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

That all sounds about right, appreciate your candor.

After 25 years, just this last year I started getting rib cramps which I suspect are a mineral (electrolyte) deficiency caused by distilled water (+ bad diet of UPF), so it's not necessarily completely without problems if your diet sucks. I started taking a mineral supplement and the cramps went away.

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You drink distilled water, which causes you issues you have to remedy by taking additional supplements.

Clearly your stance is not viable for general populations. You sound like people that don't want to allow blood transfusions because it makes them feel icky and fringe cases exist of it going poorly.

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

Did I say distilled water should be what the general population drinks? Did I say we should replace tap water with distilled water?

My mineral deficiency is due to a bad diet of primarily ultra-processed food and maybe exacerbated by nearly 3 decades of distilled water consumption. Oh, and it was cramps, fluoride causes brain damage.

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Someone who gives themselves mineral deficiencies should absolutely not be listened to when it comes to general public health issues lol

Fluoride in the doses allowed in water doesn't cause brain damage, you sound like an anti-vaxxer.

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

So you're making 100% perfect health choices and we should listen to you?

By drinking distilled water I've avoided lots of pollutants including fluoride.

Fluoride in the doses allowed in water doesn’t cause brain damage,

And how do you know what doses people are getting?

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And how do you know what doses people are getting?

Lol just like an anti-vaxxer. Where's your evidence of water having dangerous doses exceeding regulations or what exceeding the levels the utility says they use? Bonus points if you're able to find levels that exceed what's actually safe for humans.

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

Where’s your evidence of water having dangerous doses

Why should I have to provide evidence of dangerous doses of drugs in my tap water. Don't add drugs to tap water.

[–] WldFyre@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Lmfao because it's not dangerous! We've done it for decades to tens if not hundreds of millions of people, with no negative effects. And we have proven medical benefits.

Just because at stronger doses than we use in drinking water can cause problems doesn't mean we shouldn't use it, that logic would apply to anything, salt, sugar, caffeine, etc.

Just because you get scared of things you don't understand doesn't mean you should dictate what other people get to do, ya goofball. Read a book sometime.

[–] mojo_raisin@lemmy.world -2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Don't put drugs in tap water, safety profile doesn't matter.

Vitamin C is safe, should we add that? Should we add every safe beneficial substance?

There are better ways to medicate people than dosing the tap water.