The Real Reason There is Fluoride in Your Drinking Water

While we all know that there have been many things added to the water that we get from our taps, do we really know what’s in there? Perhaps one of the most common added ingredients is fluoride. As of lately, there’s been much debate over the levels of it, fluoride’s general safety in people of all ages, whether or not it violates our right to be medicated, or even why it’s there in the first place. In this article, we’ll expand on those very topics even more.

Photo Source: Pixabay

What is Fluoride?

Fluoride is a chemical that’s naturally found in most water in very minimal amounts. Sometime in the 1940s, scientists began to experiment with fluoride in a multitude of ways. They conducted many different types of studies, and after a few years, their findings were that people who consumed fluoride in larger amounts than what water naturally provides ended up having fewer cavities and even ended up living longer. They continued to test these findings over longer periods of time and continued to produce the same results. So, in 1945, the state of Michigan (which was actually the very first state to do this) altered their water supply by increasing fluoride. This idea became recognized and widely popularized by The Center for Disease Control, that it wasn’t long until it became federally mandated in the United States and in many other countries worldwide.

Why Are People Upset About Fluoride Being in their Water if it’s Helpful?

First of all, there is the notion of being medicated by your government. No one consents to it, and unless you drink or use purified water exclusively to clean, bathe, or cook with, you’re subjected to it. It feels all sorts of wrong, and when you pair that with the newfound cancer risks that fluoride brings to the table, you get some side eyes and skeptics. The government states that it is helpful in preventing tooth decay, but with access to dentists in most areas, why do they care so much about our teeth?

In addition to that, fluorosis is a real condition, and it’s not nearly as mild or rare as the government states that it is. Fluorosis is a condition that effects the teeth by creating large white specks on the teeth that stick out and make the teeth appear discolored. Chances are, you know someone who has this condition, or perhaps you even have it yourself. It was only in 2015 that the federal government implemented new legislation that lowers the levels of fluoride by a mere .0001% in efforts to prevent fluorosis from happening.

What Affects does Fluoride Have on the Human Brain?

It’s actually pretty terrifying. In addition to the appearance-damaging effects of fluorosis, babies who regularly drink water that contains government-heightened levels of fluoride tend to have lower IQ’s later in life and generally develop slower than babies who are breastfed or who use purified water. In terms of adults, toxicity from fluoride can cause debilitating joint pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, and other types of painful and horrifying bone density loss. For teenagers, those same levels of fluoride can create thyroid issues leading to increased need for sleep, hunger, or even an extreme decrease in appetite. So, perhaps your teenager isn’t lazy—he’s just experiencing fluoride toxicity. There are plenty of folks who, by way of genetics, are much more susceptible to being poisoned by fluoride, and these detrimental effects are probably much more prevalent in those people rather than others. The factor that creates more susceptibility to fluoride toxicity is something that is still being heavily researched.

The threshold from safe to incredibly dangerous in terms of fluoride is an extremely tiny one. We should know that in most ecosystems that do not experience heavy industrial waste levels, the level found naturally occurring in water should be safe enough for humans to consume without much risk.

Conclusively, it’s really rather not only odd, but downright suspicious that the government took such an interest in our teeth so exclusively that they went ahead and began filling our drinking water with fluoride. Was this initially a noble thing to do? Surely through all of those rigorous tests they conducted, some type of cancer causing agent or tooth decaying component had to have been found. Whatever the case, the levels of fluoride in your drinking water is not safe over the span of ten years or longer. If you’re in a pinch to drink water, perhaps it will not be harmful, but it would be a good time to make the switch to purified drinking water if it’s in your ability to do so.