It all begins with a man by the name of Dr. Rex Newnham.
If you'd like to read his personal account, you can find it here: http://www.rexresearch.com/newnham/newnham.htm
The story goes like this. While doing research in Western Australia, Dr. Rex Newnham had developed arthritis due to the low density of quality minerals in the sandy soils present there. Knowing that boron aids calcium metabolism in plants, and being a daring and charismatic man, he decided to try it for himself. And the crazy thing is it worked. In about 3 weeks his arthritis and joint pain had disappeared, and he felt like a young man again. So he decided to sell it to others with similar problems. Through nothing more than word of mouth, Dr. Newnham's sales reached in the 10's of thousands a month and demand kept exponentially increasing. So much so that in 1981 he could no longer keep up with demand reached out to pharmaceutical companies to help with his production. This was a huge fucking mistake.
The pharmaceutical companies did a cost basis analysis and realized quite quickly that they would lose an immense amount of money pushing Borax since it's impossible to patent (it's a cheap, naturally occurring compound) and would directly interfere with the profits from their complex arthritis medications.
So they sued him out of the business. And they petitioned (read bribed) politicians to ban it completely. The ban was based on sketchy data at best, citing reproductive toxicity in animals, and no human trials. Subsequently Europe banned it. A few years later the U.S. banned it from all food products. The only reason it remains available in the US of A is because of the immense lobbying power of 20 mule Borax which is owned by Dial soaps. So it remains, but ONLY as a detergent. Nothing more.
But it's useful for so much more than just laundry. Boron is essential for life. And year over year it's been disappearing from our soils. We can no longer absorb enough of it from our foods. Supplementation has become a necessity for many people, and through the magic of our enlightened government it's been banned. Typical.
The good news for us in the U.S. is 20 mule Borax is cheap and available everywhere. And supplementation is easy. Aim for 3-10 mg every other day (1 g of borax contains 113 mg of Boron). If you feel nauseous (you will at some point) wait a week and you'll be fine. Honest to God this shit is amazing. I box regularly and I cracked a knuckle and it had been bugging me for a month. After a week of supplementation (and I started low low low on the mgs cause I'm a coward) it's like it never existed. I feel more energized. I feel more awake. My balls are fuller. I'm more sexually aggressive. It's amazing.
If you do try it out for yourself, Boron can be hard on the kidneys. Wash it down with pure cranberry juice. Good luck!
I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice.
You're thinking of boric acid
No I'm not. DDG search "DIY ant poison"
Mix 1/2 C sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp Borax, and 1.5 C warm water. Soak cotton balls in the mixture, and put them out near the mess of ants. The sugar attracts the ants, and they'll take the Borax with it back to their home.