Amanda Pham
Mrs. Norwood
Chemistry I
12/1/2014
Fluoridation of Water
Fluoride is a compound that contains fluorine with another element or group. It is used mainly in dental hygiene products such as toothpaste. Toothpaste that contains fluoride is now required by the FDA to have a warning label that states, "… If more than used for brushing is accidently swallowed, get medical help or call the Poison Control Center right away." The consumption of fluorine over long periods of time could lead to health complications. Despite the possible side effects, the government has deposited fluorine into our water systems. With that being said, fluorine should not be allowed to be put into our drinking water.
One example of why fluoride should not
Fluoride Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in almost all foods and water supplies. The fluoride ion comes from the element fluorine. Fluorine, the 13th most abundant element in the earth's crust, is never encountered in its free state in nature. It exists only in combination with other elements as a fluoride compound. Fluoride is effective in preventing and reversing the early signs of tooth decay.
The NRC reported in 2007 that fluoride was considered an element essential to life. Fluoride plays an important role in the body’s ability to perform metabolic and biochemical reactions that help prevent tooth decay and help bone formation. Essentially the government says that the fluoridation of water is more helpful than harmful for people as it is a good use of tax dollars as it treats upper class and lower class citizens equally in dental prevention.
Fluoridation of drinking water addresses the health issue of tooth decay and the related dental problems associated with it.1 Fluoride is associated with this health issue since fluoride has been recognized as an important nutrient for healthy teeth.1
Are you aware that fluoride that is used to help keep teeth healthy is actually a harmful compound. The number of products that contain fluoride is actually quite high. Many people may not know it is also in our drinking water. The scary thing is fluoride is now classified as a neurotoxin.
Fluorine (F) is an element found in the 7th group of the periodic table from the halogen family. It’s an element that most reactive as it only needs to gain one electron to form Fluoride ion (F-). It’s in this form of fluoride that is found in our drinking water also known as fluoridated water. Water, food and living organisms are exposed to inorganic fluorides and they are hydrogen fluoride (HF), calcium fluoride (CaF2), sodium fluoride (NaF), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and silicofluoride. Fluoride compounds are plentiful in the earth’s crust and naturally found in rocks, soils, salt and sea water, representing approximately 0.06-0.09%.
American Dental Association (ADA) has written and article on “5 Reasons Why Fluoride in Water is Good for Communities”(ADA, 2017.). The ADA then proceeds to go into depth on each of these five topics, as I will summarize in my own words. First, fluoride prevents tooth decay by being present in the
For over 60 years, Americans have been inundated with propaganda proclaiming the benefits of artificially fluoridating the public’s drinking water to prevent tooth decay. I do not use the term “propaganda” lightly. In fact the “father” of modern propaganda, nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays was brought in to sell spiking America’s public water supply with fluoride (Pilger). This was critical to protect the American Aluminum Company (ALCOA), the world’s largest aluminum producer, from litigation from their workers who were exposed to toxic levels of sodium fluoride. Fluoride in the public water supply is a detriment to the health of Americans and provides no positive benefits while presenting great risk. Fluoridated water is poison, it is proven to decrease IQ, and it is medicating the public with an FDA classified tranquilizer without the informed consent of the citizens.
The most common fluorine minerals are fluorite, fluorspar and cryolite (Fluorine). Fluorine is also the 13th most common element in the Earth’s crust (Fluorine). There is 950 mg/L of fluorine in the earth’s crust (Periodic). Fluorine is also in seawater. Around 2,400 tons of fluorine gas and 4,700,000 tons of fluorite are produced each year (Periodic). Fluorine production areas are primarily in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Mexico and Italy (Periodic). Fluorine is most commonly combined with sodium to form sodium fluoride (NaF) to put into toothpaste (Periodic). A very interesting fact about fluorine is that it is added to city water supplies in the proportion of about one part per million to help prevent tooth decay (The Element). Hydrofluoric acid is used to etch glass, including most of the glass that is used in light bulbs (The Element). You cannot purchase straight fluorine due to it being highly
Fluoride is the ionic form of the element fluorine and is the 13th most abundant element in the earth's crust. Chemically, fluoride is negatively charged and combines with positive ions to form stable compounds such as calcium fluoride or sodium fluoride. Such fluorides are released into the environment naturally in the form of both water and air. Generally, when the term fluoride is mentioned, thoughts associated with calcified tissues (i.e., bones and teeth) are provoked. This is likely due to fluoride’s high affinity for calcium, enabling its ability to inhibit or even reverse the initiation and progression of dental caries, otherwise known as tooth decay. Caries are an infectious, multifactorial disease afflicting most persons
This statement assumes that enough fluoride is added to water to harm whomever is drinking it; the actual amount of fluoride in drinking water is in the range of 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million. To help visualize that amount, just one part per million is one minute out of two years. For fluoride to be harmful to humans, someone would have to ingest 5 to 10 grams in the same sitting, the same as needing to drink more than 10,000 glasses of tap water at the same time, which is physically impossible. In fact, the human stomach can only hold about 34 ounces at it’s capacity, not close to the 80,000 ounces of tap water someone would need to ingest to die. Before getting close to being harmed by fluoride, water intoxication would potentially kill the individual. Not enough fluoride is added to have chronic effects too. Chronic fluoride toxicity occurs after being exposed to fluoride for long periods of times, developing after 10 years. Nevertheless, the amount added to fluoride is not enough to develop chronic fluoride toxicity. Therefore, the amount of fluoride added to water has no ill effects on populations.
Over 100 Health organizations recognize water fluoridation as a healthy and safe preventative measure to control the cases of tooth decay in different populations (CDC, 1999). Just similar to fortifying foods, like cereal with iron, milk with vitamin D, and bread with folic acid, public health association's claim that water with fluoride provides a specific benefit with minimal health risks.
Fluoride is a highly toxic substance, in terms of acute toxicity fluoride is just slightly less toxic than arsenic. Fluoride has long been used in pesticides and rat poison. Studies have shown that fluoride causes bone defects such as arthritis and skeletal fluorosis, thyroid disease, and even cancer. This raises the question, why would anyone think that water fluoridation is a good idea? (Fluoride Alert, 2017).
The fluoride within our drinking water has always been a hot topic for debate. It’s known to cause a number of health problems ranging from lowered thyroid function to cancer. Today we’re going to look at fluoride and the brain specifically. Fluoride damage to the brain happens to be one of the most active areas of research today. In the past thirty years, over one hundred studies that have taken place have found evidence to prove that fluoride exposure can actually damage the brain. This particular research has included:
This report investigates about water fluoridation, and its effects and why it is added to water. Water fluoridation is a process where fluoride is added to public drinking water. The main purpose of this is to reduce tooth decay. The dosage that is added to the water is paramount to stopping tooth decay. This process can only be achieved by physically adding the fluoride to the drinking water. When the fluoridated water is drunk it acts on the surface of the teeth building up the enamel. It also leaves low levels of fluoride in the saliva. This also reduces the decaying rate of the teeth. This practice is common among developed countries. This is where the rate of tooth decay is high.
Fluorine is added in water in certain countries and used in toothpaste so that it can strengthen people’s teeth.