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"there was a tendency to suppress certain scientific reports of
importance to the public health on the grounds that certain commercial
interests might be offended"
United States Public Health
Service, 1939 when dealing with ALCOA. ALCOA would later convince the
USPHS over to their side and fluoride was given a massive PR campaign
thereafter.
To start fluorine is an element and fluoride is a
compound. SA Health in their initial letter to Mount Gambier
community called fluoride an element.
This is not chemically accurate
and is indicative of the lack of understanding of basic chemistry compounded by the
unnatural and immoral push for adding fluoride into the Blue Lake water
supply or any other water supply without prior community consultation.
So how is fluorine
(element) and fluorides (compounds) related? And what exactly happens
when fluoride products are added to a water supply?
Fluorine is a toxic yellow brown gas whilst fluorides
can be found in a number of different compounds e.g. sodium fluoride,
uranium hexafluorosilic acid etc.
The element fluorine F
itself is very rarely found in nature. It has an
affinity to bind with itself to form elemental fluorine F2
and with dissimilar elements to form fluoride compounds. A
compound is two or more dissimilar elements which are chemically bonded
together in some way.
Because fluorine F is an element, in order to understand what it is and
how it interacts and transitions in respects to other elements, we must
refer to the Periodic
Table of Elements.
From the Periodic Table we can see that fluorine F is a member of the
Halogen group and has an atomic number of 9 with an atomic weight of
18.9984032. The numbers 2,7 refer to F electron orbit occupying only 2
shells. Other elements within the
halogen group are Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine and Astatine.
Keep in mind for now that even within the Halogen group of elements
there are rules of hierarchical displacement should these halogen elements interact.
See below.
Lets get started with some
basic chemistry. Please corroborate what you read so that you may
further your knowledge of F and/or correct any errors seen here.
F101. A New Semester
Begins.
An atom is composed of protons P, neutrons N and
electrons E. Within the nucleus of an atom, neutrons N carry no charge
(neutral) and protons P carry a positive (+) charge. Orbiting around the
nucleus are electrons E with negative charge (-) in defined
orbital shells.
By default the fluorine atom has a neutral charge of 0
because the number of individual protons P and individual electrons E
equal the atomic number 9. Or +9 -9 = 0.
The rule for the number of electrons ranging from the
innermost shell to the outermost shell of all atoms is usually 2,8,18,32, 32,18
etc. This can vary for some elements. This arrangement is referred to as electron arrangement. So we can see
that for each monatomic (mono-atomic) fluorine atom that:
No. of electrons E in First Orbit = 2 (with 7 electrons
remaining)
No. of electrons E in Second Orbit = 7 with one empty electron "park".
Source: wiki.one-school.net
Note with 7E in the the outer shell, fluorine is not
completely filled with electrons and is considered to be unstable.
Stable atoms exists when they comply with the rule of "duplet or octet
electron arrangement" or 2,8,18,32 etc.
Atoms can achieve duplet or octet electron arrangement
in one of three ways:
- Throw away their excess electron(s) or
- Receive electron(s) from other atoms or
- Share electron(s)
Because the monatomic element fluorine
F does not comply
with the octet rule, it is considered to be unstable. Another words
monatomic fluorine is not a stable element. This is the reason why it
rarely exists in nature.
Valency and valence bonding
relates to the number of electrons in the outer shell
and this outer shell is the shell that participates in chemical bonding.
When the unstable fluorine atom receives another
electron E, the number of electrons increases by 1 to 10E. The
unstable monatomic fluorine atom at this point becomes stable (often
referred to as a noble gas state) but with still only 9 protons (9P) is now
considered an ionized "fluoride" ion whose charge is -1.
Source: wiki.one-school.net
Wikipedia tells us that ionized fluorine, which is
considered to be a "fluoride" also has a propensity to join with each
other to form diatomic elemental fluorine F2.
Elemental fluorine F2 is mainly used for the
production of two further compounds of commercial interest,
uranium hexafluoride and
sulfur hexafluoride.
The high electro-negativity of ionized fluorine or fluoride
ion F- is what makes fluoride as
an element a formidable competitor in its willingness to
bond to other elements to form other chemical compounds. For this reason
it is considered highly toxic as it interferes with other chemical
processes and is not suitable for human consumption.
