Is fluoride in drinking water safe?

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 13

A heated issue is the safety of the fluoridated drinking water. A recent review suggests fluoridation of drinking water is unnecessary and may be harmful.

Reviewing the effects and safety of fluoridated drinking water, PhD Candidate in Chemistry, Michael Czajka concluded that “Given that fluoridation of water supplies is not necessary (applying fluoride topically achieves the same effect) and since unfluoridated populations have roughly the same rate of tooth decay, it is no longer necessary to fluoridate water to maintain a reduction in tooth decay. It is also a matter of some urgency that better studies of the systemic effects of fluoride are carried out.”

Some key points from the review are:

• Fluoride research concentrates largely on the teeth to the virtual exclusion of systemic effects although fluoride is a known systemic toxin.

• About 400 million people (~6% of the world’s population) drink fluoridated water.

• The effect of fluoride on the teeth is topical (directly on the teeth) and not systemic, so drinking fluoridated water has no benefit.

• Infants and children commonly ingest levels of fluoride through drinking water in excess of recommended guidelines.

• Identifying fluoride toxicity (fluorosis) is difficult and its symptoms can easily be mistaken for arthritis or possibly chronic fatigue syndrome.

• Fluoride toxicity has been associated with serious hearing, mental health, bone and teeth problems.

Comparing fluoridated to non-fluoridated countries the author points out that although it has been stated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “fluoridation was one of the ten most important public health measures of the 20th century” ... “many countries (i.e., Belgium, Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands) have removed fluoride citing a wide range of health concerns. Furthermore, none of these countries have shown an increased incidence of dental caries.”

If your drinking water is fluoridated and you want to remove the fluoride the author offers the following advice: “the simplest method of removing fluoride is distillation. Reverse osmosis is also highly effective. Both these methods remove all other minerals from the water as well which may not be desirable. Activated alumina cartridges are an alternative method. Cartridges require regular changing but there is no easy way to tell when this should occur.”

Reference:

1. Czajka M. Systemic Effects of Fluoridation. JOM, 27 (3): 2012; 123-130.