Fluoride – Health Concerns?

For over fifty years water fluoridation has been an accepted part of the public health program in many western countries. However, there is a significant and growing body of evidence indicating that the original studies used to support the introduction of fluoridation may have been deeply flawed at best and corrupted and compromised science at worst.

“Over the past ten years a large body of peer-reviewed science has raised concerns that fluoride may present unreasonable health risks, particularly among children, at levels routinely added to tap water in American cities.”

Questions about fluoride effectiveness for cavity prevention is also being compounded by the fact that fifty years of real world research has discovered enough evidence to at least question the effect of long-term exposure to fluoride, particularly for infants and children. Some research suggests it may have deleterious effects on;

• Thyroid regulation
• Bone development
• Brain function and IQ
• Kidney function
• Gene expression
• Cell regulation

Due to these concerns, about what is essentially a compulsory form of public medication, many alternative healthcare professionals, researchers and consumers are demanding fluoride free drinking water.

“The urgent consideration is total fluoride ingestion — how much fluoride are people taking into their bodies from fluoride air pollution, from soil, from water, from products processed in fluoridated water, from pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides and so forth?.”

Fluoride In Nature

Fluorine is a natural trace element and exists in almost all soils. In elemental form fluorine is a flammable, irritating, and toxic halogen gas that is one of the most powerful oxidizing agents known. It therefore occurs naturally only in the reduced (fluoride, Fl-) form in combination with other minerals. Fluoride is classified as any binary compound of fluorine with another element. Fluoride compounds make up approximately 0.08 percent of the earth’s crust. Fluorspar, cryolite, and fluorapatite are the most common fluoride producing compounds known. Fluorspar contains the highest percentage of fluoride by weight, as calcium fluoride (CaF2), of the minerals mentioned.

Fluoride In Drinking Water

Perhaps the most widely known use of fluoride is its addition to public drinking water supplies at about one milligram per liter (mg/L) of a fluoride salt, measured as fluoride, for the purpose of reducing tooth decay. This is achieved at the municipal treatment plant by injecting or feeding a solution of hydrofluosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride, or sodium fluoride into the treated water stream. It is the fluoride ion in mineral ionic form that occurs in water, bones, teeth, and public drinking water supplies. About 144 million people it was estimated in 1992 drink fluoridated water at levels ranging from 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L.

Watermax Fluoride Water Filter

The watermax Fluoride Series uses bone charcoal or bone char is reported to be an effective means for the reduction of fluoride. Bone charcoal contains a carbon structure while supporting a porous hydroxyapatite matrix (a calcium phosphate hydroxide in crystalline form which is rich in surface ions which can be readily replaced by fluoride ion). Adsorption and ion exchange are thought to be the mechanism for fluoride reduction by bone char.

watermax fluoride removal systems come with a 5 micron pre-filter system that helps protect your new filter system and your home appliances from the damaging effects of sediment (dirt & debris) build up. The sediment in city or well water can clog faucets, damage appliances and even change the taste of your drinking water. The pre-filter system filters down to 20 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair or 5 microns in size.

Effects of Fluoride

Some water systems with naturally occurring fluoride must treat their water supply to remove the excess fluoride to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act limits. Children under nine years of age exposed to levels of fluoride greater than about two mg/L may develop a condition known as mottling or discoloration of the permanent teeth. In certain cases the teeth become chalky white in appearance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has advised a secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) limit of two mg/L to protect against this aesthetic or cosmetic adversity from fluorides in drinking water. Further, federal regulations require that fluoride not exceed a concentration of four mg/L in drinking water. This is an enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) standard; it has been established to protect public health.

Exposure to drinking water levels above four mg/L for many years may result in cases of crippling skeletal fluorosis, which is a serious bone disorder resembling osteopetrosis and characterized by extreme density and hardness and abnormal fragility of the bones (sometimes called .marble bones..) When a community water system exceeds the MCL of four mg/L, it must notify each of its customers by issuing a public notice to those customers. This notice outlines the limitations and health effects from high fluoride levels in drinking water and points out home treatment systems and bottled water as possible drinking water source alternatives.