Fluoride is a major industrial pollutant, one which has caused widespread damage to fluoride-exposed workers and downwind communities. During the Cold War, fluoride was responsible for more litigation against U.S. industry than all other air pollutants combined. Although the development of modern pollution control technology has resulted in significant reductions in fluoride emissions, millions of workers around the world remain at risk for respiratory, neurological, and bone diseases from fluoride exposure, and downwind communities remain at risk in countries with weak environmental regulation.
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In the meantime, we recommend the following links:
Reviews:
- The Phosphate Fertilizer Industry: An Environmental Overview
- Fluorides in the Air
- Air is “Fluoridated”
Fluoride in the Workplace:
News on Fluoride-Polluting Industries:
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The Phosphate Fertilizer Industry: An Environmental Overview
1. Introduction They call them "wet scrubbers" - the pollution control devices used by the phosphate industry to capture fluoride gases produced in the production of commercial fertilizer. In the past, when the industry let these gases escape, vegetation became scorched, crops destroyed, and cattle crippled. Today, with the development of sophisticated air-pollution
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Fluoride Pollution
Environmental contamination by fluorides exposes many organisms to potentially toxic effects and may exert some stress on the ecological interrelationships among plant and animal populations in natural biological communities. Research to date has focused on human beings and species important to humans; (1) relatively little is known of the potential ecological consequences of fluoride pollution. This article presents a literature review of what is known about the ecological effects.
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Recent Study on Fluoride & Elk Makes Headlines
As some of you may know, a recent study on fluoride and elk has been attracting quite a bit of media attention recently. The study, published in the journal Ecosystems by scientists at Montana State University, looked at the effects of excess fluoride on the lifespan of elk in Yellowstone National Park.
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Respiratory Risks from Occupational Fluoride Exposure
Starting in the 1930s, scientists have observed that workers exposed to airborne fluorides suffer from an elevated rate of respiratory disorders. For over 50 years, however, US government and industry scientists made repeated assurances that the allowable level of fluoride dusts and gases in industrial workplaces would not cause any
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Fluoride Enhances Toxicity of Beryllium
Occupational exposure to beryllium is well-documented to put workers' health at risk. The two principal targets of beryllium poisoning are the respiratory system and the skin. Of all beryllium compounds, beryllium fluoride complexes (including beryllium fluoride and beryllium oxyfluoride) appear to be the most toxic. As shown below, studies dating back
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Skeletal Changes in Industrial and Endemic Fluorosis
Fluorotic changes in bones and joints were evaluated in 105 aluminum workers and 20 residents of an endemic fluorosis region in India.
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Air Pollution from Stauffer Chemical Phosphate Plant
Report from U.S. government agency documenting history of fluoride air pollution problems from a phosphate plant in Florida.
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Transcript of CBC's Broadcast: "Air of Death" (1967)
The following is the portion of "Air of Death" that deals with fluoride pollution from a phosphate industry in Ontario, Canada. STANLEY BURKE, CBC: Air pollution isn't just a big city problem. A new phosphate plant back in 1960 brought a welcome boost to the economy of the quiet agricultural area
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TRI 2008: Rank by State for Hydrogen Fluoride Releases
The following data comes from EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for Hydrogen fluoride and Fluorine releases in 2008. "Total releases" include both water and air pollution. It’s important to note, however, that not all industries or sources that release fluoride into the environment are included in the TRI. Listed below are 48 states.
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