Fear appeals, individuals' cognitive-behavioral responses, and willingness to pay for safe water in fluoride-contaminated regions.

In rural areas with high fluoride concentrations in groundwater, affordable and effective de-fluoridation technologies can significantly reduce the likelihood of being affected by fluorosis-related illnesses, such as skeletal fluorosis. This is particularly significant in areas where groundwater is the primary or sole drinking water source, such as the Rift Valley of Tanzania. Despite the availability of technologies, people's use of de-fluoridation devices still needs to be improved.

Mineralogical-geochemical study of the anionic competition effect on the octacalcium phosphate reaction into fluorapatite.

The unstable compound octacalcium phosphate (OCP) is one of the crystalline precursors of the apatite mineral series composed by hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite. The feature of OCP to react into apatite, depending on the media conditions, has been mainly exploited for biomedical applications as bone and tooth substitute material. Recently, some important applications of OCP have been documented: e.

A two-step pH control method to remove divalent metals from near-neutral mining and metallurgical waste drainages by inducing the formation of layered double hydroxide.

A neutral M-rich and M-poor (M = metal) metallurgical waste drainage was used to test a metal removal method based on the precipitation of layered double hydroxide (LDH). The LDH precipitation was induced by adding a salt of Al (trivalent metal missing in the drainage) and maintaining or restoring the pH to a circum-neutral value. The precipitates were characterized by chemical analysis, XRD, ESEM, HRTEM and XAS.

Application of Octacalcium Phosphate with an Innovative Household-scale Defluoridator Prototype and Behavioral Determinants of its Adoption in Rural Communities of the East African Rift Valley.

Natural fluoride contamination of drinking water is a serious issue that affects several countries of the world. Its negative health impact is well documented in the East African Rift Valley, where water consumption with fluoride ( ) concentration greater than 1.5 mg/L can cause fluorosis to people.

Defluoridation of water through the transformation of octacalcium phosphate into fluorapatite.

The consumption of water with fluoride concentration higher than 1.5 mg/L (WHO recommended limit) is recognized to cause serious diseases, and fluoride removal from natural contaminated waters is a health priority for more than 260 million people worldwide. The octacalcium phosphate (OCP), a mineralogical precursor of bio-apatite, is here tested as a fluoride remover.