this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
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As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US (kffhealthnews.org)
submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
371 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

…

It is a scenario playing out nationwide. From Oregon to Pennsylvania, hundreds of communities have in recent years either stopped adding fluoride to their water supplies or voted to prevent its addition. Supporters of such bans argue that people should be given the freedom of choice. The broad availability of over-the-counter dental products containing the mineral makes it no longer necessary to add to public water supplies, they say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while store-bought products reduce tooth decay, the greatest protection comes when they are used in combination with water fluoridation.

The outcome of an ongoing federal case in California could force the Environmental Protection Agency to create a rule regulating or banning the use of fluoride in drinking water nationwide. In the meantime, the trend is raising alarm bells for public health researchers who worry that, much like vaccines, fluoride may have become a victim of its own success.

The CDC maintains that community water fluoridation is not only safe and effective but also yields significant cost savings in dental treatment. Public health officials say removing fluoride could be particularly harmful to low-income families — for whom drinking water may be the only source of preventive dental care.

“If you have to go out and get care on your own, it’s a whole different ballgame,” said Myron Allukian Jr., a dentist and past president of the American Public Health Association. Millions of people have lived with fluoridated water for years, “and we’ve had no major health problems,” he said. “It’s much easier to prevent a disease than to treat it.”

According to the anti-fluoride group Fluoride Action Network, since 2010, over 240 communities around the world have removed fluoride from their drinking water or decided not to add it.

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[–] _tezz@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I was curious, so I did the research you asked us to do. My best understanding after about 30 minutes is that historically, experiments examining fluoride neurotoxicity involve fluoride levels far exceeding the regular consumption of North America and elsewhere as provided in the water supply, so it's hard to get an understanding of the possible health effects.

There are more recent studies regarding this, however, that do indicate some level of toxicity to the brain in lower doses. Again though the data seems to conflict at times and requires more study. Here's a nice link for more reading.

You came in here making conspiratorial accusations about the government and invoked some aetheric "what about the animals" nonsense and provided no material to support your position so idk why you're confused about how you're being received here. Fluoride is indeed helpful in preventing tooth decay, so you're gonna have to do some more work than the tired old "Do your own research."

[–] mojo_raisin@lemmy.world -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

...so it’s hard to get an understanding of the possible health effects.

Then why dose an entire population? For tooth decay!

no material to support your position so idk why you’re confused about how you’re being received here

Why do I need material to support the idea that drugging a population through it's tap water is a bad idea? That should be the starting position, the person claiming it's a good idea to dose the population's tap water is the one with something to prove.

[–] _tezz@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

You're claiming it's bad. If you don't understand that you need evidence to back up a claim, it will be impossible to argue your point. You're free to continue shouting into the void if you want, but until you take this at least as seriously as I do (not very I may say, my research was very brief) you're going to continue getting downvotes. I'm just telling you why here. You sound like a crazy person to the average lurker.

They did in fact prove that fluoride stops dental decay. Now it's your turn to prove that there's a negative side effect that outweighs the positive.