Chemistry Sodium Fluoride

Sodium fluoride , is a part of everyone in this rooms life (for most anyway), and as student doctors you must all be informed about it. As you can all see from the image to the right, one use for sodium fluoride is toothpaste. Sodium fluoride is the main active ingredient in most toothpastes. This is because sodium fluoride has been proven to help prevent cavities by remineralizing or "rebuilding" the enamel, on the tooth.

The other main use (and the one going to be discussed) is the adding of Sodium Fluoride to drinking water.

References

ONLY

For Pictures

Hill David, September 29 1992 (Revised 1997)

Disinformation in the service of big industry.

Retrieved from:

www.fluoridation.com

http://www.dsmh2o.com

Wikipedia

Chemistry land.com

www.cwra.org

Dr Marvin, July 27 2009

The Dangers of Fluoride

Retrieved from:

http://naturaldentistry.us

May 2011

Sodium Fluoride and our water

Retrieved from:

Aquasafecanada.com

Sodium Fluoride is dangerous!

Yes it is true. Countless studies have been done about the horrifying effects of this compound that most of you consume everyday.

But how bad can it be?

Watson Paul, Ryan Matt, August 5 2010

Sodium Fluoride: Poison In The Tap Water

Retrieved from:

PrisonPlanet.com

Why is sodium Fluoride dangerous?

As mentioned before Sodium fluoride is a bi-product of industrial companies.These companies include aluminum, steel, fertilizer, glass, fossil fuel, cement, nuclear and other heavy industries (Slightly disturbing for something that's in your water). The reason it comes from these plants is that the companies would rather not pay the expensive fees to get rid of it properly, so they instead sell it to water companies. It is very toxic, the lethal dose for adults is estimated at 6 g (grams). Which isn't a surprise if it is created from all these harsh factories.

Sodium fluoride can cause a huge number of health problems, the list is goes on and on. Some of the more serious issues were discover by Harvard's health department. Harvard scientists found that fluoride can lower people's IQ (affect the brain), it can cause skeletal fluorosis (a bone disease), thyroid blockage, and much more. Not to mention, it is linked to several serious cancers.

Its a little unsettling to see something that many of us consume so often being handled with such extreme care and heavy safety gear.

If Sodium Fluoride can affect us so badly, then why is it put in our water?

Well, the issues listed previously occur when people are exposed to rather large amounts of the compound overtime.

Although there have been many studies against the usage of sodium fluoride in water, there have been some for it as well. Its hard to figure out what is true and, what is complete nonsense made up from some guy on the internet who thinks the government is trying to poison us. There seems to be quite a bit of dispute about this between companies and health officials. The point is, although it is a fact that Sodium Fluoride is not good for the body, it in inconclusive if the percentage added to water is enough to cause significant health effects. Until more research is carried out many water companies in ontario will continue to use it.

Until then , it is necessary for your future patient to take precautions.

Because sodium fluoride is mainly a by-product (however it can be made) of large chemical companies, it quickly accumulates and becomes waste that needs to be disposed off. There have been countless cases of the compound simply been dumped in rivers and other areas. This literally decimates the surrounding environment.

Environmental Issues

It is so toxic that it poisons all the fish in the water and any animal that inhales it, it affects the reproduction of animals, and destroys vegetation. There have been many law suits made on companies that produce Sodium Fluoride from fish hatcheries kilometers away from where it was disposed of. And the few fish that weren't reported to have died had at least some mutations or physical problems.

Alternatives

As far as toothpastes go there are many known alternatives to sodium fluoride based brands. But there really isn't any known better way to clean teeth with water than fluoridation, so the safest thing to do would be simply to stop fluoridating the drinking water for now, which most provinces already have.

Amount of residents receiving water treated with sodium fluoride.

Quebec (about 6%),

British Columbia (about 4%)

Newfoundland and Labrador (1.5%),

Nunavut and the Yukon having no fluoridation at all.

And as mentioned before Ontario has 75%

The other provinces are clearly worried abut the affects of this compound.

The one way to avoid sodium fluoride is to buy a Special fluoride filter, which can be bought online.

However as far as the the environment goes, there is no known way to avoid the environmental impact, because sodium fluoride is not made deliberately (usually), its a by-product. So unless all of those factories suddenly shut down, sodium fluoride will continue to affect the environment.

In conclusion, warn and inform your future patients of sodium fluoride and its affects! Also, recommend them to buy a specialized filter because we still don't know how much Sodium fluoride can truly affect us.

Conclusion

February 19, 2008

Molecule of the week

Retrieved from:

ACS.com (American chemical society)

Sodium Fluoride

NaF

Doctor - Student doctors

Introduction

Good morning future doctors, you are all here today to be informed of the rising health issues with a compound that we have been using for years without many of us even knowing. So without further ado I shall begin the presentation on Sodium fluoride.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, April 4 2011

Sodium Fluoride

Retrieved from:

www.cdc.gov

Chemical Properties

Sodium Fluoride comes from the alkali metal "Sodium" or (Na), and the halogen "Florine" or (F).

Before even calculating the EN difference, you can already tell the bond is ionic based on the fact that it is a bond between a metal and a non metal.

But even if you were to calculate it, the EN difference would be

Uses of Sodium Fluoride

3.98 - 0.93 = 3.05

F

Na

As you can see, the EN difference is clearly over 1.7, therefore making it ionic.

Sodium fluoride, the form of fluoride added to many toothpastes, mouth rinses and prescription supplements, works just as other types of fluoride do. It helps to prevent cavities by remineralizing or rebuilding the enamel, the outer layer of the tooth. Remineralizing enamel can also repair areas beginning to decay.

-American Dental Association

Here is a Lewis diagram of the compound's bond.

Uses of Sodium Fluoride

Sodium fluoride has been used in water since the 1940s. In Ontario 75% of our water is "fluoridated".

The reason for adding Sodium fluoride is the same reason for adding it to toothpaste. It helps with your teeth!

However, there is ALOT of controversy about this, for a good reason...

What is Sodium Fluoride?

Sodium Fluoride is a colorless crystalline salt. It looks like the picture below and the to the left. As you can see it can come in tablets or in a salt form. The salt form however is far more common than the tablet. The salt form is a by-product of the fertilizer, aluminum and nuclear industries.