Even though toothpaste (in some form or another) has been around as long as the Ancient Greeks have, the formula (as we know it) did not become popular until World War I. As soon as companies began manufacturing toothpaste, people began to purchase the magical concoction – guaranteed to produce glistening teeth! White teeth were all the rage after World War I had ended, and toothpaste quickly became a product that most people simply couldn’t live without.
Toothpaste is one item that nearly everyone uses today, but what makes this concoction so special? Whether you brush your teeth once per day or three times per day, chances are that you’ve never taken the time to read that ingredient list. Some believe that the ingredients contained in a standard package of toothpaste are essential – others believe that water may be just as effective. In the end, there’s a good reason why most toothpaste packages warn: “Do Not Ingest!”
10. Formaldehyde
That same ingredient that coroners can’t live without can be found inside of your toothpastse tube. Formaldehyde kills all of those small bacteria that climb onto your teeth after eating or sleeping. If a large amount of formaldehyde is accidentally ingested, the result could be fatal. Severe formaldehyde ingestion results in jaundice, kidney damage, liver damage, and death.
9. Detergent
Foam, suds, activation! What would toothpaste be without that satisfying soapy feeling? Manufacturers use regular detergent in order to appease the masses that prefer bubbly toothpaste. While bubbles may be fun, be careful if you accidentally ingest a large amount of this stuff – swallowing detergent can cause digestive tract burning.
8. Seaweed
Stretchy and slimy, seaweed holds that paste together. Without this green stuff, toothpaste would simply fall apart! The good news is that seaweed isn’t toxic. In fact, seaweed has a number of nutritional benefits, though hitting the sushi bar is a better way of gaining those benefits.
7. Peppermint Oil
Minty, minty, minty! Fresh breath can only be kept fresh with the help of peppermint oil! While refreshing when brushing your teeth, peppermint oil can cause a slow pulse, heartburn, and muscle tremors if it is consumed.
6. Paraffin
As slick as the petroleum that it is derived from, paraffin creates a smooth paste that oozes onto your toothbrush. As you might imagine, paraffin wasn’t meant to be eaten. If you happen to swallow this ingredient, you may end up with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and severe constipation.
5. Glycerine Glycol
Never heard of this ingredient before? Sure about that? Glycerin glycol is added to toothpaste in order to prevent the paste from becoming too dry – it’s also found in antifreeze. Even though glycerin is not toxic, this additive may cause nausea if swallowed.
4. Chalk
That’s right – chalk. Thanks to the fact that chalk is made from exoskeletons, it’s hard enough to remove all of that caked on gunk from your pearly whites. Chalk dust may cause lung problems if inhaled, and swallowing a bit of chalk could cause bleeding.
3. Titanium Dioxide
This is another common toothpaste ingredient, though it’s usually found in white paint. When added to toothpaste, titanium dioxide has the safe effect on your teeth as it does on walls – it keeps them nice and white (for a few hours, at least!). Ingesting titanium dioxide won’t hurt you, but it isn’t recommended either.
2. Saccharin
Something has to combat that terrible detergent taste! Saccharin is sweet, but not too sweet – just the way that most people like their toothpaste! Saccharin has been a hot topic of debate every since Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House. The USDA tried to ban the substance in 1972, though it is considered “safe” to ingest today.
1. Menthol
One last ingredient to add a minty note to your breath. Without menthol, toothpaste might taste like, well, chalk, glycerin, paraffin, detergent, titanium dioxide, and seaweed! Go ahead and ingest menthol if you like, but sipping some tea containing menthol is a far better idea than chewing on your tube of toothpaste.
by Harriette Halepis
38 Comments
kys
The fact that this website has produced a list of top ten harmful ingredients in toothpaste and never put Sodium Fluoride on the list, destroys their credibility. It is a well known fact that any form of fluoride is toxic to the human body and will destroy brain cells. The Evil US government and the shadow government agenda has put so much propaganda out denying fluorides toxicity and even lying to say that it is a teeth whitener when in fact, it is corrosive to teeth. C’mon people wake up. Hitler did the same thing to Germany to dumb the people down in Germany. Look it up, it is all documented.
