Fluoride in Our Drinking Water

A Recap of Fluoride’s History

In case you missed last week’s blog How Clean is Your Water? Here’s a quick recap on how fluoride cam to be in our drinking water supply. Fluoride became a huge focus in the 1930’s when they began to correlate tooth decay in relation to fluoride consumption. As a means of protecting children from early tooth decay, the US Department of Health & Human Services began adding fluoride to major water supplies, spinning it as “Water Fluoridation: Nature’s Way of Preventing Tooth Decay.” Recently, this US Department announced their mission that 80% of the US water supply will contain fluoride.

Fluoride in Our Drinking Water – Long-Term

Although these treatments and processes came about with the best intentions, the long-term effects of these chemicals in our water supply are just beginning to surface. The fluoride initiative alone is beginning to become a major concern for many people as they begin switching to fluoride-free products. Very recently, many medical journals classified fluoride as a neurotoxin – the same classification given to lead, mercury and arsenic. “The fluoride added to our water supply is mostly seen as a cumulative toxin that accumulates in our bodies and can manifest itself in problems over time, including dental fluorosis, or far worse health problems,” stated The Lancet Medical.

The Fluoride Solution?

The long-term solution would be to teach proper dental hygiene to our children and stop allowing the government to add chemicals into our water supply without understanding the long-term risks. However, the likelihood that will change tomorrow is slim to none. In the meantime, find yourself some fluoride free toothpaste and a water filter for your tap water at home. Although the research is still ongoing to the long-term effects of these added chemicals, such as fluoride, it’s important to eliminate any harmful chemicals from you and your children’s diet.