Fluoride in drinking water

A lobbyist article stumbled across my field of view today which I thought might be interest. Apparently children might be susceptible to damage from fluoride in drinking water, much more then adults;

"A recently published Harvard University meta-analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has concluded that children who live in areas with highly fluoridated water have "significantly lower" IQ scores than those who live in low fluoride areas."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/14/fluoride-effects-in-children.aspx

The actual report is available for free;

Although fluoride may cause neurotoxicity in animal models and acute fluoride poisoning causes neurotoxicity in adults, very little is known of its effects on children’s neurodevelopment.

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1104912#Ahead%20of%20Print%20%28AOP%29

If this were true then I guess it might be best practice for kids to drink bottled water, and toothpaste could still be used so long as it was spat out and the mouth rinsed properly!?

I personally did not have much opinion about it because it apparently is good for the teeth but my better half only drinks bottled water (which would mean my tap water must have it). I just drink tap water.

This issue is also relevant in Hawaii (where I live, currently).
The State's Water Supply has never been fluoridated, and politicians here have made sure it never happens in the future as well. I personally don't have a strong position on this matter. However, my dad, a general and cosmetic dentist, has always complained that the state has never fluoridated the water. He believes they should, but I've always been on the fence.


And, to be honest, I'm still on the fence. This article hasn't really convinced me to oppose our water from being fluoridated, nor has it convinced me to advocate for our water being fluoridated.


To be honest, I've seen many theoretical medical studies that make bold claims on correlative (and not definitive) evidence.


For example, I don't believe that diet soda causes obesity and cancer, and I don't believe that playing video games makes kids any more violent than kids who don't play video games.

Both issues have medical/science studies and reports that make those kinds of bold claims.

I've also heard claims that chemicals leech from plastic water bottles, so the situation seems lose-lose, at least from what we're able to understand of it from our outsider perspective.

We use a Brita and a water purification system at home, but I don't know whether or not the water system removes fluoride or not.

I agree with SeanChing that it seems this is correlative evidence.

But if it's not...thank the Gods my mother made me skip fluoride gurgling in elementary school! I'd be dumber than a post if I had gurgled with the rest of the kids!

Hahaha.

I'll have to read it through more thoroughly, but we have to remember that this is areas with high fluoride. Not areas that simply have some fluoride

If anything is to be taken away it's that people should be cautious not to over contaminate somewhere with fluoride

That is assuming that the analysis is correct and I haven't read in enough detail to make my own judgement yet

As for myself. Well I don't think that drinking fluoride has been made me any dumberer

I don't like additives. There's nothing wrong with plain water. And to have nice teeth, you will have to brush them regularly, will probably have to go to the dentist, and they will probably fall off when you're old anyway. So putting something like fluorine in the water supply seems over the top... We live with too many toxic chemicals. Mercury, lead, tefflon, you-name-it, you're having too much of it.

Akkarin wrote:
As for myself. Well I don't think that drinking fluoride has been made me any dumberer

HAHAHA :woohoo:

Ahem.
No, Senior Knight Akkarin. You can't say "dumberer". That is not proper English.
I believe the appropriate word is "stupider"

I've heard about the dangers of fluoride before - luckily I have a choice as the drinking water we have here doesn't have it added to it. Doctors here try to prescribe fluoride tablets for children and I also have always refused them. They do go to the dentist quite a bit - at least twice a year. I do, too. I didn't have braces on my teeth for four years as a teenager to just let them go! lol

Adder wrote: If this were true then I guess it might be best practice for kids to drink bottled water, and toothpaste could still be used so long as it was spat out and the mouth rinsed properly!?

I personally did not have much opinion about it because it apparently is good for the teeth but my better half only drinks bottled water (which would mean my tap water must have it). I just drink tap water.

A lot of bottled water IS tap water. Weird how a product can change the way we feel about water.

"No! Don't drink that icky tap water, Beth! It'll kill ya," says guy drinking a bottle of water (Dasani) filled at the Coca Cola tap.

Back to the point, interesting read. Fluoride in the water doesn't paticularly bother me considering it can be found in nature. However, I agree too much can be harmful, but that goes for just about anything. What doesn't cause cancer, brain damage, or death these days?


"Fluoride is usually found naturally in low concentration in drinking water and foods. The concentration in seawater averages 1.3 parts per million (ppm). Fresh water supplies generally contain between 0.01–0.3 ppm, whereas the ocean contains between 1.2 and 1.5 ppm.[7] In some locations, the fresh water contains dangerously high levels of fluoride, leading to serious health problems." - Wiki

Wendaline wrote:

Adder wrote: If this were true then I guess it might be best practice for kids to drink bottled water, and toothpaste could still be used so long as it was spat out and the mouth rinsed properly!?

I personally did not have much opinion about it because it apparently is good for the teeth but my better half only drinks bottled water (which would mean my tap water must have it). I just drink tap water.

A lot of bottled water IS tap water. Weird how a product can change the way we feel about water.

"No! Don't drink that icky tap water, Beth! It'll kill ya," says guy drinking a bottle of water (Dasani) filled at the Coca Cola tap.

Back to the point, interesting read. Fluoride in the water doesn't paticularly bother me considering it can be found in nature. However, I agree too much can be harmful, but that goes for just about anything. What doesn't cause cancer, brain damage, or death these days?


"Fluoride is usually found naturally in low concentration in drinking water and foods. The concentration in seawater averages 1.3 parts per million (ppm). Fresh water supplies generally contain between 0.01–0.3 ppm, whereas the ocean contains between 1.2 and 1.5 ppm.[7] In some locations, the fresh water contains dangerously high levels of fluoride, leading to serious health problems." - Wiki

Your post made me do a search for some info on spring water flouride levels locally. I imagined a spring could have more flouride then tap water, but I found an interesting document in the Australian Dental Journal.

It shows that the top 10 bottled water in Australia has fluoride at levels between 0.03 and 0.07 ppm compared to Melbourne tap water at 1.02 ppm.

Its true some bottled water is tap water, and they charge more for it then petrol per volume!!!!