Where can I buy borax in Cork?

gigi2000

So does anyone know where to get borax around Cork ? I'm trying to make slime with borax, of course, and I don't know where to find it. Can anyone help ?

Zaph

Moved from Social Media & Blogging forum and thread title changed

Queenalocin

Try your local pharmacy.....

aratsarse101

Snap. I was just ordering it today from Scientific and Chemical. They're in Little Island. I think it was a fiver. You can use wood glue instead of PVA if you like and I normally add a bit of food dye for colour. Small world...

dball

Is Borax safe to handle,
does it give off fumes or is it hazardous in any way?
Toxicity
Borax, sodium tetraborate decahydrate, according to one study, is not acutely toxic.[32] Its LD50 (median lethal dose) score is tested at 2.66 g/kg in rats,[33] meaning that a significant dose of the chemical is needed to cause severe symptoms or death. The lethal dose is not necessarily the same for humans. On pesticide information websites it is listed as a non-lethal compound and of no hazardous concerns.[34]

First registered in 1946 by the EPA as an insecticide with various restrictions, all restrictions were removed in February 1986 due to the low toxicity of borax, as published in two EPA documents relating to boric acid and borax.[35][36]

EPA has determined that, because they are of low toxicity and occur naturally, boric acid and its sodium salts should be exempted from the requirement of a tolerance (maximum residue limit) for all raw agricultural commodities.[35]
Although it cited inconclusive data, a re-evaluation in 2006 by the EPA still found that "There were no signs of toxicity observed during the study and no evidence of cytotoxicity to the target organ."[37] In the reevaluation, a study of toxicity due to overexposure was checked and the findings were that "The residential handler inhalation risks due to boric acid and its sodium salts as active ingredients are not a risk concern and do not exceed the level of concern..." but that there could be some risk of irritation to children inhaling it if used as a powder for cleaning rugs.

Sodium tetraborate decahydrate has no known hazard issues.[38][clarification needed]

Conditions defined as "over-exposure" to borax dust can cause respiratory irritation, while no skin irritation is known to exist due to borax. Ingestion may cause gastrointestinal distress including nausea, persistent vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Effects on the vascular system and brain include headaches and lethargy, but are less frequent. "In severe poisonings, a beefy red skin rash affecting palms, soles, buttocks and scrotum has been described. With severe poisoning, erythematous and exfoliative rash, unconsciousness, respiratory depression, and renal failure."[32]

A draft risk assessment released by Health Canada in July 2016 has found that overexposure to boric acid has the potential to cause developmental and reproductive health effects. Since people are already exposed to boric acid naturally through their diets and water, Health Canada advised that exposure from other sources should be reduced as much as possible, especially for children and pregnant women. The concern is not with any one product, but rather multiple exposures from a variety of sources. With this in mind, the department also announced that registrations for certain pesticides that contain boric acid, which are commonly used in homes, will have their registrations cancelled and be phased out of the marketplace. As well, new, more protective label directions are being introduced for other boric acid pesticides that continue to be registered in Canada (for example, enclosed bait stations and spot treatments using gel formulations).[39]

Possible carcinogen
The Indonesian Directorate of Consumer Protection warns of the risk of liver cancer with high consumption over a period of 5–10 years.[26]

Risk to fertility and pregnancy
Borax was added to the Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) candidate list on 16 December 2010. The SVHC candidate list is part of the EU Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals 2006 (REACH), and the addition was based on the revised classification of borax as toxic for reproduction category 1B under the CLP Regulations. Substances and mixtures imported into the EU which contain borax are now required to be labelled with the warnings "May damage fertility" and "May damage the unborn child".[40] It was proposed for addition to REACH Annex XIV by the ECHA on 1 July 2015.[41] If this recommendation is approved, all imports and uses of borax in the EU will have to be authorized by the ECHA[needs update]. Review of the boron toxicity (as boric acid and borates) published 2012 in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health concluded: "It clearly appears that human B [boron] exposures, even in the highest exposed cohorts, are too low to reach the blood (and target tissue) concentrations that would be required to exert adverse effects on reproductive functions."[42]