Why is fluoride used in water treatment?

Answer 1

Fluoride is designated a Class 2 poison by the EPA, an acute toxin worse than lead and almost as bad as arsenic. According to the National Cancer Institute it's a known carcinogen. Hydrofluorosilicic acid is a byproduct of the Florida phosphate fertilizer industry. It comes straight from the stacks of industrial plants. It's illegal to dump it into freshwater lakes and rivers because it's toxic to life. Yet it's being trucked in oil tankers all over the United States and Canada to be sold to municipalities that pump it into our tap water. Yet enough scientific evidence has mounted against fluoride that three U.S. judges have ruled in federal court that fluoridation represents an "unreasonable risk" to the public, and the public is beginning to get wind of the danger.

The official line that we're told is that fluoride prevents tooth decay. Yet fluoride is known to do just the opposite. Fluoride causes dental fluorosis, a condition that makes teeth hard and brittle with discoloration, chipping and pitting of the enamel. It's estimated by the Centers for Disease Control that one-third of the children in the United States have dental fluorosis. In Canada the numbers are lower due to less fluoride in the water: Health Canada estimates between 12 and 14 percent incidence of fluorosis. Furthermore new studies show that the supposed benefits of fluoridation are nonexistent. The National Institute of Dental Research conducted the largest study to date on fluoride's effects on teeth with over 39,000 children ages 5 to 17 and found no significant differences between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities. Another study in New York State found that the only significant difference is that fluoridated Newburgh, New York, has twice the dental fluorosis of non-fluoridated Kingston, New York.

Note: Some of the above information has been contradicted by scientific studies. For another perspective, see Related Links, below.