Fluoride Contamination Methods

Fluoride in drinking water has been a hot topic in the past decade. Some communities are all for it and some are completely against it. With such a range of opinions on the matter some organizations have took it upon themselves to present the pros and cons of the fluoride to the public so they can make informed decisions. Often times these surveys are bias to one side or the other, so I shall be giving information on both sides of the issue, the future outlook, and my personal opinion in order to help inform you to decide on your own.

According to World Health Organization data obtained from a study on 12 year old’s levels of tooth decay, fluoride has had very little effect, if any at all, on tooth decay. Countries such as Japan, Italy, and Iceland, who are non-fluoridated countries, actually have about the same level of tooth decay decrease as countries that have fluoridated water. Fluoride is considered a drug, according to the FDA, which means that it is a medical treatment. Medical treatments are not to be given unless the patient agrees to the treatment, therefore, placing fluoride into the public water supply violates informed consent seeing as how citizens are not given the opportunity to vote on the matter. Even if people could vote on the situation, not all people are going to agree with and since it is considered a drug, it

Department of Health and Human Services address some of the public concerns about water fluoridation such as its effects on health and its ethical implication in the community. Some of the concerns express by the public were: safety of fluoride additives, fluoride’s impact on the brain, specifically citing lower IQ in children, effects of fluoride in the endocrine system, and cost effectiveness. In all cases, it was determine that in a concentration of 0.7 milligrams per liter, fluorided water was safe for consumption. Legal implications about community water fluoridation have been thoroughly reviewed by the U.S. court systems and the results have always being that water fluoridation is a proper means of promoting public health and welfare. Also, it is important to have in mind, that the state and local governments decide whether or not to implement water fluoridation after considering evidence regarding its benefits and

One of the biggest sources of fluoride in your child's life is tap water. The EPA has a guideline that requires municipal water in the US to contain no more than 4 mg of fluoride per liter of water, or 4 ppm. However, to find out how much is in your local water supply you can simply call the phone number on your water bill and ask.

In those case the person have to control the levels of fluorides because in most cases the levels are greater than FDA/CDC recommend but most people don't treat their water to lower the amount of fluoridation. In the case cities water systems fluoridation is monitored and adjusted to meet certain standards, low enough not to cause harm yet high enough to aid in preventing tooth decay. Tooth decay is a big health problem if not controlled. Which one the the water supply systems did you read about that was causing the health

I have been assigned the role of the leader of Fluoride Action Network. The Fluoride Action Network is a non-profit organization and an international coalition seeking to broaden public awareness about the toxicity of fluoride compounds and the health impacts of current fluoride exposures. The organization’s mission is to “provide comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding all aspects of fluoride” and to “remain vigilant monitoring government agency actions that may impact public’s exposure to fluoride.”1

Fluorine (F) is an element found in the 7th group of the periodic table from the halogen family. It’s an element that most reactive as it only needs to gain one electron to form Fluoride ion (F-). It’s in this form of fluoride that is found in our drinking water also known as fluoridated water. Water, food and living organisms are exposed to inorganic fluorides and they are hydrogen fluoride (HF), calcium fluoride (CaF2), sodium fluoride (NaF), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and silicofluoride. Fluoride compounds are plentiful in the earth’s crust and naturally found in rocks, soils, salt and sea water, representing approximately 0.06-0.09%.

Over 100 Health organizations recognize water fluoridation as a healthy and safe preventative measure to control the cases of tooth decay in different populations (CDC, 1999). Just similar to fortifying foods, like cereal with iron, milk with vitamin D, and bread with folic acid, public health association's claim that water with fluoride provides a specific benefit with minimal health risks.

One point is that you cannot regulate the total dose that can consumed by an individual. This ties into the argument that the same amount of fluoride would potentially be given to everyone, regardless of age, health, or vulnerability. It is also argued that the government forcing its citizens to take a medicine without the ability to consent or opt out of the treatment while still having access to public water systems is deemed unethical. However, these are small prices to pay in order to improve the quality of life for those who suffer with a lack of comfortable access to professional dentists and oral health specialist. The huge amount of benefits completely outweigh the small amount of cons that come with pushing for community water fluoridation to be accessible by everyone who resides in the U.S. Overall, drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces cavities/tooth decay by about 25% in children and adults. By preventing cavities, community water fluoridation has been shown to save money for families and for the U.S. healthcare

Fluoridation of drinking water serving communities of more than 5000 people is now the law. The anti-fluoridation advocates, continue to as they have done in the past, fight fluoridation tooth and nail. This is an ongoing conflict.

In 2014, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Americans using community water systems had a 74% chance of receiving fluoridated water. However, many Americans do not know that there is fluoride in their water, what the fluoride is meant to do, or how fluoridating water has become a common practice. The lack of common knowledge on this subject helps to explain why there is also little attention paid to the possible risks of using this process.

Fluoride is a highly toxic substance, in terms of acute toxicity fluoride is just slightly less toxic than arsenic. Fluoride has long been used in pesticides and rat poison. Studies have shown that fluoride causes bone defects such as arthritis and skeletal fluorosis, thyroid disease, and even cancer. This raises the question, why would anyone think that water fluoridation is a good idea? (Fluoride Alert, 2017).

To fluoride water in a community, the average cost annually per person would range somewhere between 40 cents to $2.70. For someone in a lower socioeconomic community, this is more affordable than most other oral health options. In England, 5 year old children from socially deprived parts of Birmingham, where water is fluoridated, had fewer decayed, missing and filled teeth (1.35 on average) compared to 5 years olds from the well-off parts of Herefordshire where water is not fluoridated who had on average 1.78 teeth decayed, missing and

Fluoridation it is when Fluoride is put into the water system.” In this context, it is worth noting that dental health remains a major issue for much of the New Zealand population, and that economically and from the equity perspective fluoridation remains the safest and most appropriate approach for promoting dental public health. “ Community water fluoridation is a safe and effective way of preventing tooth decay at a low cost. And fluoride is the top 13th most abundant element created in the earth. Yet fluoride is not found in its pure form in nature only combined with other elements therefore it is being added to the water supply. “The role of fluoride is known to have a protective effect against tooth decay by preventing Water or brushing teeth with fluoride toothpaste raises the concentration of fluoride in saliva Fluoride is absorbed and

The potential for human exposure to fluoride is high due to it being a compound that is virtually everywhere within our environment. Small amounts can be found in the air, water, plants, and animals, making it hard to avoid being exposed to at least a small dose. The general population is exposed to fluoride on a daily basis through the consumption of foods, drinking water, and fluoride-containing dental products (ATDSR, 2003). Industrial factories that use fluoride in their production of goods pose a major risk to the people that live in the area for exposure. The air around these places can be contaminated with fluorine gas or fluoride could have seeped into the surrounding soil. Not only can the population be exposed to fluoride from human