5: Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Sodium Carbonate

Abstract

Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Sodium Carbonate, and Sodium Bicarbonate are used in cosmetic products at concentrations ranging up to 50%. The LD50 in rats for Sodium Bicarbonate ranged from 7.6 g/kg to 8.9 g/kg. Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Sodium Carbonate, and Sodium Bicarbonate caused conjunctivitis. Sodium Bicarbonate was not an ocular irritant to laboratory animals. Neither Sodium Bicarbonate nor Sodium Carbonate was a teratogen to laboratory animals. Sodium Sesquicarbonate and Sodium Bicarbonate were not mutagenic to two different cell cultures. Dermatitis, but not sensitization, was observed in employees of a Trona (Sodium Sesquicarbonate) mining facility. Sodium Carbonate, but not Sodium Bicarbonate, is a skin and eye irritant due to the alkaline nature of its solutions, The cosmetic use of Sodium Carbonate at high concentrations is mainly limited to products designed to be diluted before use and in products where pH is buffered to near neutrality. It is concluded that Sodium Sesquicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Sodium Carbonate are safe as presently used in cosmetics.