Biological aspects of fluorine

Fluorine may interact with biological systems in the form of fluorine-containing compounds. Though elemental fluorine (F₂) is very rare in everyday life, fluorine-containing compounds such as fluorite occur naturally as minerals. Naturally occurring organofluorine compounds are extremely rare. Man-made fluoride compounds are common and are used in medicines, pesticides, and materials. Twenty percent of all commercialized pharmaceuticals contain fluorine, including Lipitor and Prozac.^[1][2] In many contexts, fluorine-containing compounds are harmless or even beneficial to living organisms; in others, they are toxic.

Aside from their use in medicine, man-made fluorinated compounds have also played a role in several noteworthy environmental concerns. 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. Similarly, the stability of many organofluorine compounds has raised the issue of biopersistence. Long-lived molecules from waterproofing sprays, for example PFOA and PFOS, are found worldwide in the tissues of wildlife and humans, including newborn children.

Fluorine biology is also relevant to a number of cutting-edge technologies. PFCs (perfluorocarbons) are capable of holding enough oxygen to support human liquid breathing. Organofluorine in the form of its radioisotope ¹⁸F is also at the heart of a modern medical imaging technique known as positron emission tomography (PET). A PET scan produces three-dimensional colored images of parts of the body that use a lot of sugar, particularly the brain or tumors.