Boric acid, also known as boracic acid or orthoboric acid, is naturally occurring compound containing the elements boron, oxygen, and hydrogen (H3BO3). In nature, the element boron does not exist by itself. Boron is combined with other common elements, such as sodium to make salts like borax and with oxygen to make boric acid.
Boron is considered to be essential micronutrient for plants and perhaps humans. Boron in the diet most commonly comes from the boric acid naturally present in most foods. Fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts are particularly high in boron. In fact, the average person eats between one to three milligrams of boron each day as part of a normal healthy diet. Boric acid also occurs naturally in water and soil.
Boric acid crystals are white, odorless, and nearly tasteless. It looks like fine table salt in the granular form or like baby powder in the powdered form. Borates (the general term associated with boron containing minerals such as borax and boric acid) most commonly originate in dried salt lake beds of desert or arid areas (such as Death Valley, CA, Turkey, and China) or other geographic regions that expose similar deposits (such as the Andes Mountains in South America)