What is Boron?

Boron is one of the micronutrients required for optimal health and is involved in maintaining good bone mineralization. Boron is essential for proper assimilation of calcium into the bone matrix, or in simpler terms makes sure that calcium stays bound to the structure of the bone. Borate, or sodium borate, is used in laundry detergent, cleaning products, and pesticides.

According to WAG!, “Sodium borate is a naturally occurring mineral and salt of a boric acid that is harvested from evaporated lakes. It is more commonly referred to as Borax and is used in laundry and cleaning products, as a pH buffer in biochemical labs, as a welding component, as a water softening agent, and in the creation of ceramic goods. It is used in some countries as an ingredient in food but is banned in the US.”

Compounds of boron, called borax has been used for thousands of years. In the eighth century A.D., borax was exported from Tibetan lakebeds along the Silk Road for use by Arabic goldsmiths and silversmiths; it was also used to make ceramic glazes in China.

If you have kids and they make slime, then you will be familiar with their requests for borax to make slime.

Some signs that your dog has an EXCESS of Boron in their body are as follows:

• Cough
• Decreased urine production
• Depression
• Diarrhea
• Dry skin
• Excessive drooling

What products have boron in them?

Cleaning products, laundry detergent, analgesics, antibiotics, dental hygiene products, and pesticides have boron in them. It might be called by other names like sodium borate, boric acid, or borax.

In fact, one of our customers completed a Nutritional Blueprint Testing Kit and found that her dog had higher levels of boron. The normal range for dogs is 0.05 – 0.59. The dog’s level was 1.25. That’s pretty high.

We shared the report with her and she immediately when to work looking around her house for the culprit. She found that the dish soap to wash her dog’s food bowls had sodium borate as an ingredient. Problem solved! She now knows that she really needs to rinse out his bowl after eating or switch to more natural dish soap.

You might be surprised by how many products have boron in them. I started to list them and instead, I found this list from the Household Products Database. It lists all household products that have the ingredient sodium borate decahydrate (borax) – See Borax Product List

I even found some canine dental products with borax in them. This one is canine toothpaste that the dog will probably ingest! 

Back to the pet parent…

She purchased a Nutritional Blueprint Testing Kit and she wouldn’t have known that her dog had excessive boron in his body otherwise. Knowing your dog is healthy is peace of mind. Our dogs are family members. They can’t tell you that their tummy hurts or they’re sad. It’s our job as pet parents to look out for them and give them a voice. Be the best pet parent and learn more about your dog’s current health status.