Fluoride has been touted as a wonderful way to prevent cavities in teeth, but this widely supplied substance in the United States has also been linked to a number of health problems. It is true that the incidence of dental caries has declined over the past decades since fluoridation began, but it also declined in nations that did not put fluoride into the water.
Quite a few people objected to the wholesale introduction of fluoride into the water, both on medical and ethical grounds. A comparison is often drawn between fluoridation and vaccination, but the two are not compatible for reasons of argument – if you aren't vaccinated, you can spread diseases to other people, but if you don’t drink fluoridated water, you will be the only one affected, cavities are not contagious.
Dangers That Fluoride Poses
Fluoride is not an innocuous substance, but has been shown by reputable scientific studies to be responsible for a number of serious health problems. Fluoride is a byproduct of the fertilizer industry and is so toxic that it simply cannot be dumped – the solution was to put this poison into our drinking water to get rid of it. Fluoride has now definitely been linked to a number of serious health concerns:
- Bone cancer in boys.
- Lower intelligence in children.
- Deterioration of joints and bones, especially in older people
- Damage to the thyroid gland.
- Kidney damage.
- Discoloration and pitting of teeth.
With all these ghastly health concerns, you may well wonder why on earth fluoride is being added to water at all. Sadly, the answer comes down to money, as it seems to all too often. Hundreds of millions of dollars go to the companies that provide fluoride for water systems every year, and dislodging these from the public treasury is going to be difficult.
What You Can Do
If you live in a city or town and receive your water from a municipal supply, there is an excellent chance that you and your children are ingesting fluoride with every glass of water you drink. Bottled water might be considered an option except that most bottled water is actually water right from some municipal water supply and probably contains fluoride, too. Unless you see a statement printed on the bottle that the water inside is distilled or has been filtered using reverse osmosis, save your money.
Fortunately, there are a number of fluoride water filters that will remove fluoride from your water. This will be an especial concern if you have children – in fact it is now recommended that baby formula not be prepared with tap that is fluoridated. There are basically two types of fluoride water filters that will render your water safe to drink:
- Reverse osmosis filters are excellent at removing fluoride from drinking water. Whole house filters, countertop, and under sink reverse osmosis filter are available.
- Activated alumina or bone char carbon filters are another option for removing fluoride, and are the most economical way to deal with this poison.