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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.
Fluorine is the thirteenth most abundant element on Earth and the 24th most abundant element in the universe. It is the most electronegative element and it is highly reactive. Thus, it is rarely found in its elemental state, although elemental fluorine has been identified in certain geochemical contexts. [ 3 ]
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. There, the hexafluorosilicates produced as byproducts are used to supply water fluoridation. [10]
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.
Fluoride, the chemical ion of the mineral fluorine, is naturally present in trace amounts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in soil, water, plants, and some food ...
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]
A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the Earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. [1]
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