There are two main
prerequisites for bonding to take place:
1. State of Charge -
remember opposites attract and
2. Strength of the Charge - the larger or lesser number of electrons
lead to an atom exhibiting strong and weak modes of attraction
3. Proximity - if opposite in charge and relatively close together the
two or more atoms are more likely to bond.
For example, if ionized
fluorine or fluoride ion F-
a non-metal binds with a metal e.g. Na+ sodium, because the
two atoms are opposite in charge ionic bonding is the type of bonding
which binds together to form sodium fluoride.
The ionic bond is a
chemical bond characteristic of most salts and is formed by the transfer
of one or more electrons from one atom to another. This breakup is
called disassociation.
There are always equal numbers of each
ion. If the water evaporates or is somehow reduced, the ions will start
combining again or precipitating and fall out of solution. Ionic bonded compounds
generally have a high melting point and tend to be soluble in water.
There are two forms that the fluoride ion can take. One
is as an inorganic chemicals [as described above] and others is an
organic chemical that combines the fluoride ion with the carbon ion in
some manner.
The inorganic form of fluorides is what is used in water fluoridation
and is the one that can produce the reduction in dental caries.
The
organic form when combined with carbon is what is commonly used in the
production of pesticides, nerve gas, and many other organic compounds.
The organic form has no effect on dental caries.
Why do Fluorides bind
to other elements easily?
As we have seen when a fluorine atom becomes ionized its state of
charge is no longer 0 but -1. This means that the F-
ion exhibits a negative
state of charge when it is stable.
Free F-
ions are not normally found in nature. But by adding specific fluoride
compounds to water, which are water soluble, the number of free fluoride
ions that is made available to water per volume is increased.
There are two forms that the fluoride ion can take. One
is as an inorganic chemicals [as described above] and others is an
organic chemical that combines the fluoride ion with the carbon ion in
some manner.
The inorganic form is what we use in water fluoridation
and is the one that can produce the reduction in dental caries. The
organic form when combined with carbon is what is commonly used in the
production of pesticides, nerve gas, and many other organic compounds.
The organic form has no effect on dental caries.
Whilst there may be some benefit to teeth with the use
of inorganic fluorides, the action of swallowing fluoridated water with
free disassociated fluoride ions raises more questions beyond the scope
of professional dentistry when such ions are made available to the rest
of the body.
Fluorides As Used in Public Water Fluoridation.
SA Health in their letter
to the community referred to "fluoride" in general as "natural" without
making the community aware that different fluoride compounds exist.
The type of fluoride found
naturally is Blue Lake Water is Calcium Fluoride or CaF2
at 0.2mg/L. Calcium Fluoride has a water solubility factor of 0.015%
meaning that is rarely dissolvable in water with 99.985% being unable to
dissolve.
This means that in water
the bonds between calcium and ionized fluorine (fluoride) are rarely
broken. This means that free ionized fluorides remain locked up
and are unavailable to both the human body and the environment.
Water testing authorities
(AWQC - Bolivar) admit that when testing for fluoride ions in water,
that a decomplexing solution is used to break down any fluoride
compounds present in the sample into free fluoride ions when reporting
on fluoride concentration in water.
This author is unable to
ascertain why this is done and would gladly welcome any information on
this practice. I suspect that it may have to do with the fact that
whilst some fluoride compounds e.g. calcium fluoride, are not soluble in water, they are in an
acid solution.
The important point to note here is that the practice of
fluoridating public water supplies is performed using other types of
fluorides which are sourced as by-products of
industrial processing namely aluminium smelting and super phosphate
fertilizer production.
None of the fluorides listed below used to fluoridate public
water supplies are naturally occurring or found in Nature. They are
man-made.
The three types of fluorides predominately used to
artificially fluoridate public water supplies in Australia are:
1.
Sodium
Fluorosilicate - Na2SiF6
(powder)
2.
Sodium Fluoride - NaF
(powder)
3. Hydro
Fluorosilic Acid - H2SiF6
(liquid)
Interestingly, although all these products are man made, the
term "artificial" as was once used to describe the practice of water
fluoridation has been discontinued in recent times so as to not cause
any negative public relations or questions.
Where fluoride compounds
are delivered as a dry powder, the powder is dissolved in a pre-mix tank
of water and metered into the main water supply. See
Diagram
of Fluoridator Shed in Mount Gambier - Word Format as an example.
