David Gorski wrote yesterday in regards to the risk {that a} second Trump time period holds for American well being, particularly if he retains his promise to offer RFK Jr. some excessive degree place over public well being. Sadly, we have now seen this film earlier than, though the sequel guarantees to be a lot worse. Placing a pseudoscientist, crank, conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer in control of the organizations which are supposed to make use of scientific proof to guard public well being is horrifying to ponder.
Through the COVID pandemic we at SBM discovered ourselves spending a lot of our time addressing the tsunami of misinformation that was popping out of the White Home. We are going to possible have our work minimize out for us over the following 4 years and past. Since RFK Jr particularly acknowledged one in every of his prime priorities is to get native governments to take away fluoride from public water provides, let’s begin there.
Fluoride has been added to some public water programs since 1945, beginning in Grand Rapids MI. Fluoride is of course occurring in lots of water programs to numerous concentrations, and it was noticed that places with excessive fluoride ranges had higher oral well being and fewer cavities. Including small quantities of fluoride to water provides that lack it has been, based on the CDC, one of many 10 biggest public well being measures of all time.
The underside line is that fluoridation works. It’s price efficient, saving from $20 to $38 in oral well being care for each $1 spent. It’s particularly vital for decrease earnings areas who might lack enough dental care. Tooth illness additionally correlates with quite a few different severe systemic illnesses. Communities that cease water fluoridation constantly see subsequent rises in oral illness and cavities, particularly among the many poor.
The advantages of fluoridation are literally not controversial. They’re very clear. Anti-fluoridation activists, like RFK Jr., deal with the alleged toxicity. He wrote just lately:
“Fluoride is an industrial waste related to arthritis, bone fractures, bone most cancers, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental problems, and thyroid illness.”
He offers away his conspiratorial mindset by repeating the anti-fluoride fear-mongering that fluoride is an industrial waste. That is principally a fantasy and in any case is irrelevant. First, fluoride exists is many water provides naturally, at in regards to the optimum ranges for protected oral well being. Within the ocean fluoride is current at about 1 half per million. Most of this comes from leaching from rocks and minerals that include fluoride compounds.
Added fluoride is available in three fundamental kinds, sodium fluoride, hydrofluorosilicic acid (hexafluorosilicic acid) and sodium silicofluoride. These come from a wide range of sources, together with some from industrial processes. However the supply doesn’t matter in any respect – whatever the unique chemical, all sorts fully break down in water ensuing on fluoride ions. Fluoride is a component, and a fluoride ion is a fluoride ion, no matter its supply. Making an attempt to scare individuals by calling it “industrial waste” is anti-science and simply enjoying on chemophobia.
Within the US the EPA has set a most fluoride degree in public consuming water (no matter supply) at 4.0 mg/L. The CDC recommends an optimum degree of 0.7 mg/L for oral well being (once more, lower than the focus within the ocean and lots of pure water provides). As everyone knows, toxicity is all about dose. So are there well being threat at fluoridated ranges? No.
Let’s begin with bone well being. A number of evaluations have discovered that at ranges of fluoride added to water programs, there is no such thing as a affiliation with bone fractures or unfavorable results on bone well being. A Nationwide Useful resource Council overview discovered blended proof for a attainable enhance in bone fractures beginning at 4.0 mg/L. For that reason the CDC recommends lowing the very best allowable quantity and the EPA is reviewing their requirements.
However be mindful, within the US we solely add fluoride as much as 0.7 mg/L. The upper concentrations had been studied as a result of there are places with excessive naturally occurring fluoride ranges within the US. The query is – when can we take away fluoride from consuming water? This isn’t about including fluoride, which is nicely beneath any security concern.
What about bone most cancers? There was a single examine in 1990 that discovered attainable proof of elevated osteosarcoma in male rats (however not feminine rats, or mice) related to greater ranges of fluoride publicity. This appears to be like like a typical quirky outcome. Subsequent research didn’t discover this, and epidemiological research haven’t discovered any affiliation with elevated bone most cancers and fluoridation applications. f
After all you may at all times cherry choose one examine from over 30 years in the past an ignore more moderen and related knowledge. That is additionally one other hazard vs threat problem. Toxicology research typically overcall poisonous results – they’re typically designed to seek out poisonous results. However that doesn’t inform us a lot about precise threat. For that we’d like epidemiological knowledge in people, which on this case is unfavorable.
I already wrote about fluoride and IQ. The fast abstract is that within the research touted by anti-fluoride activists that present a correlation with fluoride and decrease IQ, they in contrast naturally excessive ranges of fluoride (usually over 4 mg/L) to decrease ranges (within the vary of fluoridation applications, 0.7 – 1.0 mg/L). So within the very research cited, the fluoridation applications had been related to the upper IQ. Once more, there is no such thing as a proof that fluoridation at ranges deliberated added to public water carries any well being threat.
However after all, as new knowledge is available in we might tweak the rules to optimize profit and decrease threat. The present suggestions, nevertheless, are primarily based on one of the best present proof accessible.
RFK Jr.’s suggestions will not be primarily based on one of the best science accessible. They’re primarily based on conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and fearmongering. I assume that’s what we are able to anticipate from the following 4 years. Buckle up.
