The form used in fortifying foods is pteroylglutamic acid (PGA) or folic acid itself. Today the government requires fortification of certain foods with folic acid because it is so important to the human body. Mostly folic acid is fortified in cereals and flours. Folic acid can also be found by itself as a supplement or in a B vitamin complex.

Until recently Tetra Ethyl-Lead or TEL was a popular additive to petrol. TEL was added to petrol to improve the octane rating of petrol. TEL is a non biodegradable substance that easily dissolves in petrol and reduces ?knocking? in the engine. Not only does TEL allow a higher compression ratio in engines, it also improves the efficiency of engines. TEL was first used as an additive in the US in the 1920s. The effectiveness of TEL as an additive was discovered way back in 1921, what is interesting to note is that TEL was so toxic nearly a dozen researches died while experimenting with TEL.

Generally, the major uses of fluorochemical compounds fall into three major categories at the turn of the 21st century. The first are the rather stable halocarbon compounds used in medicine such as several types of inhalation anesthetics for anaesthesia. A very major industrial use is in the form of heat tolerant and inert synthetic oils and metalworking lubricants.