A Close Look at Sodium Fluoride
(powder)
According to Wikipedia,
sodium fluoride is a water soluble salt. When placed in water, it
dissolves into Na+
and F-
respectively. Sodium fluoride as a compound uses ionic bonding because
it is a mixture of sodium (metal) and monatomic fluorine F (non-metal).
Water breaks down the relatively weak ionic bonds found in sodium
fluoride. This means that the free fluoride F ion is chemically made
available to participate in other reactions to form other fluoride
compounds and once again form elemental fluorine F2.
It is important to note
that the process of fluoridation is the adjustment of a water supply
with the fluoride ion. For sodium fluoride 100gms of NaF is equivalent
to 44.4 gms of the fluoride ion. To achieve 1.0 ppm of the F ion (mg/L)
approx 2.33 kg of NaF is used for every 1 million L of water. For Mount
Gambier, this equates to 8.5 tonnes per annum. At $4000 a tonne this
equates to $34,000 addition to the taxpayers.
Sodium fluoride is a by-product of the
production of
superphosphate fertilizer. Sodium fluoride also originates as a
by-product in the production of aluminium. Chemical schedules list NaF
as an S.6.1 poison.
Wikipedia also tells us, as well as the
chemical safety data sheets for sodium fluoride, that sodium
fluoride is toxic by both inhalation and ingestion. The application of
sodium fluoride and sodium fluorosilicates because of their dry nature,
means that stringent handling procedures must be employed so as to not
allow the product to become airborne.
Sodium fluoride was the
product of choice for fluoridating water supplies but in recent years,
sodium fluorosilicates have become more popular in some municipalities.
Australian authorities
have tended to add sodium fluorosilicate instead because of its slightly
more purity, although SA Water has indicated that Mount Gambier will get
powder sodium fluoride known as
Fluorodose. Fluorodose overcomes the hazards involved in handling
sodium fluoride because they are packaged into 5 kg water soluble bags
which are simple placed into pre mix tanks.
A Close Look at
Sodium
Fluorosilicate - Na2SiF6
(powder)
For sodium fluorosilicate
100gms of Na2SiF6
is equivalent to 59.8 gms of the fluoride ion. To achieve 1.0 ppm of the
F ion (mg/L) approx 1.68 kg of
Na2SiF6
is used for every 1 million L of water. For Mount Gambier, this would
equate to 6.1 tonnes per annum.
This chemical is also a contender for Mount Gambier.
A Close Look at
Hydrofluorosilic Acid - H2SiF6
(liquid)
Although being a liquid
suspension has practical occupational health and safety benefits in
terms of handling, the higher impurity of hydrofluorosilic acid means that
Australian authorities tend to opt for sodium fluorosilicate or sodium
fluoride to dose water supplies. It is also more poisonous with a
category of 8 rather than 6.
For hydrofluorosilic acid
100gms of
H2SiF6
is equivalent to 23.8 gms of the fluoride ion. To achieve 1.0 ppm of the
F ion (mg/L) approx 4.20 kg of
H2SiF6
is used for every 1 million L of water. For Mount Gambier, this would
equate to 15.3 tonnes per annum.
This chemical would not
likely be used to fluoridate Mount Gambier Blue Lake Water Supply.
What
happens when I drink water with fluorides in it?
It is important to note
that fluoridated water though being the main source of fluorides in a
fluoridated community is not the only source of fluorides. The
World Health Organization did at one time stipulate that studies are to
be undertaken so as to ascertain the alternate sources of fluorides in a
particular community prior to a community receiving fluoridation, but to our knowledge this has not been done for
South Australia or Mount Gambier.
The chemicals used in fluoridation break down in water into free
ionized fluorides. Within 10 - 20 minutes the fluoride levels in your
blood plasma will rise significantly in proportion to how much you
drink.
This is a major problem for the proponents of water fluoridation because
it is being "administered", there is no control over the dosage at the
tap in how much people can drink. Weather and physical activity can be
directly related to how much water we consume, thus increasing our
intake of fluorides.
Within 9 hours, the body via healthy kidneys will remove 40% of the
fluorides originally consumed. Within 24 hours only a further 10% is
removed. The remaining 50% of all fluorides consumed will be retained
and stored in the body and be made available to participate and
interfere with other chemical reactions.
The Law
of Halogen Displacement.
When choosing to add
fluorides to your diet through swallowing, it is crucial to understand
at minimum how fluorides interact with the rest of the elements within
the halogen group. (see periodic table at top).
