What is water Fluoridation?

Overview

Water fluoridation is the practice of using the public’s drinking water as a delivery system to increase the amount of fluoride all residents ingest on a daily basis. This is done by adding industrial waste by-products known as silicofluorides (i.e., hydrofluorosilicic acid and sodium fluorosilicate) to public water systems during the treatment process in either liquid or powder form to artificially elevate the fluoride content to 0.7 ppm (parts per million) with the intention of preventing tooth decay.

Throughout North America and the world, most fresh ground and surface water naturally contains very low “trace” levels of fluoride, with an average concentration of less than 0.1 ppm. This is 7 to 10 times lower than the levels added by water department personnel in fluoridated communities, which typically fluctuate between 0.7 and 1.0 ppm depending on the injection equipment used, the variation in water usage throughout the day, and the water temperature at the treatment plant. This increase is neither a small adjustment nor typical of the naturally occurring levels found in most water sources. One of the little-known facts about this practice is that the United States, which fluoridates over 70% of its water supplies, has more people drinking fluoridated water than the rest of the world combined. Most developed nations, including all of Japan and 97% of western Europe, do not fluoridate their water.

In the United States, the Oral Health Division of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) hails fluoridation as one of the “top ten public health achievements of the 20th century.” However, comprehensive data from the World Health Organization reveals that there is no discernible difference in tooth decay between the minority of western nations that fluoridate water, and the majority that do not. In fact, the tooth decay rates in many non-fluoridated countries are now lower than the tooth decay rates in fluoridated ones.

As is becoming increasingly clear, fluoridating water supplies is an outdated, unnecessary, and dangerous relic from a 1950s public health culture that viewed the mass distribution of chemicals much differently than scientists do today. The few nations that still fluoridate their water should end the practice immediately.

Three Reasons to End Water Fluoridation

Reason #1: Fluoridation Is an Outdated Form of Mass Medication

Unlike all other water treatment processes, fluoridation does not treat the water itself, but the person consuming it. The Food & Drug Administration accepts that fluoride is a drug, not a nutrient, when used to prevent disease. By definition, therefore, fluoridating water is a form of medication. This is why most western European nations have rejected the practice — because, in their view, the public water supply is not an appropriate place to be adding drugs, particularly when fluoride is readily available for individual use in the form of toothpaste.

Reason #2: Fluoridation Is Unnecessary and Ineffective

Reason #3: Fluoridation Is Not a Safe Practice

The most important reason to end fluoridation is that it is simply not a safe practice, particularly for those who have health conditions that render them vulnerable to fluoride’s toxic effects.

First, there is no dispute that fluoridation is causing visible side-effects from overexposure. The evidence is visible in over 70% of adolescents in the U.S. Millions of children have developed dental fluorosis, a discoloration of the teeth that is caused only by excessive fluoride intake. Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control have even acknowledged that fluoridation is causing “cosmetically objectionable” fluorosis on children’s front teeth–an effect that can cause children embarrassment and anxiety at an age when physical appearance is the single most important predictor of self-esteem.

Second, it is known that fluoridated water caused severe bone disease in dialysis patients up until the late 1970s (prior to dialysis units filtering fluoride). While dialysis units now filter out the fluoride, research shows that current fluoride exposures are still resulting in dangerously high bone fluoride levels in dialysis patients and patients with other advanced forms of kidney disease. It is unethical to compromise the health of some members of a population to obtain a purported benefit for another — particularly in the absence of these vulnerable members’ knowing consent.

And, finally, a growing body of evidence reasonably indicates that fluoridated water, in addition to other sources of daily fluoride exposure, can cause or contribute to a range of serious effects, including arthritis, damage to the developing brain, reduced thyroid function, and possibly osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in adolescent males.

Communities Are Rethinking Fluoridation

In recent years, communities throughout the United States and Canada have started to reassess the conventional wisdom of fluoridating their water. In fact, the most recent fluoridation statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control show that the percentage of the U.S. population served by community water systems receiving fluoridated water is decreasing steadily, from 74.6% in 2012 down to 72.7 in 2020 (see stats). The percentage of the U.S. population receiving so-called “optimally fluoridated” water from either natural or artificial sources combined also decreased, from 67.1% to 62.9%.

The stats show that 1,413 communities stopped adding fluoridation chemicals between 2010 and 2020, with many more ending it since 2020. These communities reached the obvious conclusion: when stripped of its endorsements, well-meaning intentions, and PR-praise, fluoridation simply makes no sense.

Europe reached this conclusion a long time ago. It is now time for the U.S. and other English-speaking nations to follow suit.

