Is silicon dioxide in food safe?
Silicon dioxide or SiO2 is a crystal-like compound that naturally occurs in many foods and beverages. It’s even used as an anti-caking agent, a defoamer, and carrier for flavors in food processing. Despite its widespread use in the food industry, there are ongoing debates on whether silicon dioxide is indeed safe to consume.
What Exactly Is Silicon Dioxide?
Let’s start with some sciency stuff (because who doesn’t love more than 20 syllable words?). Silica or silicon dioxide (SiO2) is a chemical compound formed when you combine one atom of silicon with two atoms of oxygen bonded covalently.
Silicon can be found naturally in earth crust and different rocks like quartz or sandstone while it’s extracted industrially via reduction from silica or silicates through carbonaceous reducing agents such as coke at high temperatures around 1700°C.
And yes! It’s similar to glass manufacturing but cleaner… hope it won’t shatter your misconceptions about safety later.
Common Uses Of Silicon Dioxide
Since silica-based compounds are chemically stable, they’re present everywhere – from cleaning detergents to dietary supplements – thus making them among the most versatile components globally today. Humans also have a natural intake of silicon oxide contained within vegetables and fruits including whole grains.
Below is an easy illustration summarising Silicon usage world wide:
Industry | Annual Usage |
---|---|
Agriculture | 1 Million Metric Tons |
Construction | 91 Million M.T |
Glass Manufacturing | 40 Million M.T |
Cement Production | 12 million M.T |
It Can Even Be Found In Toothpaste…
Yes! You read that right; Sa-voury snacks aren’t the only products containing it، our daily dental routine too could involve micrograms of silica! It’s added to toothpaste formulations as a mild abrasive responsible for plaque removal in between the teeth (for that ‘devilishly’ perfect award winning smile).
Safety Of Silicon Dioxide Consumption
Now to the question at hand, is silicon dioxide harmful when consumed?
In its natural form, silicon dioxide takes on two types – crystalline and amorphous forms while it’s permissible by authorities in quantities not exceeding limits set.
Crystalline Silica:
This might come as a surprise but crystalline silica is relatively dangerous compared to amorphous silica present in food. This type of SiO2 causes respiratory issues such silicosis: chronic inflammation which means those exposed could experience difficulty breathing due to chest pains and frequent coughs if they breathe high-particle aggregates or dust containing this compound regularly over time.
Amorphous Silicon Dioxide:
Contrary to Crystalline SiO2، Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) found naturally in rocks like sandstone has incredibly low biological activity with no associated health effects identified making its use safe by numerous regulatory health bodies across different regions such as FDA, EFSA etc…
The National Organic Standards Board even approves food-grade silicone’s usage under specific maximum limits!
Should You Be Worried?
SiO2 can be lethal but it depends on whether you are directly dealing with crystallized powder or handling si ca-based products (like mortar). It’s all about being informed
If present
– Natural occurring usually safe
– Additional synthetically added could be approved by FDA and other agencies
Therefore Just ensure that proper quantity regulated practices exist within industrial settings just like production workers using personal protective equipment in confined environments.
A Note From The Editor,
It cannot be denied that there have been instances where companies breached safety standards resulting either from negligence or over-exuberance causing huge scares within the public sphere regarding the safety of silicon compounds in general. However, the point remains that Silicon Compounds are ubiquitous in nature around us and yet we live relatively safe lives so just ensure you don’t spend hours huffing sand or worse quartz dust what with all those minerals particles.
Based on numerous scientific studies on both crystalline silica and amorphous silica,
it is fair to conclude this – “kindly exhale the bottled air-space now” without fear of silicone-dioxide containing Rock (Amorphous) lurking somewhere unexpected.
Hey there, I’m Dane Raynor, and I’m all about sharing fascinating knowledge, news, and hot topics. I’m passionate about learning and have a knack for simplifying complex ideas. Let’s explore together!
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