Talk:Sodium bicarbonate

Biological Sources
The pancreas is one of the major glands of the body and has two functions: releasing digestive enzymes into the gut and releasing hormones into the blood.

Pancreatic juice also contains sodium bicarbonate, which neutralises the acidic chyme arriving in the duodenum, and provides an alkaline environment for optimum functioning of pancreatic and intestinal enzymes. These enzymes include proteases (for continued protein digestion), amylase (for carbohydrate digestion), and lipase (for fat digestion). Alan Gates

Chemical Database Fix
I fixed the Hazardous Chemical Database link at the bottom of the properties page. - Xaro

Problematic sentence - grammar wrong
I cannot make sense of this sentence:

"A manufacturer recommends a paste made from baking soda with minimal water as a gentle scouring powder,[29] and is useful in removing surface rust, as the rust forms a water-soluble compound when in a concentrated alkaline solution;[60] cold water should be used, as hot-water solutions can corrode steel.[61]"

The sentence says that a manufacturer "is useful in removing surface rust", which doesn't make sense. So the grammar is wrong. As I cannot understand the original meaning of the sentence, I cannot correct it. It probably should have referred to the paste instead of the manufacturer, but even that is unclear, because is it again the manufacturer's claim that it is useful for removing rust or is it in fact objectively useful? And is it that paste that is useful for removing rust, or is it sodium bicarbonate in general that is useful?

The sentence should be cleaned up to state clear facts clearly, but I can't do it as I don't understand what the sentence is meant to express. Jhertel (talk) 10:33, 26 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I took a stab at it, after reading two of the three references cited. At least now it's grammatical (I hope). Mgnbar (talk) 11:54, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

Contradictory information and wrong citation
The section on medical uses contains the following passage: "Sodium bicarbonate has been shown to reduce contrast-induced nephropathy, the most common cause of acute renal failure.[41]"

The referenced article on contrast-induced nephropathy however states that: "Despite extensive speculation, the actual occurrence of contrast-induced nephropathy has not been demonstrated in the literature.[1] Analysis of observational studies has shown that radiocontrast use in CT scanning is not causally related to changes in kidney function.[2]"

Just to make sure, i looked at the referenced source study, which states "The contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is the third most common cause of acute renal failure (ARF)..."

Clearly, the article is quoted incorrectly, but more than that the contradictory references suggest that some of these claims may be controversial, or even pseudo-scientific. Could someone more knowledgeable take a look at this and resolve the contradiction?

In the mean time, i flagged the problematic sentence in this article, since we know it is at the very least badly quoted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.255.28.20 (talk) 13:53, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I recommend just deleting such contradictory content. It takes a long time for contradictions to be resolved.  Also, generally speaking, I cannot imagine bicarbonate, which is in rapid equilibrium with OH- and CO2, has any specific activity.  It is pervasive.--Smokefoot (talk) 14:38, 27 March 2024 (UTC)