Sodium chloride — answers to table salt
Appears in 1 scanned product.
The same compound as ordinary table salt, either mined from underground deposits or evaporated from seawater. In cosmetics it usually appears as a fine or coarse white crystal or dissolved in water.
Why it’s used
In liquid soaps and shampoos, salt is used to thicken the formula by changing how surfactant molecules pack together — a cheap and effective way to get a product from watery to gel-like without adding a separate thickening ingredient. In scrubs, larger salt crystals serve as a physical exfoliant.
What the evidence says
We don’t have a source for this one we can show you, so we’re not summarising the evidence here.
Look it up yourself
We would rather point you at the shelf than summarise something you can’t check. These are the same places we search:
- PubChem — what the substance is, chemically — names, synonyms and structure
- PubMed — every paper indexed by the US National Library of Medicine that names it
These are starting points, not our findings — we haven’t run them for you. A substance whose name is also an ordinary word (“Heart”, “Alanine”, “Water”) will return papers that are not about the ingredient at all.
Context
In rinse-off products used as a thickener, it is present briefly and at levels well below anything of concern. In leave-on scrubs, the concern is mechanical (abrasion from the crystal edges) rather than chemical, and depends entirely on how coarse the grain is and how hard it is applied.
As a supplement
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.
A simple mineral compound made of sodium and chloride ions, the same substance as common table salt.
Why it’s used
Included in electrolyte and hydration supplements to supply sodium and chloride, which the body uses to regulate fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle function.
What the evidence is for
maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance.
What the evidence says
Sodium and chloride are essential nutrients with well-established physiological roles, and national dietary reference values exist for both. Most discussion in nutrition science concerns excess intake from the general diet rather than supplemental use for replenishment.
Context
Reference intake values are derived from population studies of sodium and chloride requirements and health outcomes, not from supplement dosing trials specifically.
Educational information, not medical or safety advice. Consult a professional for allergies or medical concerns.