ABOUT
Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Written by EWG staff.
DONATE TO EWG!
Help us protect your health and environment! Please donate $5 to EWG today.
GET EWG'S TIPS & ACTION ALERTS
Sign Up here to receive email updates and tips from EWG and stay informed on the issues that matter most to you.
ENVIROBLOG VIA EMAIL
Join EWG's live chat with Chef Ann Cooper
School lunch: More fruits & veggies, please!
Texas Schools are Drilling for Dollars
Why do blowouts take so long to fix?
SEARCH ENVIROBLOG
FEATURED
Support the 2010 Safe Cosmetics Act. It's Urgent.
Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?
Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure
Test Your Knowledge of Cosmetics Safety: 8 Myths Debunked
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
PEOPLE TALKING TOXICS
TALK TO US
Did we miss something? Email Enviroblog.
« Contaminated fake fish show danger for real ones | Main | PFCs may concentrate in breast milk »
Dangerous industrial chemical or drinking water additive?
BRAITHWAITE, La. – A highly corrosive acid that leaked from a storage facility at a chemical plant could have eaten through adjacent storage tanks to cause a "catastrophic" mix of toxic chemicals. . . The dangerously corrosive material can irritate or burn the skin, eyes, lungs and other mucous membranes.
Last week's story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune sure sounded scary. To keep the acid from breaching storage tanks for other chemicals, workers at Stolthaven New Orleans LLC dumped almost half a million gallons of the chemical into the Mississippi River. Emergency personnel wore respirators and hazmat suits. The Coast Guard kept all vessels out of the contaminated area until midnight.
The chemical? It's called fluorosilicic acid. But most Americans, if they think of it at all, know it as fluoride, added to water supplies nationwide in the name of reducing tooth decay. Los Angeles is the latest addition to the club, adding fluoride to the water of 18 million customers of the Metropolitan Water District last fall.
Set aside for a moment the mounting evidence that fluoride not only does little for dental health, but increases chances of a rare bone cancer in teenage boys who drank treated water as children. Set aside the assurance of Louisiana officials and MWD that there's no harm if its diluted to parts per billion. Just think about whether you want a "dangerously corrosive" chemical that almost caused a "catastrophe" – one that is a waste product of manufacturing phosphate fertilizer – in your drinking water, where it affects not just your teeth but your whole body.
I didn't think so.
It's ludicrous that water is treated with fluoride. When I pay for water, I pay for water and nothing else. I live in Minnesota and public water fluoridation is a state mandate. After all the negative health effects and risks of drinking fluoride, I am appalled that this practice is still in use. I am in the process of buying a fluoride filter for our family. All this to remove something that was added on purpose. If fluoride is so good for the teeth why do we need to ingest it? Shouldn't brushing be enough? If people can't afford to brush their teeth, then, they have bigger problems to worry about. Vitamins are good for your body. Why don't they add vitamins to the water? This is sure to do a lot more good to your health than fluoride.