Is Baking Soda Natural?
A simple title isn’t it?
If you do a web search for that phrase, you will find link after link touting baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an agent for natural cleaning, skin care, tooth care and the list goes on and on ….
The more I thought about it however, something didn’t quite seem to fit …
Part of the issue relates to where most baking soda comes from, while the other is due to an understanding of the meaning of “natural” when discussing these types of substances.
Is there a “natural” form of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)?
Now I am totally aware sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), a.k.a. baking soda, does exist in large quantities within Mother Earth’s system in the form of a mineral called nahcolite.
Even though nahcolite is the natural form of sodium bicarbonate, is it used as the source of baking soda?
Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) Production ….
Historically, baking soda was manufactured using the Solvay process (developed in the mid nineteenth century) by processing calcium carbonate (usually limestone) with salt brine (sodium chloride) that had been saturated with ammonia. Other products derived from this process includes sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) also known as soda ash and calcium chloride (CaCl2). This Solvay system is definitely a chemical manufacturing process for producing baking soda!
After the discovery of substantial deposits of another sodium carbonate mineral called trona (Na3CO3(HCO3) – 2H2O), the use of the Solvay process fell off by 1980. The shift away from using the Solvay process was two-fold:
1) it was less costly to mine and process trona to produce baking soda and soda ash;
2) hypothetically, processing trona is more “earth-friendly”.
Like nahcolite, trona is an inorganic, evaporate mineral forming as mineral-laden waters evaporate away causing the chemicals in solution (like Na+, Ca2+, HCO3-, CO32-) to recombine and precipitate out forming beds of new minerals. Significant deposits of trona and nahcolite were formed as ancient lakes (>50 million years ago) evaporated away in parts of western Wyoming and northwestern Colorado.
The trona deposits of this region are now the targets of several mines and the companies produce more than 17 million tons of trona (and a few hundred thousand tons of nahcolite) each year from the Wyoming deposits alone.
More than 95% of the baking soda and virtually all soda ash used in the U. S. each year is derived by processing trona (per the Wyoming Mining Association).
Since trona (Na3CO3(HCO3) – 2H2O) is not pure sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) it has to be processed to derive soda ash (sodium carbonate or Na2CO3) first then baking soda (NaHCO3) is produced from the soda ash by adding CO2.
So technically speaking, the bulk of the baking soda we buy in the grocery store is a material that is produced by first mining the mineral trona which is then processed into soda ash (Na2CO3) which is subsequently mixed with more CO2 to finally produce baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
Does this sound like a completely natural product to you?
To me it seems like there is an awful lot of “production” going on when making baking soda!
You’re right that this is a lot of processing and baking soda definitely isn’t dug straight out of the ground and boxed. Still, baking soda has a ton of uses besides just causing baked goods to rise and considering so many of the alternatives, it still is relatively healthy. I don’t use it much internally but it’s a frequent ‘guest’ for cleaning and deodorizing. For instance, I much prefer using baking soda to scrub countertops rather than a chemical product with a multitude of unpronouncable names.
.-= Sydney Johnston´s last blog ..The Alli Weight Loss Pill: Alli Side Effects =-.
Hi 5 folks – definitely food for thought – “I’m gob-smacked” lol – you have me thinking here! – I have been cleaning my teeth with “dental grade baking soda” included in this tube of Arm & Hammer brand of enamel care toothpaste I bought a couple of weeks ago and being a person who usually is very cautious what I put into my body in the way of chemicals I never gave this a thought simply because baking soda has been in all my homes all my life since I was a kid! – its one of those old fashioned kind of products that most homes seem to have in there cupboards I never gave it a thought when seeing baking soda added to this toothpaste on the box when I was deciding what toothpaste to buy in the store so I just went for the dearest – but now I’ll be thinking? – am I doing the right thing when cleaning my teeth after reading this post I betcha I end up throwing this new tube out and buying my usual Fluoride Brand ha ha – now there’s another subject to blog about – “Fluoride” – lol
All my best to you and yours
Phillip Skinner
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Jim, it had not occurred to me that baking soda was a processed chemical. That is a real eye opener. Your post points out a flaw in common perceptions concerning what is natural and what is chemically processed. I suspect there are a lot of processed items within the “natural” arena. I agree with Sidney that baking soda is still a better alternative than many other cleaners.
.-= Jon Clayton´s last blog ..Build Your Own Internet Traffic Machine =-.
I was not aware of the old way or the current way of processing baking soda. It was interesting to learn more about it. I try to stay away from chemicals as much as possible because they are everywhere. We breathe them, eat them, and live with them. I am concerned, the same as someone else commented, on baking soda in toothpaste. Somehow it doesn’t seem as bad getting it from our baked goods (providing we aren’t eating too much of those) as it does getting it multiple times per day on our teeth.
.-= Vicki Zerbee´s last blog ..Resveratrol Scam Legitimate without Science and Research and Guarantee =-.
Sydney, Phillip, Jon and Vicki ….
Thanks for commenting. Your views and thoughts definitely help illuminate the message of this site
First of all, I never meant to imply baking soda was completely unsafe, when used properly all evidence suggests it is a safe product to use for a variety of purposes
Secondly I also never said the baking soda of today wasn’t natural and I provided a little more insight about that on the following post (What does natural mean exactly?).
I wouldn’t stop using baking soda in either case my point mainly has to do with our use of certain terms. I will be presenting a series of related posts over the next couple of weeks examining people’s perspectives about terms such as natural, chemical, green, etc. and how they appear to influence their attitudes about certain types of products.
Thanks again everyone!
Anyone else notice electricity to run this website is processed? Either conducted from a natural source or processed other source.
Doesn’t make it bad (seeing as it was electronically printed makes it more earth friendly than handouts) but it is still processed.
I, as well as a lot of other people that have probably read this, got a bad taste out of it simply because it puts down one of the most natural and versatile cleaners around.