this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2024
513 points (98.7% liked)

News

23297 readers
3715 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
rjc@lemmy.world
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world
dezmd@lemmy.world
Tenthrow@lemmy.world
JonsJava@lemmy.world
gedaliyah@lemmy.world
Blackbeard@lemmy.world
little_cow@lemmy.world
jeffw@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
513
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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 38 points 6 months ago (3 children)

This sounds like that Simpsons episode where the school board votes down the "free recharging of fire extinguishers". They aren't even saying that their might be problems with floride, they just want choice for the option of choices sake. What is next, freedom to push your children into traffic?

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

they just want choice for the option of choices sake.

This is a common talking point for people who can’t otherwise justify their position. It’s the “because I said so” of arguing. You see it a lot with far right talking points, where they’ll frame it as freedom of choice, when it’s really just an excuse to pander to conspiracy theorists, the extremely religious, racists, homophobes, etc…

“The civil war wasn’t about slavery; it was about states’ rights.”

“If I want to refuse service to a gay couple, that should be my choice.”

“If I want to refuse service to a mixed race couple, that should be my choice.”

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

For some reason, they never came around on the Pro-Choice movement, though

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If I want to prevent your abortion, that should be my choice. "My" being the operative word, they're incredibly selfish. (Oh, and should the situation arise, "My abortion is the only justified abortion.")

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

“My abortion is the only justified abortion.”

Practically a one-to-one correlation between pro-life politicians and pregnant sex workers forced to get abortions.

[–] BreakDecks@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago

But that was choices for women, who Conservatives have been clear that they view as property.

[–] desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 6 months ago

Children yearn for the streets; It has been far too long since it was commonplace for them to beg for bread, freezing in the cold, yearning for Scrooge's pocketbook.

[–] irreticent@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

But, but, but... states rights.