A story on NPR last week about the debatable benefits of flouride in water got me asking questions about water flouridation. What form of flouride do they use? Through what mechanism is flouride in water supposed to help prevent tooth decay? What evidence is there that flouride might be harmful?
The first thing to notice is that it is flouride that is put in water, not flourine. Flourine is the elemental form -- this is what is listed on the periodic table. Flourine is a halogen; it is highly reactive and is rarely found on its own in nature. But, like all halogens, it can form a bond with itself and make a flourine molecule. Flourine (F2) is a highly toxic pale yellow gas. No wonder people are worried about putting it in water. But remember -- it is not flourine that we put in drinking water, it is floride. The difference between -ine and -ide is a big one, it is the difference of a single electron, but that single electron change the entire chemistry of the substance.
Flouride is a flourine ion, a flourine that has gained one electron and now has a positive charge. Where did it get that extra electron? Probably by making an ionic bond. Think of table salt: sodium chloride or NaCl. Chlorine is also a toxic gas, but when it makes an ionic bond with sodium, it forms the compound NaCl, which is not only not toxic, but necessary for a healthy body.
So back to flouride.
Whether or not to put flouride in driking water is a debate that has been raging for years. According to a story from Chemistry and Engineering News from 1988, it looks like many claims are still at issue. Here is what the government has to say about things right now. Have ideas changes since 1988? Do we have new evidence to support either side? What is your opinion?
When I researched more on the flouride in drinking water I found that the white lines and the white spots on children's teeth aren't the only thing that is harming us humans and some animals that were being tested on. The website had many different effects off the flouride water and here's the website link: http://www.holisticmed.com/fluoride/
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I found interesting while investigating ways the CDC tries to keep the fluoridation in water in check is that they add chemicals to the water supply such as: sodium fluoride, sodium fluorosilicate, and fluorosilicic acid. How can these chemicals be any better for a person than a little bit extra fluoride in a person's system?
ReplyDeletei think flouride should stay in tap water because it does help with tooth care. if we didn't have flouride put into the tap water i honestly don't think that people would take responsibility of their own healthcare and take care of their teeth, using flouride, if it wasn't done for them. i think that flouride in tap water is very beneficial today because it helps us protect our teeth and also keeps health care down, because it's taking care of our teeth through drinking tap water. flouride in tap water does have its cons too but i think the pros of it outweigh the cons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was researching more about the fluoride controversy, I decided to read about the cons of fluoridated water. This website, http://www.dentalwellness4u.com/layperson/fluoridefacts.html says that the ingested fluoride in water has no effect on dental health because the effects of fluoride are topical. It also says that very little research was done about water fluoridation before it became widespread in city water. Other sides of the argument show lots of good things that this website discredits. How can both sides be so different? How can we learn what information is true?
ReplyDeleteIf people didn't have fluoride in their water, teeth would be much worse! With fluoride, cavities have gone down 25% than they would be without it. I think more people should be educated on the benefits of fluoride. That way, citizens would know how greatly the pros outweigh the cons.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading one of these articles, I learned that the excessive consumption of fluoride over a lifetime may increase the likelihood of bone fractures, and may result in effects on bone leading to pain and tenderness, a condition called skeletal fluorosis.
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