Most likely hydofluosilicic acid, which is a hazardous waste, scrubbed from the smokestacks of phosphate fertilizer plants. Not only is it one of the most toxic forms of fluoride, but it also contains arsenic and lead, and it dissolves lead in pipes and puts it into the water.
Here is some info I found recently about the relationship between fluoridated water and its lead content. The lead has 2 sources, the HFS acid and the pipes themselves:
John D. MacArthur states, "History repeats itself. Just like the acidic leaves that leeched lead from the paint on that 18th century roof, fluosilicic acid leaches lead from plumbing. This was graphically demonstrated in two communities that stopped fluoridating their water systems. Their lead levels dropped significantly. During a 1992 drought in Tacoma, Washington, they temporarily stopped fluoridating their water and lead levels dropped from 32 ppb (parts per billion) to 17 ppb. When Thurmont, Maryland stopped fluoridating their drinking water in 1994, the lead level in homes dropped from 30 ppb to 7 ppb. (The EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level is 15 ppb). ("Fluoride Banned in Thurmont, Maryland," Frederick Post , Feb. 3, 1994, p. A-9.) Also see, 13-5: "Letter from C.R. Myrick, Water Quality Coordinator, Tacoma Public Utilities to Washington State Dept. of Health", Dec. 2, 1992, in which he states: "It is interesting to note the 90th percentile lead concentration was 17 ppb this time compared to 32 ppb last time. We have not been using fluoride since the drought this summer." Fluoride was held responsible for the high lead level.
In research funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training (published in August 1999 in the International Journal of Environmental Studies), a survey of over 280,000 Massachusetts children, comparing a matched group in 30 towns that do not use silicofluorides to children in 30 communities that use these chemicals to fluoridate, showed that when silicofluorides were present in the water the children were more than twice as likely to suffer from blood lead above the danger level of 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. The correlation with blood lead levels is especially serious because lead poisoning is associated with higher rates of learning disabilities, hyperactivity, substance abuse and crime. (See 13-6: "Water Treatment With Silicofluorides and Lead Toxicity," by Roger D. Masters and Myron J. Coplan from the International Journal of Environmental Studies, 1999, Vol. 56. pp. 435-449).
"Children who are black or Hispanic given the same exposures as white children absorb significantly more lead. ... This means that the level set by EPA is marginally safe for white adults, but unsafe for African American or Hispanic children." (See 13-7: letter by William L. Marcus, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., Board Certified Consulting Toxicologist).Herbert L. Needleman, of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine, said, "He found much higher lead rates in a group of juvenile delinquents than in a control group. He used 416 youths-216 delinquents and 200 in a control group. Adjusting for such factors as race, parental education, occupation, family size and crime rate in the neighborhood the youths came from, he found those with high lead levels were twice as likely to be delinquent than those with low levels." ("Chemicals and Crime: A Truly Toxic Effect," by Judy Mann, May 26, 2000, page C 11, Washington Post. Judy Mann can be reached at (202) 334-6109 or at
[email protected].)
This came from this excellent website, which refutes the ADA's pro-fluoridation arguments point by point: https://www.fluoridedebate.com/question13.html
Aluminum is toxic, but because it is also highly reactive, as is fluorine, when the 2 bond, they bond tightly and there is less free fluoride (and free aluminum) available to damage us. Calcium and magnesium, which are not toxic. also bond tightly with fluorine. Sodium and silicon, on the other hand, do not bond tightly with fluorine, so their salts fully dissolve in solution, leaving more free fluoride ions to do their damage. When fluoride occurs naturally in water, and the water is also high in calcium & magnesium (i.e. "hard"), the fluoride causes much less damage than when the same amount of fluoride is present in "soft" water--water high in sodium.
Which is being proposed to be added to the county water supply?