What occurs in nature as a mineral, is produced from brine, can be mined, used as a flavoring for food, and can also be found in great abundance in sea water? The answer is sodium chloride, or more commonly referred to as salt.

Salt is much more than just a flavoring for your food. Did you know that salt reduced human dependence on the seasonal availability of food (because of its ability to preserve) and allowed humans to travel over long distances? It allowed for the migration and survival of civilization. In fact, sodium chloride serves as one of the most important substances used by the human race. Throughout history, salt was used for trading purposes and often resulted in national economies and wars. Although times have changed, the world still consumes and uses quite a bit of sodium chloride each year. The world’s annual consumption of salt exceeds 150 million tons!

So, what is everyone using sodium chloride for? What are some of its everyday uses?

Sodium Chloride for the Human Body:

• Minor Sore Throat – Have a sore throat? Relieve it by mixing a small amount of salt in some warm water and gargle. It is still recommended by doctors today.
• Tired Aching Feet – Soak your feet in some warm salt water and it will ease the soreness and ache in your muscles. Epsom salt will work as well.
• Sprains, Strains and Bee Stings- Warmly dampen a towel, sprinkle some sodium chloride on it, fold it and then place it on the affected area. Even if it’s only temporary, it will bring some relief.
• Poison Ivy – Although a salt bath won’t cure poison ivy, it will sooth the irritation.

Everyday Household Uses for Sodium Chloride:

• Cleaning Vegetables – Cleaning your vegetables in salt water can remove any dirt or grit that may be trapped on and in between them.
• Remove Coffee and Tea Stains from Cups – You can remove any coffee or tea stains by rubbing the stained area with a damp sponge or cloth dipped in salt. You can even clean your coffee maker for that next fresh cup of coffee! Fill it with water, salt and boil.
• Grease Fire – Never, and I mean never, pour water on a grease fire. Use salt instead.
• Reduce Grease Build Up – Pouring some warm salt water down the drain can help reduce grease build up.
• Kills Weeds – Sprinkling salt on unwanted plants will kill them.
• Kills Fleas and Deters Ants – If you are having a flea problem, or an ant problem, sprinkle some salt around your home and lightly on your carpet.

As a top chemical supplier in Orlando, Bell Chem offers fast delivery of any of our hundreds of chemical products including sodium chloride. Our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier on a national, as well as international level. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order for chemical products!

Ascorbic Acid USP, also known as Vitamin C, is a white or pale yellow crystalline powder used prominently in the food and beverage industry. In food, beverages, and dietary supplements, ascorbic acid USP is used as a source of Vitamin C and antioxidants. This chemical occurs naturally in some foods and is added to others. For example, ascorbic acid USP is included in nutrient/vitamin-enhanced drinks and powder vitamin supplements.

Vitamin C is a naturally occurring antioxidant that proves essential to skin health because it helps prevent dry skin, wrinkles, and sun damage. Ascorbate is found in all layers of skin, but is more concentrated in the epidermis than the dermis. When exposed to UV light, ascorbate in the skin is reduced significantly. For this reason, the cosmetic industry utilizes the topical application of vitamin C to improve the overall appearance of skin.

A few additional uses for ascorbic acid USP include:

• Used to slow the browning in processed fruits and vegetables.
• Used as an immune booster.
• Used to increase the clarity of wine and beer.
• Used to improve the quality of wheat-flour and dough when baking bread.
• Used as a curing agent in meat processing to inhibit nitrosamine formation.

As a top chemical supply company in Orlando, Bell Chem offers fast delivery of any of our hundreds of chemical products including ascorbic acid USP. With an abundance of world-class seaports within a few short hours, our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier on a national, as well as international level. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order!

You may have heard the term USP Ingredient, but do you know what “USP” stands for? USP stands for United States Pharmacopoeia. A pharmacopoeia is a book containing a compilation of pharmaceutical products with their chemical formulas and methods of preparation. This word derives from Ancient Greek and literally means “drug making”.

The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopoeia of the US and is published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The USP establishes written standards for medicines, food ingredients, other ingredients, and dietary supplement products. Manufacturers, as well as regulatory agencies, use the USP to ensure products have the appropriate identity, quality, purity, strength, consistency, etc. These standards help limit the introduction of potential adulterants and other problems at the ingredient level.

