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March 24, 2008
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.
Comments
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.
Posted by: Anu | March 26, 2008 12:36 PM