how dangerous is toothpaste?

[emamum]

Ive bought my lad some toothpaste and this is what it says on the back......

Warnings

Keep out of reach of children under 6 yrs of age. If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Centre immediately.....

its a 1oz tube of toothpaste, how dangerous could it really be if he ate it all??

[flashy]

bloody hell, puts you off cleaning yer peggies fer life doesnt it

[derekgas]

If that is aimed at children (a childs toothpaste), that is disgraceful, I bet the shop don't even know it says that, this is when I agree with grocery labelling, I would be kicking off with whoever sold me that if it is a kiddies product.

[Neil]

I think you will find that most toothpastes will be the same.

Come to think of it would you want a 2 year old eating a tub of Drapolene? It all comes down to knowing what your kids are eating.

[nikkival]

The problem with most toothpaste is that it contains something called sodium lauryl sulphate, which is also used in shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath, washing powder etc. If you google it - you'll find a lot of research on the side effects and irritant factors

[MargaretR]

My pet subject has cropped up yet again.
I suggest you read this
Guide to Less Toxic Products

I use a toothpaste which is totally free from nasty chemicals
Green People Toothpaste Range | Green People | Body | All Brands | So Organic

[jaysay]

In the days of the good old coal fire, you could rub your tooth brush in the soot on the chimney back and clean your teeth, didn't taste nice, but boy did get your teeth clean

[Neil]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I use a toothpaste which is totally free from nasty chemicals

Or so you think

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by Neil

Or so you think

Ingredients
Calcium Carbonate (naturally occuring chalk), Aqua (pure water - micro filtered), Glycerin (plant derived), Xanthan gum (corn sugar gum), *Mentha piperita (peppermint oil) Ascorbic acid, Commiphora myrrha (myrrh resin), d-limonene (from essential oils). *Organically grown

[Neil]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Ingredients...., *Mentha piperita (peppermint oil) ...*Organically grown

Don't think that just because it is organically grown it is not harmfull. Read this

Here is an abstract from it

Uses:

Peppermint oil has long been an extremely popular flavoring agent in products ranging from chewing gum to after-dinner mints. Medicinally, it is mainly used to aid the various processes of digestion although, in 1990, the United States Food and Drug Administration declared peppermint oil to be ineffective as a digestive aid and banned its use as a nonprescription drug for this purpose. The active constituents are found in the essential oil, mainly menthol and carvone.

Allergens:
Menthol and L-carvone appear to be the main allergens. Mint also contains 1,8-cineole, acetaldehyde, acetic-acid, alpha-amorphene, alpha-cadinene, alpha-carotene, alpha-copaene, alpha-gurjunene, alpha-pinene, alpha-terpinene, alpha-terpineol, alpha-thujone, alpha-tocopherol, aluminum, amyl-alcohol, amyl-valerate, anethole, azulene, benzoic-acid, beta-betulenol, beta-carotene , beta-caryophyllene, beta-copaene, beta-ionone, beta-pinene, beta-thujone, beta-ylangene , betaine, bicycloelemene, bisabolene, cadinene, calcium, camphene, carvacrol, carveol, carveol-acetate, carvone, caryophyllene-oxide, cedrene, cedrol, choline, chromium, cineole, cinerol, cinnamic-acid-methyl-ester, cis-piperitol, cis-roseoxide, cis-sabinol, citronellol, cryptone, flavons hymenoxin, iron, isoamyl-phenylacetate, isobutyric-acid, isomenthol, isomenthol-acetate, isomenthone, isomenthyl-acetate, isopulegol-acetate, isorhoifolin, isovaleraldehyde, isovaleric-acid, isovaleric-acid-n-octyl-ester, jasmone, lavandulol, ledol , limonene, linalool, luteolin, menthol, menthone, menthoside, menthyl-acetate, menthyl-isovalerate, menthyl-valerate, myrcene, myrtenol, neoisomenthol-acetate, neomenthol, neomenthone, neomenthyl-acetate, nerolidol, nevadensin, octan-3-ol, p-cymene, p-cymol, pectin, pent-cis-2-en-1-ol, perillyl-alcohol, phellandrene, phenylethanols, phenyl-propyl-pyridines, phosphorus, pinene, piperitenone, piperitone, piperitone-oxide, pulegone, pyridine, rosmarinic-acid, sabinene, sabinene-acetate, sabinene-hydrate, salvigenin, sideritoflavone, silicon, terpinolene, thymol, trans-piperitol, trans-roseoxide, vanillin, viridiflorol, xanthomicrol

I noticed perillyl-alcohol in that list so that means people not wanting in ingest alcohol are out.

If you search for perillyl-alcohol it is actually has anti cancer properties so that sounds good, I think.

I wonder what all those others do to you.

I found a link to a pdf where a girl died after injecting 5ml of peppermint oil. I only read part of it here

Originally Posted by [email protected]

[I]Ingredients....Glycerin (plant derived)

How about this from wiki

Glycerol is a chemical compound with the formula HOCH2CH(OH)CH2OH. This colorless, odorless, viscous liquid is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Also commonly called glycerin or glycerine, it is a sugar alcohol, and is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity. Glycerol has three hydrophilic alcoholic hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. Its surface tension is 64.00 mN/m at 20 °C , and it has a temperature coefficient of -0.0598 mN/(m K). It is a central component of lipids.

[MargaretR]

I know that everything is composed of chemicals, and some people react to some natural products. If mint does cause a reaction with you, there are several other toothpaste varieties to try
Green People Toothpaste Range | Green People | Body | All Brands | So Organic

What is important to me is that the toiletries and house cleaning products I buy contain no chemicals derived from petroleum, and are organic in the sense that they have not been polluted by herbicides or pesticides, because my skin and nasal membranes are affected adversly when exposed to them.

I buy all my toiletries and cleaning products from these sites
Brands | So Organic
Home Page - Aubrey Organics