca Sutton, PhD, EWG Senior Scientist
I'm just going to start with the bad news, OK? Borax is not a green cleaning ingredient, as many have been led to believe.
Yes, the 20-mule team laundry booster box has a very "green" look to it and plenty of recipes for "green" homemade cleaners require it. But we won't be fooled, and we hope you won't be, either. In short: EWG does not recommend using borax to clean your home.
What is borax?
Borax is a (powdery, white) mineral that also goes by a few other names (just to make it confusing!): sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. A close cousin of borax is boric acid, which has many of the same concerns discussed below. While you might prefer to remember only one of these names, knowing them all helps you sleuth it out better when reading labels. Borax is a pesticide that poisons insects, fungus and weeds, but it also has plenty of other uses that we encounter in consumer products.
How are we exposed to borax?
In our daily lives, there are two ways most of us encounter borax: when we clean and when we preen. It's also in slimy toys and some nutritional supplements.
1. Cleaning products
It's not easy to find out what's in most cleaning products, with a few exceptions. But it's important to try, since many products are a source of harmful air contaminants and, to make it that much harder, greenwashing is rampant.
If you're thinking about making your own cleaning products as a safer alternative, we recommend that you not use the recipes that include borax, since it may pose health risks, too. Unfortunately, it's often pitched as a "green" or "natural" ingredient - but we don't agree. If you're going to make your own, consider these borax-free ideas.
2. Personal care products
Boric acid or sodium borate can also be found in personal care products. The cosmetic industry's own safety panel states that these chemicals are unsafe for infant or damaged skin, because they can absorb readily into the body. Despite this guidance, boric acid is found in some diaper creams. See EWG's Skin Deep cosmetics database for other personal care products containing borax or boric acid and click here for diaper creams that don't contain it.
Both the European Union and Canada restrict these ingredients in body care products made for children under three years of age and require that products containing these ingredients be labeled as not appropriate for broken or damaged skin. No similar safety standards are in place in the United States.
3. Goopy toys
Play Doh, silly putty, and other slimy toys may also contain boric acid. Homemade playdough is a safer alternative to the store bought variety - here's a simple, borax-free recipe.
4. Nutritional supplements
Boron, a component of borax and boric acid, is considered a trace nutrient, though its essential biological role is unknown. As a result, some nutritional supplements contain boron, which may be in the form of boric acid - check the list of ingredients.
What's the problem with borax?
Borax can have short- and long-term health effects:
Short-term irritant. Borax can be irritating when exposure occurs through skin or eye contact, inhalation or ingestion. Poison reports suggest misuse of borax-based pesticides can result in acute toxicity, with symptoms including vomiting, eye irritation, nausea, skin rash, oral irritation and respiratory effects. Toddlers and young children face special risks from hand-to-mouth transfer of carpet or crack and crevice, dust or spray borax treatments.
Hormone disruption. Borax and its cousin, boric acid, may disrupt hormones and harm the male reproductive system. Men working in boric acid-producing factories have a greater risk of decreased sperm count and libido. According to EPA's safety review of these pesticides, chronic exposure to high doses of borax or boric acid causes testicular atrophy in male mice, rats and dogs.
Animal studies reviewed by the EPA indicate that while the female reproductive system is less sensitive to borax, exposure to it can also lead to reduced ovulation and fertility. Borax and boric acid can cross the placenta, affecting fetal skeletal development and birth weight in animal studies of high-dose exposures.
In its 2006 review of the safety of borax pesticides, the EPA declined to perform a risk assessment that included exposures from cleaning supplies, cosmetics and other consumer goods along with professional and consumer pest-control products. As a result, it's difficult to assess the level of risk that may be involved in using borax to clean your home. In light of the reproductive effects reported in both animal and worker studies, we suggest that you avoid borax in homemade or store-bought cleaning supplies.
What should I use to keep my house clean?
Most people buy cleaning products at the store, but making your own is pretty easy if you're up for it. Here are some simple tips for both - keeping in mind that a few basic products -- like all-purpose scrub -- are all that you really need:
Buying cleaning products. At the store, look for certified green products with the Green Seal or EcoLogo mark on the label whenever possible. And check with the manufacturer for a complete list of ingredients in any cleaners you use. If they won't tell you what's in it - don't buy it.
Unfortunately, borax will often only be listed on the product's label when its marketing reflects its pesticide qualities (e.g., the label claims it's an anti-bacterial product). If it's not marketed that way, manufacturers tend to claim that it's inert (which they can), because then it need not be listed on the label. Clear as mud, right? That's how they like it.
