The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) recently announced its finding that people can safely consume more than twice the amount of boron previously considered harmless. The NCEA is the division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency charged with assessing health risks associated with substances found in the environment. The NCEA increased its allowable daily dose of boron from 6.3 milligrams to 14 milligrams per day. Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants, and most people eat between one and three milligrams every day. The revision was the result of a multi-year assessment of more than 200 studies on boron's health effects, some of which were completed recently by scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and the Research Triangle Institute. "We applaud the NCEA for advancing the world's scientific understanding of boron's health effects," said Gary Goldberg, chief executive of Rio Tinto Borax. "As world leaders in boron science and supply, our research points to the same conclusion: the more we know about boron, the more comfortable we are that boron is safe for people and the planet."

For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/ncea or http://www.borax.com.