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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), once major components of numerous commercial aerosol products, have proven damaging to Earth's ozone layer and resulted in the wide-reaching Montreal Protocol; though in truth the chlorine in CFCs is the destructive actor, fluorine is an important part of these molecules because it makes them very stable and long-lived.
The fluorine cycle is the series of biogeochemical processes through which fluorine moves through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Fluorine originates from the Earth’s crust, and its cycling between various sources and sinks is modulated by a variety of natural and anthropogenic processes.
Fluorapatite (Ca 5 (PO 4) 3 F) is mined along with other apatites for its phosphate content and is used mostly for production of fertilizers. Most of the Earth's fluorine is bound in this mineral, but because the percentage within the mineral is low (3.5%), the fluorine is discarded as waste. Only in the United States is there significant recovery.
Fluorine is a chemical element; it has symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen [note 1] and exists at standard conditions as pale yellow diatomic gas. Fluorine is extremely reactive as it reacts with all other elements except for the light inert gases. It is highly toxic.
Photosynthesis (/ ˌ f oʊ t ə ˈ s ɪ n θ ə s ɪ s / FOH-tə-SINTH-ə-sis) [1] is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.
A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, [1] is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle , the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle .
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) is a known accumulator of fluorine compounds, released upon forming infusions such as the common beverage. The fluorine compounds decompose into products including fluoride ions. Fluoride is the most bioavailable form of fluorine, and as such, tea is potentially a vehicle for fluoride dosing. [29]
1: Extremely rare on the Earth's surface (less than 1×10 −7 %, i.e. less than 1/10 as common as the least common essential element, selenium), thus has low potential for any kind of biological role. a: Toxic in some molecular forms. b: Radioactive. c: Has uses in medicine as a drug or implant.