Was a little shocked to find aluminium moulds being marketed to use to make Bath Bombs. Initially I thought that they looked great until I noticed what they were made from.
I don't have an A level in Chemistry or even a GCSE for that matter, however I do have enough knowledge to be sure that Citric Acid an ingredient in Bath Bombs does not work well with aluminium. And so I went on a mission to look at the MSDS for Citric Acid. As we stock Citric Acid at Summer Naturals, I have MSDS - Safety Data to hand but I went an extra mile and pulled up different MSDS data on the internet.
My initial fear was confirmed, Citric Acid does indeed corrode Aluminium, the two do not react well at all.
As part of the EU, and manufacturing in the UK I am fully aware of the regulations that those who make bath and body products including bath bombs have to adhere to. In some EU countries, mainly France and Spain, MSDS is required for not just the products being manufactured but also the equipment used to make the products. It stands to reason, any piece of equipment used in the manufacture of products that come into contact with the skin should be safe to use.
Can you imagine buying a bath bomb that has been moulded in an aluminium mould if the aluminium mould reacts badly with the ingredients used in the bath bomb?
I am very aware in my line of work that aluminium poses a threat to a lot of people, personally I use aluminium foil in my kitchen, I have consumed coke from aluminium cans and so this led me to explore why coke that is packaged in aluminium can's isn't a problem. The reason being, the amount of Citric Acid in Coke is minimal. The amount of pure Citric Acid used to make a Bath Bomb is actually quite a lot of undiluted citric acid. I searched and searched more just to be sure, Snopes raises some useful information.
What I recognise is that the contact from pure citric acid with aluminium is an issue, small diluted quantities of citric acid is not. Bath Bombs use citric acid mixed with bicarbonate of soda as well as other ingredients but in quite a pure and un-concentrated form, the amount of pure anhydrous citric acid used to manufacture a bath bomb is far more concentrated than the amount of citric acid contained in a can of coca cola.
Top and bottom, the EU reg's scream safety. And then researching this more I look at aluminium food cans and learn that whilst aluminium is a great medium for holding food products that the aluminium cans are lined. At this stage the best I can offer is that dinted cans should not be purchased because there is a risk that the protective coating over the aluminium may be damaged and may contaminate the food. This is a whole new story.
And so, if you have purchased Aluminium Moulds, described as being suitable for making bath bombs in and are selling those products or even offering them as gifts, with or without safety assessments then hopefully this information will be helpful.
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