Existing comment:
USES OF BORAX
Many people remember the advertisements for 20 Mule Team Borax detergent, and the Death Valley Days radio and later television program it sponsored. But borax products touch our lives in many ways that few people realize. Glass and ceramic products consumed 62% of the borax produced in 1992. Small quantities of borax impart clarity and brilliance to glass, while larger quantities instill heat resistance, creating products like pyrex glass. Fiberglass for bodymolding, tire belting, and insulation material is another major consumer of borax. Borax has been used for centuries in ceramic glazes and enamels.
About 9% of the domestic borax produced becomes soaps and detergents. Its antiseptic qualities make it a good disinfectant and preservative, and it inhibits the growth of mold, mildew, and fungus. Dilute quantities of boron acts like a fertilized to plants, but concentrated doses are toxic and can be applied as a herbicide.
Borax is a critical constituent in the reduction of some metallic ores, and it acts as a fluxing agent during brazing, welding, and soldering operations. Borax gives certain building materials fire retardance. It is an ingrediant [sic] in some cosmetics, in a gasoline addative [sic], and in automotive antifreeze solutions. Boron and aluminum carbide alloys are used as shields in nuclear reactors, and it creates a high temperature abrasive when alloyed with steel.
The United States produced $300 million worth of borax in 1992, more than any other nation on earth. About half of that production was exported. The US holds about one third of the world's known reserves of borates, and these resources lie within the California desert. Borax deposits still exist in Death Valley, but the National Park designation of this area prohibits the future development of these resources. |