Is Grade 6 Toxins/Poisons Being Added To Our Drinking Water Right?

Went to a local dam at Captain's Flat NSW. (35°35'28.52"S 149°26'46.51"E)

Below the dam is a water filtration plant. The plant was fully fenced off, which is understandable, but had signs up warning of toxic substances.


Water Filtration Plant
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cf705615f6a1.jpg[/atsimg]This photo from www.panoramio.com...


Warning Sign
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7ad516552d04.jpg[/atsimg]Apologies for poor quality of photo. Taken on camera phone on extreme zoom to try & get close enough to make sign readable.


One sign had the poison symbol of skull & crossbones with level rating 6

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HAZMAT Class 6 Toxic and Infectious Substances
en.wikipedia.org...

Division 6.1: Poisonous material is a material, other than a gas, which is known to be so toxic to humans as to afford a hazard to health during transportation, or which, in the absence of adequate data on human toxicity:

Is presumed to be toxic to humans because it falls within any one of the following categories when tested on laboratory animals (whenever possible, animal test data that has been reported in the chemical literature should be used):
1.Oral Toxicity: A liquid with an LD50 for acute oral toxicity of not more than 500 mg/kg or a solid with an LD50 for acute oral toxicity of not more than 200 mg/kg.
2.Dermal Toxicity. A material with an LD50 for acute dermal toxicity of not more than 1000 mg/kg.
3.Inhalation Toxicity: A dust or mist with an LC50 for acute toxicity on inhalation of not more than 10 mg/L; or a material with a saturated vapor concentration in air at 20 °C (68 °F) of more than one-fifth of the LC50 for acute toxicity on inhalation of vapors and with an LC50 for acute toxicity on inhalation of vapors of not more than 5000 ml/m³; or
Is an irritating material, with properties similar to tear gas, which causes extreme irritation, especially in confined spaces.

Sign warned of chemicals such as sodium fluoride, sodium hypochlorite & nitric acid. All are known as corrosive chemicals.

Sodium fluoride
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

Sodium fluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula NaF. This colorless solid is a source of the fluoride ion in diverse applications.
Sodium fluoride is classed as toxic by both inhalation (of dusts or aerosols) and ingestion. In high enough doses, it has been shown to affect the heart and circulatory system, and the lethal dose for a 70 kg human is estimated at 5–10 g.

In the higher doses used to treat osteoporosis, plain sodium fluoride can cause pain in the legs and incomplete stress fractures when the doses are too high; it also irritates the stomach, sometimes so severely as to cause ulcers.

In high concentrations, soluble fluoride salts are toxic and skin or eye contact with high concentrations of many fluoride salts is dangerous. Referring to a common salt of fluoride, NaF, the lethal dose for most adult humans is estimated at 1–10 grams. A lethal dose is approximately 28 mg per kilogram of body mass.

Poisoning comes from ingesting a large amount of fluoride in a short period of time. Ingesting 3–5 mg/kg may cause symptoms to appear, while the estimated lethal dose is 5–10 g (32–64 mg/kg) in adults and 16 mg/kg in children. Severity of symptoms depends upon the amount of fluoride ingested. These include abdominal pain, diarrhea, dysphagia, hypersalivation, mucosal injury, nausea, vomiting. Electrolyte abnormalities including hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, hypoglycemia, and hypomagnesemia may occur. Neurological symptoms include headache, muscle weakness, hyperactive reflexes, muscular spasms, paresthesia seizures, tetanic contractions, and tremors. In severe cases, multi organ failure will occur. Death typically results from cardiac arrest, shock, widening of QRS, and various arrhythmias occur.

Nitric Acid
en.wikipedia.org...

Nitric acid (HNO3), also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.

Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming nitric acid. Fuming nitric acid is characterized as white fuming nitric acid and red fuming nitric acid, depending on the amount of nitrogen dioxide present. At concentrations above 95% at room temperature, it tends to develop a yellow color due to decomposition.

Sodium Hypochlorite
en.wikipedia.org...

Sodium hypochlorite is a strong oxidizer. Products of the oxidation reactions are corrosive. Solutions burn skin and cause eye damage, particularly when used in concentrated forms. However, as recognized by the NFPA, only solutions containing more than 40% sodium hypochlorite by weight are considered hazardous oxidizers. Solutions less than 40% are classified as a moderate oxidizing hazard (NFPA 430, 2000).

I know people argue fluoride is good for teeth, bleach is a great cleaner etc.

When it comes down to it they are class 6 toxic chemicals, REPEAT "TOXIC".

They are used in our drinking water.

If these chemicals are so safe for us to drink, why put up such warning signs listing it as being so dangerous (besides being an industrial worksite).

Who has the right to say what can be put into my drinking water.

Why should I have to buy bottled water or special filtration systems to use at home simply so I don't have to ingest these toxic chemicals.

I just think when it comes down to it, it just really sucks.





[edit on 9-5-2010 by acrux]

probably chlorine somewhere in there too

one thing to note is that just because they have the chemicals at the facility doesnt mean they are adding it to the water. i know the flouride, but those others might be used for machinery or something. who knows.



[edit on 9-5-2010 by LurkerMan]

If these chemicals are so safe for us to drink, why put up such warning signs listing it as being so dangerous (besides being an industrial worksite).

reply to post by acrux


I would imagine that the warnings relate to the storage of these chemicals in a state of high concentration . These would then be added to the water in a diluted form , i`m sure there are guidelines as to how many parts per million is a safe dose.

I agree that the mass fluoridation of our water supplies is no longer necessary , but water systems do require some treatment before arriving at the kitchen tap.

reply to post by LurkerMan

probably chlorine somewhere in there too

Sodium hypochlorite is a type of chlorine.

[edit on 9-5-2010 by acrux]

If you could look up what Australian regulations are in relationship to safety warning signs, you'd find out what chemical(s) are there in harmful quantities.

At a minimum, a concentrated chlorine compound will be used. In looking at the pics from the site listed, it looked like reverse osmosis was the main treatment. There will be chemicals used to remove the scale off the plates inside the filter units, these chemicals would be listed as well.

As for the fencing, yes it is understandable, notice the transformers on the pole. A minimum of 220V 3 phase power coming in, most likely 440/480v used on the pumps. There is a much higher risk of someone being electrocuted than poisoned. That water - electricity thing...

Anyway, UmbraSumus fairly well hit the nail on the head.