The Halogen group is composed of the following elements
whose symbols & atomic numbers is shown in the table below:
|
Element |
Symbol |
Atomic Number |
| Fluorine |
F |
9 |
| Chlorine |
Cl |
17 |
| Bromine |
Br |
35 |
| Iodine |
I |
53 |
| Astatine |
At |
85 |
The
mechanism behind "halogen displacement" was probably best described by
J.C. Jarvis, M.D. (Folk Medicine, Henry Holt & Co., 1958, HB, p.
136), who wrote:
"The clinical activity of any one of these four halogens [Astatine
was discovered later. Ed.] is in inverse
proportion to its atomic weight. This means that any one of the four can
displace the element with a higher atomic weight, but cannot displace an
element with a lower atomic weight. For example, fluorine can displace
chlorine, bromine and iodine because fluorine has a lower atomic weight
than the other three. Similarly, chlorine can displace bromine and
iodine because they both have a higher atomic weight. Likewise, bromine
can displace iodine from the body because iodine has a higher atomic
weight. But a reverse order is not possible. A knowledge of this
well-known chemical law brings us to a consideration of the addition of
chlorine to our drinking water as a purifying agent. We secure a
drinking water that is harmful to the body not because of its harmful
germ content but because the chlorine content now causes the body to
lose the much-needed iodine..."
The Importance of Iodine in Our Diet.
It cannot be understated of the importance of iodine in
our diet. Iodine is absolutely essential in the creation of the thyroid
production of
thyroxin.
Because the function of the thyroid is common knowledge, the importance
of the thyroid can be found for example at the
Australian Thyroid Foundation. Note that it lists iodine deficiency
at the top of the list for possible causes of thyroid disease.
Given that the molecular formula for thyroxin(e) is C15H11I4NO4,
we can understand that in order for the body
to effectively create thyroxine, iodine ions must be present in its
creation.
What is not as well known to the common person is how
fluorides affect the thyroid simply by obeying the law of halogen
displacement. Fluorides being the lightest in atomic number of the
halogen group will displace all other halogen elements under it. Same
for chlorine, but a chlorine ion will not displace a fluoride ion.
This means that if F, Cl, Br is present in the blood,
then iodine is displaced and thyroxine production is reduced. Fluoride
ions also play havoc with other bodily processes. For more information
see
here
Does Fluoride Help Protect Teeth?
Yes to a point. According to the ADA, it does this by converting
natural dentin (hydro-apatite) into harder and whiter more
rock-like fluoroapatite when a fluoride
ion displaces a hydroxyl OH group.
(hydroapatite) Ca5(PO4)3(OH)
--> Ca5(PO4)3F (fluoroapatite)
Too much F leads to a
condition known as dental fluorosis which is an alteration of the
natural dentin layer. Whilst providing a short term increase resistance
to bacteria that cause tooth decay, over time fluoroapatite will become
brittle and become new sites for tooth decay.
Also note that the
function of fluoride is TOPICAL. This means directly applying it
to the surface so that reaction takes place in the vicinity of the
teeth. This preferable to SYSTEMIC where fluoride action is
available to the whole body.
It is not advisable that the scope of fluoride be extended beyond the
mouth. To give you an example of the deception involved fluoridation
wherein the West still promotes such ill practices: in 2006 the ADA
finally admitted that the action of fluoride in the mouth was topical
and not systemic as had been preached by the ADA for 4o years.
Should I Swallow Fluoride?
Like those that choose to drink or smoke, that is entirely a
decision for you and your family. In order to promote optimal health and
thus dental health, limiting your intake of fluoride by ingestion is
preferable even if the authorities say 1.0 mg/L is safe.
No studies have yet been produced in the long terms effects of
swallowing fluoride at low concentrations in Australia. A more effective
way of maintaining dental health is to moderate the intake of sugars,
maintain your own personal oral hygiene and see your dentist every two
years or so for a simple de-scale and clean.
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Researched by Alex Young.
All comments and critique please be directed to such. January 2010.
Articles of relevant interest to build upon the
knowledge shown here are:
Elements & Atoms
Water Fluoridation Code of Practice (Queensland)
Hydramet SA - Fluoride Dosing Equipment
Wikipedia: Fluoride Poisoning
The
Bauxite Story - A look at ALCOA
Fluoridation Chemicals
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 2004 |
