USA - Activists worry a new pesticide will put toxic levels of fluoride in your food

Water in the U.S. was first treated with sodium fluoride in 1945 and today the U.S. is only one of four countries, including Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, that fluoridates municipal water supplies, serving 300 million people worldwide. With the advent of the Dow AgroSciences pesticide ProFume, millions of Americans could also ingest fluoride in their food. An alternative pesticide to ozone-depleting methyl bromide, which is being phased out after 50 years, ProFume is approved for use in “non-residential structures,” including processed-food and pet-food facilities, warehouses, and shipping containers. ProFume’s active ingredient is sulfuryl fluoride, a highly toxic gas that kills insects and rodents in nearly all life stages, although insect eggs seem resistant to it.