Minerals also find their way into health-care products we use daily. Salt is effective in treating skin disease and is used in some soaps. Fluorite, processed for fluoride, is added to toothpaste and drinking water to help prevent tooth decay. A borax and beeswax mixture is added to cleansing creams as an emulsifier to keep oil and water together. Boric acid is a mild antiseptic and is added to powder as a skin-buffering agent.
Zinc oxide is added to creams to allow the cream to cover more thoroughly.
When an unlucky hiker runs into poison ivy, calamine-base lotions are often used to soothe the itchy skin. Calamine is another name for hemimorphite, a zinc silicate mineral. As you can see, minerals are found in many things we use. So, the next time you are in the supermarket, take a moment and acquaint yourself with the multitude of minerals that are a part of our daily lives. Authors Donna Boreck and Liane Kadnuck are geologists at the USBM Denver Research Center, Colorado.