Fluorine

Abstract

Fluorine is the most reactive non-metal and almost never occurs in its elemental state. Combined with elements in the form of fluoride, fluorine is ubiquitous and occurs in plants and animals in trace amounts. If excess fluoride in the environment is ingested or inhaled, it can cause dental mottling starting in childhood and, at higher levels, abnormal bone growth at any stage of life, which, with prolonged exposure, may become deforming and crippling. Fluorine enters the hydrosphere by the leaching of soils and minerals into groundwater, and can enter vegetation through plant roots or by the absorption of gaseous or particulate fluorides in the air and in rain falling on leaves.1 It arises in the atmosphere through volcanic activity, by the entrainment of soil and water particles by wind action, and from industrial emissions.