Natural Fluorine Does Exist ... In Smelly Rocks
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scibri writes "Chemists have proved that a smelly rock is the only known place on Earth where fluorine exists in its elemental form, F2 (Abstract).
The rock is antozonite, a calcium fluoride (fluorite) mineral that is dark violet or even black in colour, also known as fetid fluorite or stinkspar. Needless to say, this rock stinks. The pungent smell is given off when antozonite is crushed, and chemists and mineralogists have argued over the origin of the stench since the early nineteenth century.
It turns out French chemist Henri Moissan, who first isolated fluorine in 1886, was right. The rock contains pockets of fluorine that are released on crushing."
Radiation produced fluorine (Score:5, Interesting)
Clues from previous experiments suggested how fluorine might be formed in the rocks. The experiments exposed artificial calcium fluoride to - and -radiation, and high-energy electron beams. The samples often turned violet, because the radiation was splitting calcium fluoride apart to form clusters of calcium ions. Subsequent tests showed that bubbles of fluorine gas were also forming in the lenses.
The same process could explain the stench of antozonite, says Kraus. The mineral contains tiny amounts of radioactive uranium-238, which decays into -emitting daughter nuclides. The rocks have been lying around for 100 million years, says Kraus, which is enough time for the radioactive decay to produce the same effect as seen in the artificial fluorite experiments.
Interesting stuff to a rock nerd.
-AI
Comedy Of Errors not Conspiracy (Score:1, Interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX1qiQoASlw&feature=related
Anything that bioaccumulates that is harmful in sufficient concentrations must be kept below very very low levels of intake, sufficient so that it cannot accumulate to harmful levels. Even after 40years! heck should we accept it if it took 80years?
In southern india and many parts of africa the levels of flouride in the water naturally are so high that they suffer extreme health problems including skeletal fluorosis. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4519697926101725336
So its ironic that another AC below me is complaining about people caring about a "fucking rock" when children in Africa are starving! the Irony! Do you realise that these children in Africa are drinking upto 10 to 40mg/L of fluoride in their water and have a significantly reduced IQ as a result. What do you think reducing the entire populations IQ by 15 points does, how about 30 points.
These countries are only now implementing systems to remove water fluoride which could be one of the most significant actions available to increase their own long term self sustainability by increasing their IQ ! With a reduction of 15 IQ to the population the chinese studies found 1/3 as many children in the "Advanced class in school".
the effects of fluoride on the micovilli sound suspiciously like Coeleacs disease which has suddenly exploded, and sure there may be genetic risk factors that make people react more to wheat but the hypersensitivity of the neutrophiles can be explained by Fluoride.
Asthma rates is developed countries has exploded and it is recognised that urban pollution particularly traffic pollution is a risk factor. But what is it about the exhaust? Hydrofluoric Acid explains Asthma quite well. It causes damage to the lung tissue yes, but it also causes airway hyperresponsiveness. This is called Pot-Room-Asthma among metal foundry workers, where Fluorine gets its name, as its primary role was as a Metal Flux even before it was isolated by Henri Moissan. The latin word/prefix for Flow is Flou.
This rock didnt just stink it killed! HF gas is deadly by the time you can smell it making it particularly dangerous. Do you really think you can tell you are being exposed to it chronically, over decades, when it only becomes detectable at immediately life threatening levels.
By the way the immediately life threatening levels are around 25mg/m^3, so how many mg does it actually take to kill someone ? the accidents that have occurred in Alaska where people died after drinking over fluorinated water, vomited and then drank more, repeat, until death occured. The victims showed levels in their urine at around 20mg/L, we PUT 1mg/L in the water and tell people its good for them!
Vitamin C has a major detox role in the body, and one of these is to protect from F. The experiments in India attempting to reverse Skeletal Fluorosis use 500mg + of Vit C and Vit D and E are also shown to remove it from the body, and E helps to remove it from the CNS where it concentrates.
Its more a comedy of errors than a conspiracy, along the line of governments being complicit in allowing paracetamol to be advertised as being the "safe option" and suitable for kids. From our mistakes we are figuring out more about ourselves than we could have expected.
Oh and before anyone mentions anything about the "conspiracy" as opposed to the "comedy of errors" that is water fluoridation in America consider that Japan _doesnot_ fluoridate its water. Neither dose most of europe, also calcium fluoride added to salt has 1/50 th the dissociation in water that NaF does, possibly meaning 50 times more bioavailability. Tests measuring the levels of rat urine shows that the Silicon Fluorine compounds that are in practise used may increase the urine level of F by 3 times over the same concentration of NaF in their drinking water, suggesting an increase in the level transported to the plasma by 3 times (actually more than that because its being deposited almost everywhere along