Fluorine: Releases by Industry, 1995-2015

The following data comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for Fluorine releases into the environment. These releases pollute our bodies, air, water, soil, and wildlife. It’s important to emphasize, especially at the community level, that not all industries or sources that release fluorine into the environment are included in the TRI.

There is an excellent report published in 1976 by the U.S. Geological Survey titled Geology and Resources of Fluorine in the United States.  The introduction states:

Fluorspar, the primary source of fluorine, is a vital and integral part of our economy, for it has great commercial and strategic importance because of its  wide use in the metallurgical, chemical, and ceramic industries. Reviews (Industrial Minerals, June and July 1970) of the world’s supplies of fluorspar  predict shortages in the near future. The increased demand is chiefly the result  of the change-over by the steel industry to the basic oxygen process requiring about three times as much fluorspar as conventional processes; continued expansion of the aluminum industry; and the growing market for fluorine chemicals, especially fluorocarbons (MacMillan, 1970)…

Representative examples of the major types of deposits (fluorspar, calcium fluophosphate, topaz) and of other fluorine-bearing minerals are described in detail, by geographic area; many other deposits are described briefly, and references to sources of detailed information are given. In addition to this report, fluorine resources are also reported on briefly by Worl, Van Alstine, and Shawe (1973), and a map by Worl, Van Alstine, and  Heyl (1974) shows distribution of  fluorite in the United States. The map was intended as a supplement to the present report…

Terms used in the Tables below:

• Releases: On- and Off-site releases as reported on TRI’s forms. This amount does not include quantities of the toxic chemical that were the result of a catastrophic event, remedial action or other, one-time event not associated with production.
• Wastes: This includes the On- and Off-site Releases (above) and the sum of recycled on-site, recycled off-site, energy recovery on-site, energy recovery off-site, treated on-site, treated off-site, and quantities disposed of or otherwise released on- and off-site as reported on TRI’s forms.
• Note: The quantities used change frequently as TRI updates its data. However, the changes are generally not significant.

Table 1. Fluorine Releases By Year

In Table 2 below, the main sectors emitting fluorine, as recorded by TRI for 1995-2015 are:

• Coal-fired Electric Utilities = 888,821 pounds
• Primary Metals = 544,320 pounds
• Stone/Clay/Glass = 416,051 pounds
• Hazardous Waste/Solvent Recovery = 75,899 pounds
• Computers = 38,492 pounds
• Cement = 4,820 pounds

Table 2: Fluorine Releases by Industry 1997-2015 With Top 5 Polluters Identified

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