Communities Are Rethinking Fluoridation - Map

Study explores association between fluoride exposure in
pregnancy and neurobehavioral issues in young children

May 20, 2024
By
Jill Pease (https://ufhealth.org/authors/jill-pease)
Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population receives fluoridated tap water from community water systems. The new study, led by a
University of Florida researcher, was conducted in an area with fluoride exposure that is typical for people living in fluoridated communities
in North America. (Credit: Adobe Stock)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Higher fluoride levels in pregnant women are linked to increased odds of their children exhibiting neurobehavioral
problems at age 3, according to a new study led by a University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions researcher.
The findings
(http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.11987?
Based on an analysis involving 229 mother-child pairs living in a U.S. community with typical fluoride exposure levels for pregnant women
in fluoridated regions in North America, appear May 20 in the journal JAMA Network Open. It is believed to be the first U.S.-based study to
examine associations of prenatal fluoride exposure with parent-reported child neurobehavioral issues, which include symptoms of anxiety,
di culty regulating emotions and other complaints, such as stomachaches and headaches.
Fluoride, a mineral, has been added to community water supplies since the 1940s as a way to reduce dental cavities in children and adults.
Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population receives uoridated tap water from community water systems. The impacts of uoride on
human health, both positive and negative, have been the subject of much recent debate and ongoing scienti c scrutiny.
Ashley Malin, Ph.D. (Photo by Betsy Brzezinski)
(https://ufhealth.org/assets/images/stories/_1280x1920_crop_center-center_82_line/2024_04_05-Ashley-Malin-Environmental-Portraits_File.jpg)
The study’s lead investigator
Ashley Malin, Ph.D. (https://epidemiology.phhp.u .edu/pro le/malin-ashley/) , an assistant professor in the
epidemiology (https://epidemiology.phhp.u .edu/) in the
department of
UF College of Public Health and Health Professions (https://phhp.u .edu/) and
UF College of
Medicine (https://med.u .edu/) , said that taken with other recent studies conducted in Canada and Mexico on the effects of fluoride on young
children’s IQ, the findings suggest fluoride may negatively affect fetal brain development.
“There is no known benefit of fluoride consumption to the developing fetus,” Malin said, “but we do know that there is possibly a risk to their
developing brain. We found that each 0.68 milligram per liter increase in uoride levels in the pregnant women’s urine was associated with
nearly double the odds of children scoring in the clinical or borderline clinical range for neurobehavioral problems at age 3, based on their
mother’s reporting.”
The uoride levels found in the study participants’ samples are typical for people living in communities with uoridated water, the
researchers say. However, according to the paper, authors do not know whether findings observed in this study are generalizable to other
U.S. populations or are nationally representative and therefore more research is required to address that question.
Individual differences in a person’s fluoride exposure can be attributed to variances in dietary consumption, such as drinking and cooking
with tap water versus ltered water, or consuming food and drinks naturally high in uoride, including green and black tea, certain seafoods
and foods sprayed with uoride-containing pesticides.
For the new study, investigators used data from the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors, or
MADRES, study conducted at the
Keck School of Medicine of USC (https://keck.usc.edu/) . MADRES is led by
Tracy Bastain, Ph.D.,
(https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/tracy-bastain/) the senior author of the current uoride study and an associate professor of clinical population and
public health sciences, and
Carrie Breton, Sc.D., (https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/carrie-breton/) a professor of population and public health
sciences. The MADRES study follows a group of predominantly Hispanic women with low-income and their children living in Los Angeles
County from pregnancy through childhood.
Researchers collected urine samples from MADRES participants during their third trimester of pregnancy. Urinary fluoride is the most widely
used measure of individual fluoride exposure in epidemiological studies, including those assessing effects on fetal brain development.
Because fluoride, when combined with disinfecting agents, may cause lead to leach from lead-bearing water pipes, the scientists conducted
various analyses to be sure any neurobehavioral e ects could not be attributed to lead.
When their children reached age 3, study mothers completed the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist, which assesses children’s behavior
and emotions. The investigators found that women with higher fluoride exposure during pregnancy tended to rate their children higher for
overall neurobehavioral problems.
The study team hopes their findings spur policymakers to create specific recommendations for fluoride consumption during pregnancy.
“I think this is important evidence, given that it’s the first U.S.-based study and findings are quite consistent with the other studies published
in North America with comparable fluoride exposure levels,” Malin said. “Conducting a nationwide U.S. study on this topic would be
important, but I think the ndings of the current study and recent studies from Canada and Mexico suggest that there is a real concern
here.”
Malin’s research is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. The MADRES
study is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.
About the author
Jill Pease (https://ufhealth.org/authors/jill-pease)
Communications Director, College of Public Health and Health Professions
For the media
Media contact
Peyton Wesner
Communications Manager for UF Health External Communications
pwesner@u .edu (mailto:pwesner@u .edu)
(352) 273-9620 (tel:+13522739620