Ask A Scientist Environmental Earth Science Archive

name         Rose R.
status       other
age          40s

Question -   Can fluorspar cause dangerous contamination of water or
soil?
------------------------------------------------
The solubility constant for the solution of CaF2 = Ca(++) + 2F(-) is 8.5 x
10 ^ -10. The corresponding concentration of F(-) is 1.75 x 10 ^-5, which is
equal to 0.32 parts per million. I an not an authority on the toxicity of
F(-) but this sounds pretty low to me, since this simple calculation does
not take into account other cations in the soil that will form insoluble
fluorides, and further reduce its "free" concentration.

Vince Calder
=========================================================