This is why i make my own toothpaste. I did not see sodium fluoride mentioned however. Peppermint oil, yes if ingested can cause problems because it is highly concentrated plant essence, but can be effective in killing bacteria like many essential oils. Also for menthol. It is the same chemial compound found naturally in peppermint oil at very high percentages unless menthol is synthetically made. Most menthol is synthetically made today.
This kind of misleading article still got published? lol.
Do you even know Vit. A become toxice when it consumed beyond our daily need dose?
How about cavity leading to blood poisoning?
Who tell you to swallow your toothpaste?
With Billions of people using tooth paste everyday in the the world, the hospitals would have been the filled with the population.
The hospitals ARE filled… it’s called, cancer, thyroid disease, arthritis & other bone diseases. Pretty much what is ailing the population in North American is related to artificial water fluoridation & all other forms of fluoride. It’s cumulative and it takes decades to manifest itself and you don’t just drop dead with a little daily dose — but you are slowly poisoning yourself. You do know this is a rat poison right? You also know that it comes from the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum industry. It’s a toxic waste by-product from their manufacturing plant. It would cost billions to dispose of it safely, however they found a way to sell it to professionals and government under the guise of healthy teeth and they are now making a profit.
Their solution to pollution is dilution and you my friend are using your body as a filter.
In all honesty, you might want to do a little more research on the subject.
Check out *fluoride alert network*.
FLUORIDEGATE ~ A Film by Dr. David C. Kennedy — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_vlwJPcYW8
This list is total garbage. What about toothpastes with unnecessary antibiotics (triclosan)? And you left out the main active ingredient, fluoride? And while I could list the DaNgErOuS effects of fluoride, one should note that these ingredients are not in concentrations likely to cause the symptoms you’ve listed (sure, systemically, if you suck down toothpaste like gogurt). Chalk dust? It’s hard to inhale calcium carbonate when it’s suspended in a paste. And there’s not seaweed in there, it’s carageenan, a common thickener that’s a seaweed extract. Carageenan is not only NOT dangerous, but is a great substitute for gelatin in vegetarian/vegan products, by the by. Not sure where you buy toothpaste with formaldehyde, but it’s likely in places where you wouldn’t drink the water.
Many toothpastes and other things you may put into your mouth contain water. If you fall into a large body of water you may drown. If given a large intravenous or intra arterial injection of pure water it can kill you. Sodium is found in many foods and other materials used in the mouth. Sodium injected into the body in large amounts can kill you, or ingested in large amounts can kill you. Potassium is found in many foods and in other materials you may put in your mouth. Too much or too little potassium in your blood stream will kill you. So, in this paragraph I have presented a similar scenario to the article above. All the statements are true. If you fear potassium, sodium, water, etc. then the only thing to do is to stop eating or drinking anything ever again. Thank you.
Its funny because after Fukushima now even the seaweed is deadly.
I looked at the top ten human inventions and found them most interesting. And surely one can argue with the relative ranking as to which is. the most important. The number one human invention that was listed was the communicating tool of writing and the illustration showed the cuneiform writing as an early example. However, even before that invention was an earlier one which to this day is not recognized as the greatest of all human inventions, namely that of human speech. It is what changed the face of an ape-like creature to what became homo sapiens -humans, like we are today. The invention went from language of a single source to a two language world.
The first language, that generated from the vocal chords, had a second complete language introduced somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 years ago. Its greatness stems from the fact that it was not only an added complete language, but it’s genius stems from the fact that it modified first language according to the time frame in which events occurred.. Things could now be expressed as happening in the past (past tense), or in the future (future tense) as well as presently occurring (present tense.) Thus you have the beginnings of history, of past events and of planning for future events, something that could not be accomplished with the single language than still exists for all the other animals of the world. These emanations from the vocal chords, humans have chosen to call vowels. The second, and exclusively human language derives from the distinctly different sounds created mostly by the shaping of the facial features like the mouth and the tongue.
10. Formaldehyde: If a large amount of formaldehyde is accidentally ingested, the result could be fatal. Severe formaldehyde ingestion results in jaundice, kidney damage, liver damage, and death.
9. Detergent:
if you accidentally ingest a large amount of this stuff – swallowing detergent can cause digestive tract burning.
8. Seaweed: The good news is that seaweed isn’t toxic. In fact, seaweed has a number of nutritional benefits, though hitting the sushi bar is a better way of gaining those benefits.
