WHAT IS FLUORIDE?- PART 1

I live in England and there has been many a time where I have you tubed surfed and have seen lots of video's about theories as to why fluoride in water is bad for people. like many other people I have always believed in the statement that fluoride in water is actually beneficial for dental health, as well as fluoride been in toothpaste.

I never even questioned it and even thought they must only use fluoride in America, I was so shocked at the videos that I was watching, fluoride , birth control pills found in Americas drinking water fluoride is used for mind population control etc. ......

surely this couldn't be true? so for the first time I decided to do my own research on fluoride and come to my own conclusion and share with you what I find.

What is Fluoride and where does it come from?

so searching for this has given me such a headache there's so many scientific terms and explanations but i find non really explaining much about it, other than where the chemical or element sits on the periodic tables, I keep coming across statements saying that fluoride is naturally occurring in water, soil and food and that it can be found naturally within the earth, and then, keep coming across chemical/ man made fluoride which is the product that is used in water fluoridation, and in toothpaste etc... The best information I found was on a geology site about rocks where I found the following: 

 

FLUORITE:  is a natural mineral that is composed and made up of calcium and fluorine, looks like a crystal. This little gem is mined. Fluorspar is the name used when fluorite is bulk sold in material, or  has been processed as to which there are different grades:

Acid grade fluorspar - used by the chemical industry to produce hydrofluoric acid.

Ceramic grade fluorspar - used for glass ceramics and enamelware 

metallurgical grade fluorspar - used for iron steel and other metals it removes the sulphur and phosphorus from metal 

optical grade fluorspar - this is mixed with other materials to create lenses used for microscopes, cameras and telescopes.

lapidary grade fluorspar - this is used for decoration mainly, collectors buy the gemstone mainly and can be worn as jewellery.

so this is obviously the raw material found within the earth that they create/ extract fluoride from but what is the difference between fluoride and fluorine?

 

 

 

FLUORINE is a chemical  and in some sort of yellow or green gas form with a strong odour, it is the most chemically reactive of all the gases, 'fluorine does not exist in nature in its elemental state'( fluorite I'm presuming) , FLUORINE is used in the petrochemical industry, aluminium manufacturing,  agricultural chemicals, dyes, ceramics, enamel, glass.Fluorine gas with moisture produces a reaction and creates: hydrofluoric acid                             

FLUORINE is available in both liquid and gas form and can not be absorbed, however it is that reactive it can form other chemicals that can be ABSORBED!!.( I wonder what they are??) The document from which I got this information from doesn't tell you what other chemicals are made that can be absorbed.                            

 FLUORIDE is a inorganic anion of fluorine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride) I have no idea what that means but I'm guessing its created out of fluorine? apparently it contributes no colour to fluoride salts, the fancy word for salt id sodium so ......

SODIUM FLUORIDE:




















Ok so, obviously this is hazardous to touch in this format, I think this is the fluoride that is going into to the drinking water and toothpastes, I'm going to have to do more research as to what other uses it has, I'm getting a very mixed bag of information, the one thing that is clear fluoride to me is processed from the mineral rock fluorite, and is used mainly for industrial purposes.