Fluoride has been added to drinking water (about one-part per-million) for over 65 years. Currently, 70 percent of Americans drink fluoridated water. In the last two years, dozens of communities in US states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Vermont, Washington, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, and California,) have rejected water fluoridation.
Fluoride is a serious threat to health, causing many to question why it’s still being added to our tap water. Advocates of fluoride in water routinely dismiss those voicing concerns as conspiracy theorists, but what will be said about warnings that the volcanic ash now settling over Europe contains naturally-high levels of fluoride that may contaminate water supplies and threaten the health of livestock and people.
The American Dental Association, in a published statement, says that mothers should be careful not to prepare baby foods with fluoridated water from the tap, as the fluoride contained in it could be bad for developing babies' teeth:
"Recent studies cited in the report of the National Research Council (NRC), Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards, have raised the possibility that infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride through liquid concentrate or powdered baby formula that has been mixed with water containing fluoride during a time that their developing teeth may be susceptible to enamel fluorosis."
To be sure, the statement adds that fluoride prevents tooth decay, but admits that too much of the stuff is not good and can damage tooth enamel. The association also points out that "fluorosis is not a disease but rather affects the way that teeth look".
The effects of less acute fluorine poisoning range from discoloration and pitting of the teeth (dental fluorosis) to skeletal abnormalities, vomiting and diarrhea, kidney failure and spasms. Most of these maladies don’t show up except when people take fluoride supplements or drink water unusually rich in fluoride. But dental fluorosis seems to have become more common since the onset of fluoridation. Sensitive individuals suffer from fluoride even at extremely low levels. People with kidney problems are especially at risk because they cannot flush fluoride efficiently from their system.
These effects may be compounded by the largely unnoticed increase in average fluoride consumption. Foods and beverages processed with fluoridated water did not exist when health authorities set recommended fluoride levels in the water.
Fluoridation of water, salt, and milk varies from country to country. The water in the US is heavily fluoridated. Ireland is one of the few European countries where water is routinely fluoridated in an effort to “stop tooth decay”, yet the problem persists. Other EU countries have recognized that adding fluoride causes more problems than it solves and has stopped the practice.
Those opposed call it mass-medicating. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention honor fluoridated-water as one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Comments
Post a Comment