7. Peppermint Oil: peppermint oil can cause a slow pulse, heartburn, and muscle tremors if it is consumed
6. Paraffin: If you happen to swallow this ingredient, you may end up with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and severe constipation.
5. Glycerine Glycol: Even though glycerin is not toxic, this additive may cause nausea if swallowed
4. Chalk: Chalk dust may cause lung problems if inhaled, and swallowing a bit (piece) of chalk could cause bleeding.
3. Titanium Dioxide: Ingesting titanium dioxide won’t hurt you, but it isn’t recommended either.
2. Saccharin: Saccharin has been a hot topic of debate every since Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House. The USDA tried to ban the substance in 1972, though it is considered “safe” to ingest today.
1. Menthol: Go ahead and ingest menthol if you like, but sipping some tea containing menthol is a far better idea than chewing on your tube of toothpaste.
Looking at all your dissuastions , I’m sorry but thos “negatives” don’t outweight the positives, and the counter argement to every point can pretty much be summed up as:
Good thing there’s only a little bit of each in TP and you spit most of that out.
OMFG, menthol and chalk in my toothpaste????
What a stupid article. These things are not harmful in these amounts. Some are not harmful at all and only beneficial.
The flouride debate will continue. There is no conceivable reason to fluoridate water as fluoride can be made readily available in other forms and products and people can choose whether they want fluoride or not. As to the other ingredients, most of them are not really necessary. And, yes, they ARE deadly. The fact that this situation continues says something about this country, but I can’t figure out what.
I’ve never seen sodium fluoride, usually stannous (tin fluoride). Yes it’s poisonous. By far the most dangerous ingredient. A tube of toothpaste could kill a young child. Contrary to claims their is no health benefit, the fluorine has been scientifically proven repeatedly to reduce the incidence of cavities. Fluorine is also commonly added to municipal water for this reason.
Conspiracy theorists have long had bizarre and somewhat hilarious ideas about fluoridated water and toothpaste. As usual they do not have science on their sides and simply present illogical plots and/or incorrect science in support of their ideas.
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You best check your History concerning sodium fluoride… Hitler used it in the drinking water
giving it to those in his concentration camps… to Poison them.
“Top 10 Dangerous Toothpaste Ingredients” – three of them on your list you say yourself wont do anything bad if ingested!
We made the title a tiny, little bit sensational. Sorry.
… and i used to eat toothpaste when i was a kid…..
So what? Everything has something that might kill us. Deodorant has aluminum, that is poison too.
The dose makes the poison. There is no Platonic property of poisonousness, everything is toxic in high enough quantities — including water.
Titanium dioxide is also used in white food dyes. It's quite common. It's even more common in foods than it is in paint. There are no medically recorded adverse effects.
The IARC has classified titanium dioxide as a Group 2B carcinogen.
So it has classified coffee, too. What’s your point, again?
You forgot Trisodium Phosphate (industrial wall cleaner). also, I knew there was a reason i got stomachaches after i brush my teeth!
What? I thought fluoride or sodium bicarbonate would make it to this list. Isn't that what cleans your teeth?
Sodium bicarbonate is not dangerous. It’s just baking soda and is even ingested in water for stomache discomfort. The real problem is sodium fluoride.
Glycerine Glycol isn't in antifreeze, nor is it toxic.
You're thinking of Ethylene Glycol. Which isn't in toothpaste.
They forgot Sodium Fluoride, It's printed on the Front of most toothpaste tubes as well as on the back with the other ingredients..
It's Extremely Toxic and provides ZERO health benefits.
Awesome list!
Are they trying to kill US????
You forgot to mention Sodium Fluoride
Used to kill rats and cockroaches
Just google it
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I too am “stunned” that fluoride is not mentioned in this top 10 list. Wow! Fluoride is no doubt far more toxic, plus it is in a higher concentration. Health Canada warns parents to NOT give any child under 3 toothpaste, and under 6 should only use a *RICE* size grain to brush with. I avoid fluoride like the plague, ever since it killed my thyroid and on the advice of my doctor. Too little too late, but at least I can warn others.
I agree with you 100%. It seems like fluoride is one of the most dangerous ingredients, and then the article mentions stuff that should not be in a list of dangerous ingredients list at all. Go figure.
This is why you weren't supposed to swallow it.
do u spit of swallow?