When you see the letters “USP” on a product label, this means that the manufacturer is claiming to adhere to the USP standards. In addition to this, the United States Pharmacopoeia Convention conducts testing and audit programs for dietary supplement products and ingredients. Products that meet the requirements of the program can display the “USP Verified Dietary Supplement Mark” on their labels, which is different from simply having “USP” on a product’s label.

With an abundance of world-class seaports within a few short hours, our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier for companies needing USP ingredients. Check out our USP ingredients page for a list of the USP ingredients, as well as other chemical products we offer. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order!

Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid known for its ability to relieve aches and pains and reduce fevers. Although lethal in great quantities, salicylic acid is also used as a food preservative, as a bactericidal, and as an antiseptic. However, this chemical is probably best known for its use in acne treatments.

Salicylic acid is used topically to help clear pimples and skin blemishes in people who have acne. This chemical treats acne by reducing swelling and redness and unplugging blocked skin pores. Topical salicylic acid is also used to treat skin conditions like psoriasis, calluses, or warts, which involve scaling or overgrowth of the skin. Salicylic acid treats these skin conditions by loosening the dry or scaly skin so that it can be easily removed.

Many fruits and vegetables are natural sources of salicylic acid, including blackberries, blueberries, radishes, cantaloupes, green peppers, dates, guavas, olives, raisins, tomatoes, and mushrooms. A few herbs and spices naturally contain high amounts of this chemical as well.

As a top quality chemical supplier in Orlando, Tampa, and Daytona Beach, we look forward to the opportunity to provide your business with quality chemical products and unrivaled customer service. We have a full-time document coordinator as well as quality inspectors to ensure the accuracy and quality of our orders. Give us a call at 407-339-BELL (2355).

Folic acid is a water soluble B vitamin (B9) naturally occurring in foods like kale, spinach, asparagus, nuts, bananas, and mushrooms. In addition to it naturally occurring in foods, federal law required it to be added to American foods in 1998. To fulfill the law, it has been added to certain foods like crackers, breads, cold cereals, flour, pasta, and cookies.

Folic acid is essential to many functions of the human body. This chemical is especially important in aiding rapid cell division and growth, such as during pregnancy and infancy. Many studies have shown that women who have 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily during the first trimester of pregnancy reduce the risk that their baby will be born with a serious neural tube defect.

Children and adults both require folic acid to produce healthy red blood cells and prevent anemia. Additionally, many other health issues can be helped with folic acid including gum infections, nerve pain, restless leg syndrome, muscle pain, sleep problems, osteoporosis, age-related hearing loss, and depression.

At Bell Chem in Orlando, we offer folic as one of our many nutritional chemical products. We also stock personal care raw materials, highly specialized botanical ingredients, as well as hard to find technical grade chemicals and custom compounds. Call us at 407-339-BELL (2355) for a full list of chemical products.

Di-calcium phosphate is an ionic salt, which means that it is made up of charged particles of calcium and phosphate, both of which humans need in their diet. Di-calcium phosphate is added to foods as a source of calcium, even though it has a lower percentage of calcium than the more familiar chemical, tri-calcium phosphate, which is also used as a calcium supplement (commonly in the form of calcium pills).

Di-calcium phosphate is used as a dietary supplement in foods such as prepared breakfast cereals, dog treats, enriched flour, and noodle products. This chemical is even added to some foods as an anti-caking agent because the dry form of di-calcium forms a salt-hydrate with water and then keeps the food fresh by removing water that causes the food to go stale. Di-calcium phosphate helps to preserve organic products that might otherwise break down and lose integrity over time.

If inhaled, di-calcium phosphate can irritate the lungs and cause sneezing and/or coughing. It may also irritate the skin if touched. If you are thinking about taking di-calcium supplements, consult your doctor first because di-calcium may cause adverse affects when taken with other medications.

At Bell Chem in Orlando, di-calcium phosphate is just one of the many chemical products we offer. In addition to nutritional chemical products and personal care raw materials in Orlando, we stock many highly specialized botanical ingredients as well as hard to find technical grade chemicals and custom compounds. Call us at 407-339-BELL (2355) for a full list of our products.

