Health Risks Push Regulators to Propose Lower Fluoride Levels in United States Drinking Water

Stock photo.

We’ve always been told that fluoride is good for us. We’ve heard praise about how it fights cavities, but nothing about its dangers.

While it’s true that small amounts of fluoride do fight against tooth decay and strengthen bones, the opposite is also true in high amounts.

This week, new national guidelines to lower fluoride levels in drinking water were proposed by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Everyone is giving their own spin on the reasons for the changes. The agencies say that Americans have more access to fluoride than they did when it was first introduced in the 1940s. Water is now is just one of the ways we get our fluoride. Other ways include toothpaste, mouth rinses, prescription fluoride supplements, and fluoride applied by dental professionals.

The EPA said that:

Adults exposed to excessive consumption of fluoride over a lifetime may have increased likelihood of bone fractures, and may result in effects on bones leading to pain and tenderness. For effects to teeth, children are most likely to be affected by excessive exposure to fluoride because it impacts teeth while they are still in formative phases.

Children aged eight and younger exposed to excessive amounts of fluoride have an increased chance of developing pits in tooth enamel, along with a range of cosmetic effects to teeth. 

The HHS also looked at findings on current levels of tooth decay, dental fluorosis (uneven spots and loss of tooth enamel), and water consumption across the United States. The HHS wants to lower fluoride in tap water from 1.2 to 0.7 parts per million, which is a 42 percent decrease.

Wondering about the number of people potentially affected by this? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that 16,977 community water systems around the country provide fluoridated water to 196 million people.

Photo courtesy of windmilldentalpractice.co.uk.

The CDC recommends that children under six who are using fluoride toothpaste should use a small, pea-sized amount on the brush and rinse well after brushing. Parents shouldn’t allow their children to brush with fluoride toothpaste before age two.

Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, that’s been trying to bring public awareness to the issue for years, now feels vindicated by the new findings.

 “For decades, people who raised concerns about fluoride being added to tap water were dismissed as crazy. All of a sudden now we have two federal regulatory actions – announced just days apart – that tell us what was really crazy all those years was a government bureaucracy that ignored strong scientific evidence,” said Mr. Cook.

Irritated that it’s taken this long, Jane Houlihan, the EWG’s senior vice president for research, said, “The government’s announcement marks a belated recognition that many American children are at risk from excess fluoride in drinking water.”

Besides dental fluorosis, EWG experts say that over-exposure to fluoride can be toxic and cause skeletal fluorosis, which involves joint pain, stiffness, and bone fractures.

The typical charcoal-based water filtration systems used in most homes do not remove fluoride from water. Boiling water doesn’t remove fluoride either. If you choose to use a home water treatment, make sure that the filter you use is certified to address your concerns.

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