FACT CHECK: Is 'Paint Thinner' Trisodium Phosphate Found In ...

Claim: Popular cereals (including Lucky Charms and Cheerios) contain "paint thinner" and pose a danger to children. Rating: False

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Fears over the presence of a chemical known as trisodium phosphate (or tribasic sodium phosphate; TSP) in cereals like Lucky Charms and Cheerios have been circulating on social media sites and message boards for years. While uncontroversially used as an additive in cereal since at least the 1950s, a popular picture highlighting Lucky Charms' ingredients was ultimately able to generate a recent bout of panic about its use:

The issue here is not whether these cereals contain TSP — they (and many other food items) do. The issue, similarly, is not whether TSP is used as a cleaning product — it is. The issue, instead, is whether or not a chemical used as a cleaning product can also be used safely as a food additive — it can.

An apt comparison for a number of reasons is the chemical sodium bicarbonate. This compound is used in heavy-duty cleaning, as an agent to de-tarnish silver, and even to extinguish fires. Sodium bicarbonate, however, is better known as baking soda, and it is instrumental as a leavening agent (something that makes dough rise) when baking, among other things, chocolate chip cookies.

TSP, too, can be used as a leavening agent, as both sodium bicarbonate and TSP react with acidic compounds present in dough to release carbon dioxide (creating air bubbles that cause the dough to rise). More relevant, but related to the same underlying chemistry, is the fact that both TSP and sodium carbonate can serve as even when it is diluted in water. More important, however, TSP’s use as a food buffering agent and its use as an industrial cleaning agent involve vastly different scales.

When sold as an industrial product for heavy-duty cleaning or paint-removal, TSP generally comes as a water soluble powder that, when mixed as indicated for cleaning, produces a high pH comparable to bleach. A typical solution for heavy duty cleaning is ½ cup of TSP dissolved in 2 gallons of water — equivalent to about 300 grams of TSP. This is a massive amount, considering that a regular box of Cheerios (all ingredients included) contains just over 300 grams of food in total.

That higher amount, in part, gives TSP the would not be through its inherent toxicity or carcinogenicity, but by upsetting the balance of other minerals in your body such as calcium, as described by the FDA:

It is the opinion of the Select Committee that the Ca:P ratio of the diet is important, especially if it varies substantially from 1:1 owing to the relatively high intake of phosphorus. [...] In laboratory animals and presumably in man, nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism and bone resorption may be induced when the diet furnishes an otherwise adequate amount of calcium but excessive levels of phosphorus.

This would be a fine place to point out that sodium bicarbonate, as well, can cause health problems up to and including a