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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.
What makes more sense?
A) Large corporations (not known for their wisdom, concern for our well-being, or compassion) found a profitable way to deal with a hard-to-manage waste stream (from fertilizer production) by convincing government leaders (not known for their scientific understanding or compassion) to buy their waste and dilute it to where it no longer needs to be managed as toxic material?
B) Your government leaders are actually concerned about tooth decay.
Lol downvotes. Really guys? Water fluoridation is the one issue both Democrats and Republicans agree on and are doing the right thing for the people? You’re being lied to, and fiercely defending the ones lying to you.
Water fluoridation is one of the most successful and evidence supported public health initiatives in history. It was initiated by dentists, not corporations or government leaders.
How many times have governments touted their own programs as successful and not been quite right? Are you really that easy to propagandize?
I urge you to look a little deeper and use logic. It’s not easy for governments and large companies to put out press releases and bad studies to support their position. It’s never good to add neurotoxins to tap water where dosage is impossible to control and the water is used for far more than tooth care.
Is there no concern about toxic substances building up in the soils in our farms and gardens? What about wildlife that has to deal with our drugged water? Is tooth decay really that important to put other stuff at unknown risk?
The method of action of flouride for tooth decay is literally high school chemistry.
You literally could have spent the time you researched your conspiracy theories, and instead learned the general chemistry required to fully understand how fluoride works, and how a bunch of other things worked.
Then you wouldn’t be posting this ignorant conspiracy theory trying and failing at appearing like critical thinking.
This really is at “flat-Earth” levels of willful ignorance.
P.S. If anyone thinks I’m being to harsh, I’ve lived in third world countries, and had to help children with teeth literally rotting in their mouths.
The world ignorant evil monsters like I’m responding to is a fucking dark place. That is where this monster wants to take us back to.
I’m not saying fluoride isn’t good for teeth, I’m saying don’t put drugs in the tap water.
Learn how to join the right conversation.
I was curious, so I did the research you asked us to do. My best understanding after about 30 minutes is that historically, experiments examining fluoride neurotoxicity involve fluoride levels far exceeding the regular consumption of North America and elsewhere as provided in the water supply, so it’s hard to get an understanding of the possible health effects.
There are more recent studies regarding this, however, that do indicate some level of toxicity to the brain in lower doses. Again though the data seems to conflict at times and requires more study. Here’s a nice link for more reading.
You came in here making conspiratorial accusations about the government and invoked some aetheric “what about the animals” nonsense and provided no material to support your position so idk why you’re confused about how you’re being received here. Fluoride is indeed helpful in preventing tooth decay, so you’re gonna have to do some more work than the tired old “Do your own research.”
Then why dose an entire population? For tooth decay!
Why do I need material to support the idea that drugging a population through it’s tap water is a bad idea? That should be the starting position, the person claiming it’s a good idea to dose the population’s tap water is the one with something to prove.
You’re claiming it’s bad. If you don’t understand that you need evidence to back up a claim, it will be impossible to argue your point. You’re free to continue shouting into the void if you want, but until you take this at least as seriously as I do (not very I may say, my research was very brief) you’re going to continue getting downvotes. I’m just telling you why here. You sound like a crazy person to the average lurker.
They did in fact prove that fluoride stops dental decay. Now it’s your turn to prove that there’s a negative side effect that outweighs the positive.
I don’t know. Maybe 2 or 3 times in human history. Is being wrong about one thing mean you are wrong about everything?
I also urge you to the same. You can start by looking at the multiple studies backing up this practice and learning about the logical fallacy of circumstantial ad hominem.
Umm ok
Different dosages different impacts. Water can kill you if you drank enough.
Metering pumps are typically what I have seen and used. Pretty easy to control. Basic steps are
If pump is on observe 4-20mA signal from the sensor. Which is usually looped powered 2-wire. If it is too low, then signal contactor to the metering pump while observing. Usually I have done a simple latch circuit with a blackout period for this. Basically the water fluoride live between two control points, a high and a low. Once high is achieved the metering pump is cut off from power. Over time the main pump brings enough new water in that the levelsof fluoride fall to the lower point. At which point the contactor goes in and the metering pump goes on again.
