The United States government finally acknowledged the harmful effects that fluoride has on the body, and recommends that water fluoridation levels be decreased nationwide.
Water fluoridation has been in effect in the United States for over 65 years. The U.S. government began putting fluoride in the public water supply claiming that it would prevent tooth decay. Over the years, thanks to various studies and public officials speaking out, the negative effects of fluoride have finally come to light. The United States government, prior to today, denied the link between increased fluoride levels and disease. The game changer, however, was the major study out of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that increased fluoride consumption led to decreased IQ in children.
Since 1962 the government has recommended fluoride levels between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter in the nations drinking water. Ever since then, fluoride has been praised for it’s alleged power to prevent tooth decay. Research, however, has shifted the national outlook on fluoride. Even in calling for the reduction of fluoride in the water, the government does not discuss the major findings. Instead, it focuses on a smaller symptom of fluoride consumption – damage to children’s teeth. The very substance that is supposed to lead to greater tooth health is leading to teeth damage. According to the government, fluoride in drinking water should be reduced because of the damage it is causing to childrens’ teeth, not the link between fluoride and decreased IQ in children.
Over 72 percent of Americans drink water treated with fluoride. A large majority of the nation has been consuming fluoride, now found to be a poison, for years. Even if fluoride was beneficial to teeth, the damage it does to the body would logically be a priority over increase tooth health. While the government reducing fluoride in the water is a step in the right direction, fluoride should be completely abolished from the water supply, as New York officials have been calling for.
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