Mud
DISCLAIMER: Soap Lake Conservancy does not promote or recognize any former or current medical treatments, since we are not medical doctors. We provide the following excerpts strictly as interesting historical claims.
The City of Soap Lake Title 9,22,040 Ordinance 1165 Parks; Prohibited Act #20. It is unlawful to take-carry-or remove any sand or mud forming the shoreline and bottom of Soap Lake. Ordinance 1165. The fine is listed as $2,2013
Please use and leave on the beach ~ thank you
2022 test of Soap Lake Mud - gathered on the south end of the lake by Felicity Erdmann (courtesy of Bonnie Holt’s files)
Believed to be from Sigrid Penrod’s test of the mud in 2020.
This shows how the mineral content in the mud has gotten lower in the past 20 years.
2002 (Sigrid Penrod test)- 2022 SOIL comparison - source Bonnie Holt files - her comparison of two mud tests
Some visitors like to coat themselves with the lakebed mud, allow it to dry in the sun, then rinse it off in the lake. They believe the minerals detoxify, stimulate circulation, and relieve muscle and arthritic pain.
Soap Lake has one of the highest salt and mineral concentrations, as well as the most diverse mineral profiles, of any lake in the world. Soap Lake water also contains ichthyols, an oil-like substance sold over the counter in Europe to treat infections and abrasions. The ichthyol in Soap Lake water and mud is a sulfur-rich shale oil that was formed by the decomposition of copepods (and possibly other animal and plant material) thousands of years ago and is now part of the sediment at the bottom of the lake. Like the Dead Sea, the high mineral content of the lake makes the water very buoyant.
The alkalinity of the lake is similar to that found on the moons of Jupiter. Because of this, in 2002 the National Science Foundation awarded a grant to researchers from Central Washington University to study the lake to learn about the possibility of life on Mars. The NSF recognized the unique and remarkable salt and mineral profile of Soap Lake and declared it a rare Microbial Observatory for the 5 years it funded biological research. (edited by Ella Rowan from Wikipedia page, 2021)
Other names for mud therapies include: Le Buerre, Fango, Mud Mask, Clay, Peat, Pelotherapy
For more information, click on the words below. Note: You will be opening a new tab and leaving the Conservancy site.