Is fluoride a deadly neurotoxin? Or one of the greatest public health successes of the 20th century?
RFK Jr. is Trump's pick to head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and one of his top proposals has whipped up a media frenzy: remove fluoride from our drinking water. As one of his first directives as head of the HHS, Kennedy says he will advise all U.S. water systems to immediately remove fluoride from their water supplies. This has sparked a fierce debate about the safety and benefits of adding fluoride to our drinking water. But why do we have fluoride in our water in the first place?
The uncanny history of fluoride
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that can be found in water across the world. In the early 20th century, many Americans were suffering from poor dental hygiene, however, researchers noticed that populations who drank from naturally fluoridated water systems had healthier teeth. Further research concluded that fluoride does contribute to cavity prevention and overall oral hygiene.
Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city to actively fluoridate its water in 1945, and the process soon erupted across the country. The spread of fluoride seemed to correlate with a nationwide improvement in dental hygiene, and fluoridation is now common practice across thousands of water systems across the U.S.
Is fluoride healthy or dangerous?
Many fluoride advocates worry that the removal of fluoride from water supplies will increase cavities, especially in those who cannot afford regular visits to the dentist, which if left untreated, can result in life-threatening infections. However, fluoride critics, like RFK Jr., cite studies indicating that high, continual fluoride dosages can become neurotoxic and result in decreased IQ.
Flouride defenders concede that high fluoride dosages cause many health issues. However, most U.S. water systems keep fluoride dosages within healthy parameters. Moreover, they argue that drinking water isn't the main source of dangerous fluoride levels but rather the dental products that compound fluoride dosages. This means it is hard to gauge just how much fluoride any given person may consume, and depending on the water system, people could be regularly overdosing without knowing it. Fluoride in the water, RFK Jr., argues, eliminates an individual's choice in this particular area of their health, and everyone receives a dose regardless of need, want, or consent.
Moreover, recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of fluoride, especially when it is ingested versus applied directly to the teeth (like with toothpaste). These studies suggest that it wasn't fluoride that was the driving force behind increased oral health, but rather broader access to dental hygeine education. Fluoride simply coincided with this larger dental health movement.
But what do you think? Is fluoride as bad as RFK Jr. says? Or is it a critical aspect of public health? Let us know in the poll below:
