Why do I always think of the good stuff *after* pressing "Send"? <g>
 
Forget that part about the dissolving borate to get boric acid...while
it's true you'll get some trace amounts of boric acid, you'll get
mostly ions of sodium and borates.  I realized how misleading my first
description was when I thought of how disastrous it would be if you
got free sodium and chlorine from dissolving table salt!  (Both are
*extremely* reactive - dangerous - in pure forms, but of course there's
nothing wrong with a little salt water.)
 
>In the August issue of Restoration Magazine, they have an article on
>Borate.  It is used to protect the wood in historical homes from
>fungi and insects.
 
What you must realize here is that *of course* they're going to tell you
it's safe - they want to sell you products that use it!  Maybe the
magazine doesn't sell borate-treated woods, but you better bet they sell
ad space to companies who *do*, so they can't exactly publish an article
against it.  To a degree they're right - in trace amounts it's safe -
but they're not telling you the whole story.
 
Never forget that the pesticide industry itself told us that DDT was
safe.  And Malathion.  And countless other chemicals that turned out to
be anything *but* safe.
 
roger & the weezul
missing bear and lancelot
[Posted in FML issue 4261]