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As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US (kffhealthnews.org)

submitted 6 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

371 comments fedilink hide all child comments

…

It is a scenario playing out nationwide. From Oregon to Pennsylvania, hundreds of communities have in recent years either stopped adding fluoride to their water supplies or voted to prevent its addition. Supporters of such bans argue that people should be given the freedom of choice. The broad availability of over-the-counter dental products containing the mineral makes it no longer necessary to add to public water supplies, they say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while store-bought products reduce tooth decay, the greatest protection comes when they are used in combination with water fluoridation.

The outcome of an ongoing federal case in California could force the Environmental Protection Agency to create a rule regulating or banning the use of fluoride in drinking water nationwide. In the meantime, the trend is raising alarm bells for public health researchers who worry that, much like vaccines, fluoride may have become a victim of its own success.

The CDC maintains that community water fluoridation is not only safe and effective but also yields significant cost savings in dental treatment. Public health officials say removing fluoride could be particularly harmful to low-income families — for whom drinking water may be the only source of preventive dental care.

“If you have to go out and get care on your own, it’s a whole different ballgame,” said Myron Allukian Jr., a dentist and past president of the American Public Health Association. Millions of people have lived with fluoridated water for years, “and we’ve had no major health problems,” he said. “It’s much easier to prevent a disease than to treat it.”

According to the anti-fluoride group Fluoride Action Network, since 2010, over 240 communities around the world have removed fluoride from their drinking water or decided not to add it.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They don't get the choice of whether or not their water is purified either. Damn gubmint!

[–] tal@lemmy.today 11 points 6 months ago

I mean, people do pay more for mineral water. Yesterday, I was at CVS, and there were at least three sections of refrigerated cabinet consisting of different brands of mineral water.

But if someone wants to produce hard water, I'm sure that they can do that too.

googles

https://www.amazon.com/iSpring-FA15-Water-Filter-Clear/dp/B00FBLGD1S/

Yeah. From the "related filters" section on that, looks like there's a whole industry of selling people things they can jam inline into their reverse osmosis filter system to do things to their water to make them happy. This one adds "calcium, magnesium, and potassium".

I don't see much on there by way of numbers as to what concentrations it's supposed to produce, but I suppose that if it makes people happy, it's available. Not like they're getting any guarantees as to how hard their municipal water is either.