Toothpaste, What Are You Swallowing?
Ever wonder why there is a warning label on a tube of toothpaste? Why do we need warning labels on what we put in our mouths, everyday?! Should our children be using it? How about younger ones who swallow it?
Let’s explore the ingredients in toothpaste; telling you what else they make from these same chemicals and compounds found in it.
Back in the 1840′s, toothpowder contained ground-up coral, cuttlefish bone, burnt eggshells or porcelain. They were colored purple with cochineal, which is derived from the bodies of tropical scale insects.
Today, toothpaste’s white color alone has 10 or more ingredients, along with enhancers and binders. The main ingredient, is finely powdered chalk called calcium carbonate, or another mineral powder such as aluminum oxide, which is an ingredient used to make cement. Then you have titanium oxide, a white powder, which is added to make the paste whiter.
So does this make you want to use gel toothpastes? Okay, let’s explore that option. These get their abrasiveness from a compound called silica, you know, silica. The little white packets of stuff put in a purse, luggage, vitamins, etc. and marked with an extreme warning label not to ingest! Oh … then they add the coloring. The thickening agent is usually alginate, a derivative of seaweed … not so bad, but what makes toothpaste foam? Detergents!
Now we come to fluorides. The FDA recently remarked that there “may” be indications of links to diseases from the use of fluorides. This is only a “may,” but you know how it will end, don’t you?
Then on to the mouthwash substances incorporated in there to make your breath smell good and keep your teeth strong. Plus you have glycerin to prevent the paste from drying out. And let us not forget the formalin, which is a disinfectant to kill bacteria.
We’re not even going to tell you what the stripes are made of, or how they keep the colored stripes from running together, we fear you may hate us for being the bearer of bad news!
I don’t know about you, but this all makes me want to use baking soda.
Actually, we use “one drop” of Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Peppermint Soap, which is made from rosemary extract, hemp oil and is a vegetable-based soap, so it has no detergents. Or we use Melaleuca (tea tree oil).
If you care about what goes into your children … please make sure it is not toothpaste.
Tags: ingredients | toothpaste