Since you don’t want to add it to still water (you never add a base or acid to still water if you want accurate application) you put the main pump(s) as the interlock. If you are wondering why I don’t use a PID for control on this is because I can’t find a metering pump with large range speed control to make it worth it.
The blackout zones are for sensor problems. Usually a simple rule like “if metering pump has been on and is now off wait three minutes before turning it on again regardless of what sensor says”. It is far easier to go over vs go under so try to bias it one way vs the other.
I guess AMA if you want to know more about this stuff. Been in automation and control for 15 years now.
That’s nice.
Sure bioaccumulation. Go to the EPA or your state’s DEP and ask them about the research they have done on it. Lots of environmental chemists work researching this topic. It’s a bit anecdotal but every WWTP I have been too, which presumably would have the most of the fluoride, has pretty abundant wildlife. Turns out feces and water makes plants happy.
Ok, so this excuses adding anything to the water doesn’t it? I say we Ozempic because it helps people with diabetes.
I’m not talking about acccurately adding fluoride to water, I’m talking about the impossibility of controlling or knowing the fluoride intake of a person when it’s added to tap water, which is not only consumed directly but also indirectly when things are made using fluoridated water.
Your last argument amounts to “I don’t give a shit about it’s effects on anything else, it helps my teeth”.
non sequitur. Thought you liked logic. A very small percentage of the population is diabetic, all of the population has some level of teeth problems. But I am confident you will bring it up 19 or so more times.
The amount of water you take in is highly connected to your body weight, one goes up the other goes up. Higher body weight means you need more fluoride to have an issue. The only way to break this is to consume multiple times what the average is for your body weight for long periods of time. So much so I doubt your kidneys would be able to process that much water. But hey you can prove me wrong. Go look up what consumption levels you need for your body weight and how much is in your local supply.
No I mentioned nothing about my teeth. I pointed out a very simple way you could get the information to back up your “argument”. Then I mentioned that the place where we should see the biggest issues, in my limited experience, is where we weren’t.
B
B makes more sense unless you think the dental products and all of the dentists are in some kind of conspiracy too.
Look into the history of the ADA, good tiimes. Dentists telling us for years that mercury amalgam in our mouths was A-OK too.
I’m not saying fluoride doesn’t make for stronger teeth, I’m saying we should not add drugs to our tap water regardless of any health or safety claims. If you go that route, why not add vitamin C, and some Ozempic?
Why don’t you go live in a third world country and help the children there. You’ll come back begging for water fluoridation.
Your opinion is one that only a privileged first worlder could have.
I’ll come back begging for dental care, not drugging of my community’s water supply.
Third world countries have bad teeth because we export processed food to them and they don’t have dental care. Native populations eating ancestral diets don’t have many dental problems.
If I’m remembering correctly, fluoridation and other public health measures were put in place because too many guys were physically unfit for military service.
I’d love to say something sensible, understandable and concise.
But this post is like someone shouting “WHY DID MATHEMATICIANS MAKE THE √ SYMBOL TICK SHAPED?!”, convinced they’ve found a way to prove that 2+2 is not 4.
There is so much to unpack there. Properly responding to every explicit and implicit grain is like reasoning against a beach.
I’m not sure what you meant to say but it sounded super smart.
Instead of attacking people and engaging in conspiracy-based thinking where your evidence is vague feelings of untrust why not present solid scientific research that the levels of fluoride that are in the water supply offer no health benefit?
Why should I have to prove to you why not to add drugs to my water?
Will I have to do this to prove why not to add Ozempic to my water?
You don’t have to prove shit, your opinion doesn’t matter. I assure you of that. I gave you good advice, if you want to understand the world you live in use logic and study science. If you want to live in fear of your own shadows you are free to do so, just keep listening to Alex Jones and ignore rational thought.
Follow it or not.
So saying that taking drugs, regardless of claims of safety or efficacy should be optional makes me a conspiracy theorist?
I did not give consent to be drugged with fluoride.
No spreading conspiracy theories makes you a conspiracy theorist. But to be fair that is really just me using your term. I am not sure if spreading the ideas of others should count. More like conspiracy spreader. Maybe try to come up with something that wasn’t already boring in the 1960s next time.
Can we wrap this up tonight btw? I have to go spread chemtrails tomorrow, makes the frogs gay you see.
And what conspiracy am I spreading exactly?