In 2002 you said, “Long a target of fringe groups, fluoridation is widely considered one of the great public-health achievements of the last century.” My wife has shown me a lot of Internet back-and-forth suggesting a host of problems that can be blamed on fluoridation. Some say fluoride is industrial waste and that the mining industry duped us into thinking it’s healthy so we’d want it in our water. So is ßuoride deadly or healthy, or do we just not know? –James B., Columbia, Maryland
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Oh, we’ve got a pretty fair idea. Fact is, like a lot of things (Tylenol and water come to mind), fluoride can be either good or bad for you depending on how much you get. In small amounts the stuff is definitely salubrious. Though a few holdouts still argue, most research I’ve seen credits fluoridation with the sharp drop in tooth decay seen throughout the developed world over the past 40 years. In the U.S., 67 percent of those drinking public water get fluoride in it and tooth decay has fallen 68 percent since the late 60s, leading the Centers for Disease Control to call water fluoridation one of the top ten public-health achievements of the 20th century. Too much of a good thing, on the other hand–and we’re talking milligrams per kilo of body weight, not gallons–and you’ve got problems, ranging from stained teeth and upset stomach to death.
- Fluoride is industrial/mining waste. Fluorosilicic acid, a common fluoridating agent, is a by-product of phosphate fertilizer production, and phosphates are mined, so technically I guess you could say fluoride is mining waste. Big deal. Lots of useful commodities are made as a by-product of other processes, such as gypsum from burning coal and molasses from sugar refining. The suggestion that fertilizer tycoons have suckered the country into fluoridating drinking water to simplify disposal of their toxic waste is, to be gentle, a reach.