Making your own. Common kitchen ingredients like vinegar, lemons, and baking soda make great homemade cleaning supplies. Always take care when combining ingredients - some combinations are safer than others! For example, combining bleach with any acid (vinegar, lemon juice) will create very toxic vapors that you don't want to breathe. Click here for some specifics about what not to combine.
Whether you buy or make your own, remember: other than plain soap and water, most cleaning supplies should be handled with caution, since many may be skin or eye irritants or produce caustic vapors.
Check out EWG's Healthy Home Tips on green cleaning for safer ways to keep your home clean.
[Many thanks to Flickr CC & brainsthehead for the lemony pic]
I bought some borax and only use it to clean my toilet.. knowing that you can kill roaches with it made me feel nervous to use it around the house because of the baby.. Thank you for sharing this.. very helpful! =)
I had no idea! I also use borax to clean my toilet (and sinks!) I always kept it away from my kids as I would any cleaner but maybe it just shouldn't be in the house! Thanks!
Thanks very much, Rebecca~! I love the work the EWG is doing. It's so so reliable, practicial, helpful to individuals, and provides a fine link between research and consumers. I read during the Summer of 2010 that the European Union declared borates including borax to be reproductive toxins. Since I give talks in the N FL area, I'll be sharing your article with others. Much gratitude! Reenie
Totally amazing to me how receptive people are to toxic products in their home without realizing the dangers. I covered this topic when I authored "Your Home and Your Health" in 1992.
and in my Healthy Home program. Major focus
in my book was children and toxins. Many
of the companies who have joined the green bandwagon in the past few years just have not done their homework, or they choose to place profit above concern for health.
Even if I were not with the company who
was the first in the world to be certified climate neutral and the company that was green before it was cool to be green. Our Basic H was recognized at the National Earth Day Product!
Even if I were not committed to growing
and creating healthier homes, I would still
be advocating wise choices when it comes to
your home or your health.
As one who is chemically sensitive due
to the exposure of Malathion (pesticide) by
my neighbor, (I call it the Good Neighbor
policy-Share your Poison!) I have found the
Get Clean products to be the Safest and even
the most economical because they are so very
concentrated. All are guaranteed. They all really do what they say they will do! Visit me
at www.nutrition-mission.myshaklee.com
That Ye may prosper in Health"
Jeanne McGowen, CNC
Have the authors of this actually read the report on borax, or do they just want to scare people? HIGH doses are very HIGH. Page 20 of epa pdf above:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0062-0004
Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL) at 32 mg/kg/day for 90 days for dogs, which are more sensitive than other species (rats, mice). Assuming similar toxicity, that's the equivalent of a 100 kg male EATING (not breathing the dust, definitely not rubbing on the skin, etc) 3 grams per day for 3 months. That's more than half a tablespoon, taken ORALLY (possibly as a coffee sweetener?)
On page 36, dermal exposure results from rubbing it on human infants, several times daily for at least a month show NO elevated levels of boron in the urine or blood. INFANTS!
This IS a safe cleaning product and pesticide. It is NOT a food substance. What do you suggest people with ant/other insect infestations do, get an aardvark?
PLEASE READ/UNDERSTAND YOUR FACTS BEFORE SCARING PEOPLE.
Hi Pete - EWG has not addressed the use of borax as a pesticide, as we haven’t done any pesticide comparisons – we’re only talking about it as a cleaning agent. We do not recommend pesticides be used in everyday home cleaning - that includes borax, triclosan, quaternary ammonium compounds ("quats" like benzalkonium chloride), etc.
The cosmetics industry’s own safety panel recommends borax and boric acid not be used in infant personal care products, and the EU and Canada have regulations restricting use in these products for kids under three. Unfortunately, no government agency has performed a thorough risk assessment of these chemicals that includes exposure through home cleaning, and with lab animal and worker studies indicating reproductive toxicity, we simply cannot recommend borax as a component of green cleaning.
Thank you, Pete, for bringing some sanity to this subject.
The fact is, the reactions such as skin rashes, headaches, etc, after being "exposed" to Borax are nothing more than herxheimer effects of parasitic die-off.
I've heard many, many stories of old timers bathing in and even drinking Borax water for decades, who lived to the age of 90 and beyond.
I promise you this, people: The effects of occasional exposure to Borax--yes, even bathing in it--is far more preferable to being infested with human parasites.