Salt, also known as Sodium Chloride, is a chemical product used in many industries such as medicine, agriculture and food. For centuries, people have used salt as a cleaning agent for household surfaces. It can also cleanse and disinfect a wound. Salt is used in many brands of shampoo, toothpaste, and mouthwash. On the skin, salt can be extremely helpful as a massage element to improve skin complexion.

Salt is added to most foods as a preservative, flavor enhancer, fermentation-control additive, texture-control agent, and/or color developer. As a preservative, salt inhibits the growth of bacteria because many micro organisms cannot live in an overly salty environment. Salt is added to promote color development in bacon, ham and many other processed meat products.

Salt is even used to de-ice driveways and patches of ice on roads. When temperatures are above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, roads are commonly de-iced with salt, spread over the roads by snowplows or dump trucks. On particularly slippery roads, salt is often mixed with sand and gravel. Sodium chloride (rock salt) is normally used because it is inexpensive and easy to get in large quantities.

As a top quality chemical supplier in Orlando, we look forward to the opportunity to provide your business with quality chemical products like sodium chloride. We have a full-time document coordinator as well as quality inspectors to ensure the accuracy and quality of our chemical orders. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355).

Propylene glycol is a colorless and virtually odorless viscous liquid. It does not irritate the skin, but is mildly irritating to the eyes. Propylene glycol has a slightly sweet taste and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for certain uses as food additives. Propylene glycol is hygroscopic and very stable. It has a high boiling point and low vapor pressure. Also, propylene glycol has the ability to dissolve other substances and is completely water-soluble.

The properties of propylene glycol make it perfect for a lot of specific uses in many different industries. Propylene glycol has a very broad array of practical applications and is used as a chemical ingredient in many products including anti-freezes, foods, cosmetics products, pharmaceuticals, aircraft de-icing fluids, fragrances, and personal care products.

These are some of the ways propylene glycol is used:
•    As a solvent in pharmaceuticals including oral, inject-able, and topical formulas.
•    As a moisturizer in medicines, cosmetics, food, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, pet care products, mouth wash, hair dye, and tobacco products.
•    As an ingredient in massage oils, fragrance oils, hand sanitizers, antibacterial lotions, and saline solutions.
•    To make artificial smoke or fog theatrical productions and firefighter training.
•    As a vaporizable base for diluting the nicotine liquid in electronic cigarettes.
•    As a solvent for food colors and food flavorings.
•    As a wetting agent to determine time needed for paints and coatings to dry.
•    As a lubricant in air conditioning compressors.

As a leading chemical supplier in Orlando, Bell Chem offers quick delivery of any of our hundreds of chemicals on our own fleet of trucks. Propylene glycol is just one of the many chemical products we offer. We also stock a wide variety of other reagent-grade, personal care, nutritional, and water treatment products. Give us a call at 407-339-BELL (2355) to learn more about our products.

Ascorbic acid USP (vitamin C) is a water-soluble vitamin. It occurs as a white or light yellow crystal or powder, but once it is exposed to light it gradually darkens in color. Ascorbic acid USP has an acidic taste.

In a dry state, ascorbic acid USP is stable. However, in aqueous solutions ascorbic acid becomes very unstable and begins to oxidize immediately. This oxidation gradually fabricates a color change as well as a reduction in activity. Once these changes have occurred, the chemical becomes dehydroascorbic acid.

In humans, a deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can cause scurvy. In humans, ascorbic acid is needed for collagen formulation and tissue repair. The chemical name, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus. The symptoms of ascorbic acid deficiency include depression and exhaustion, followed by the formation of spots on the skin, soft gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes. However, if ascorbic acid is administered into the body, the symptoms of scurvy are reversed.

In the cosmetics industry, ascorbic acid is well known for its skin protection benefits as well as its anti-aging effects. It is a powerful antioxidant and skin whitening active ingredient. Ascorbic acid is best stabilized in an anhydrous lipid or silicone base.

As a top quality chemical supplier in Orlando, we look forward to the opportunity to provide your business with quality products and unrivaled customer service. We have a full-time document coordinator as well as quality inspectors to ensure the accuracy and quality of our orders. Give us a call at 407-339-BELL (2355).