Skeletal Fluorosis: What Could Fluoride Be Doing to Us?

Skeletal fluorosis is at endemic levels in at least 25 countries around the world. In the two countries where it is most prevalent – China and India – it affects 2.7 million and 6 million people respectively. But what is fluorosis, how can it be prevented, and are we at risk?

Fluoride Ingestion and Skeletal Fluorosis

Skeletal fluorosis occurs when too much fluoride builds up in the body. In China and India, for example, the high levels of skeletal fluorosis are believed to come from drinking water as well as inhaling coal being used as an indoor fuel source.

It is a debilitating disease, especially in latter stages. While in the beginning, the achy joints and stiffness may resemble arthritis, advanced fluorosis causes severe deformities as the ligaments of the neck and vertebrae calcify (harden), muscle tissue wastes away, and movement becomes more and more limited.

Scientific surveys indicate that any water supply containing more than 1 ppm of fluoride to be a risk for skeletal fluorosis. In the United States, 1 ppm is the average amount of fluoride being purposefully added to drinking water. But in addition to consuming fluoride through drinking water, it is also heavily absorbed in hot showers, and can be found in food at 180x the amount in drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set the “maximum containment level” at 4 ppm. This simply means that anything up to 4 ppm is of no concern to the U.S. government.

So, why isn’t fluorosis as common in the U.S.? It’s believed that in the hotter climates of China and India, for example, that people drink more water, leading to increased fluoride consumption. Also, malnutrition, which is more common in those countries, can leave the body particularly susceptible.

But, experts are concerned that it is prevalent in the United States, just at earlier stages of the disease, and going undetected.

Although research has been dedicated to the toxicity of fluoride in the U.S., he government wants the substance in our water and little has been done, on a large scale level, to combat it. Fluoride supplements are even pushed on the public, in addition to the fluoride put in our water.

Because the early stages of skeletal fluorosis include symptoms very similar to arthritis, it is commonly misdiagnosed as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. And without much information to educate medical “professionals” on the signs and symptoms of fluoride toxicity, those diagnoses aren’t being challenged.

From FluorideAlert.org

“Of course, since the early symptoms of fluorosis mimic arthritis, the question naturally arises as to whether the now near-epidemic rate of arthritis in the US, is related to the increased ingestion of fluoride that has occurred over the past 50 years. The question is particularly relevant considering that there is no known cause (other than ‘aging’) for common forms of arthritis, and that arthritis appears to be impacting adults at increasingly younger ages.”

Finally, in addition to your water and food, you are getting fluoride each day in your toothpaste. Dental fluorosis is the cell damage that occurs on the teeth – it is classified as a “mineral disorder of the teeth.”

With research already showing that fluoride lowers IQ, what on earth is fluoride doing to your organs if it can cause mental damage, eat away the tough protective enamel of your teeth, and permanently damage your bones?

Additional Sources:

FluorideAlert

Fluoridation.com