The periodic table, decoded.
Every ingredient list at the strict-reading depth lands in chemistry. Sodium chloride. Methylparaben. Lead acetate. Aluminium chlorohydrate. Mercury. Fluoride. The lay reader sees the word; the strict reader engages with the substance. The periodic table is the substrate underneath, and it belongs in the Library — free, open, unattributed, mobile-responsive.
Click any element for the detail panel. Filter by category. Search by name, symbol, or atomic number. Elements that appear on food and cosmetics ingredient labels carry a small ◆ mark; click for the SCANSMART relevance note.
The Two-Layer Literacy substrate.
Lay reading layer: the shopper reads "sodium chloride" on a back-of-pack label and recognises the word for salt. Strict reading layer: the shopper reads "methylisothiazolinone" or "aluminium chlorohydrate" or "lead acetate" on a cosmetics or food label and engages with the chemistry of what is in the bottle. Both layers are needed. The lay layer is on the front of the pack. The strict layer is on the back of the pack — and on the back of the pack, every ingredient resolves to atoms.
This page is the strict-layer reference. It does not take a clinical position on any element. It does not replace a conversation with a GP, dietitian, or pharmacist about specific exposures or supplementation. It does what every periodic table does — names the elements, gives the atomic data, locates them in the family tree of matter — and adds a small SCANSMART overlay where an element appears commonly on food or cosmetics ingredient labels.
Per the Knowledge Library Stream 4 architecture: free, open, no paywall, no medical advice. Per the SCANSMART Brand Bible §13.2A Two-Layer Literacy Rule and §13.2B Belongs-to-Everyone Rule, chemistry literacy is class-blind and language-blind — the reference layer everyone can call on.
What is and isn't in the data.
Atomic data — atomic number, symbol, name, atomic mass, electron configuration, melting point, boiling point, period and group — sourced from the IUPAC 2021 Atomic Weights of the Elements (Prohaska et al., Pure and Applied Chemistry 94(5): 573–600), the IUPAC Periodic Table dated November 2024, and the NIST Atomic Reference Data tables. Where IUPAC reports a range or interval value, the central value is shown. Where a property is unknown or not measurable for synthetic super-heavy elements, the field is left as —.
Discovery year and discoverer — sourced from the IUPAC element-naming registry and standard chemistry references. For elements known since antiquity (carbon, gold, copper, sulphur, iron, lead, silver, tin, mercury), the year is given as “antiquity” and the discoverer is left blank.
Brief description — one sentence in plain language. Where an element is structurally relevant to a UK food or cosmetics ingredient label (sodium, calcium, fluorine, iodine, iron, zinc, aluminium, lead, mercury, titanium, etc.), a small ◆ mark is shown on the cell, and the detail panel carries a SCANSMART relevance note pointing to where the element commonly appears and why it matters at the moment of decision.
What this page is not. This is reference material for the strict-reading layer of an ingredient label. It is not clinical advice. The SCANSMART relevance notes describe where an element appears on labels — not what dose is safe, what supplementation is appropriate, or whether any specific exposure is harmful for any specific person. Those are conversations for a GP, registered dietitian, or pharmacist, not for a periodic table.
Page version v1.0 · built 10 May 2026 · data as at IUPAC 2024 release. Refresh cycle: annual, aligned to IUPAC periodic-table updates. Built per §25 Bible inclusion-test architecture.
Where to go next.
The structural-critique register on industry-funded ingredient research lives in Industry Funding Bias in Nutrition Research. The frozen-aisle case where chemistry-as-substrate matters most acutely (sodium-enhancement of chicken, brining of fish, additive load in prepared meals) is in Frozen Food in the UK. The cosmetics scoping where heavy-metal exposures are documented (lead in ayurvedic, mercury in skin-lightening, aluminium in deodorants) is in the Knowledge Library Door 5 cosmetics deep-dives. The full Knowledge Library carries five streams plus this Stream 4 reference layer.
Where this reference connects.
For deeper evidence-vault treatment connecting this reference to the SCANSMART analytical framework, see: Impulse Buying Triggers · Food Marketing to Kids · Brand vs Manufacturer · Reformulation Tracking · Cultural Food Myths · Global Staple Foods · Dietary Patterns · Carbohydrate Types · Caffeine and Health · Industry Funding Bias in Nutrition Research · UPF Brain & Cognitive Claims · Children’s Oral Health · Behaviour Change & Decision-Point Capture.
Reference-format consistency pass · 11 May 2026 · Stale-date reminder: re-check after periodic-table educational reference updates · SCANSMART is a food literacy and decision-support platform. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice.