Florida bans fluoride in drinking water

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,996]

20 minutes ago, faysalaaa said:

So im at more risk of having bad oral health because I drink bottled water?

Not a particularly accurate way of framing it, but if you were drinking water consistently that had clinically recommended doses of fluoride in it, you would decrease the likelihood of tooth decay and developing cavities, yes. 

[Hadrian 2,688]

nnnndd;; isn't there a meme in the dentistry world that dentists can tell you grew up in a place without fluoridated water just by looking at your teeth?

I don't know if that's true but MESS regardless.

[Rat Boy 43,847]

Wait this is insane.

[mightyriverz 2,653]

1 hour ago, faysalaaa said:

So im at more risk of having bad oral health because I drink bottled water?

as far as i'm concerned most bottled water also has fluoride. at least here in brazil it does.

[zevthepaparazzo 2,459]

[artdoll 47,165]

5 hours ago, Morphine Prince said:

“They don’t have a choice. You’re taking that away from them.”

there's so much irony here lol

[SHALLOW 16,469]

Guys you're one of the few countries who drinks fluoridated water and you guys elected Trump twice. I don't usually like conspiracies but maybe getting rid of fluoride could be good 

[SHALLOW 16,469]

6 hours ago, Rat Boy said:

Wait this is insane.

Why? Most countries don't have fluoride in their water and from what i can see in Europe we don't have such bad teeth. It all depends on the single person's hygiene habits

[Defmix100 7,105]

From what I remember there's different types of flouride but one is fluorosilicic acid which is added to water supplies, it's an inorganic waste product from fertilization and costs a lot to dispose of so adding to water was a cheaper way to dispose of it (if this is true)

"Highly toxic hydrogen fluoride and silicon tetrafluoride gases are by-products of fertilizer production. Prior to the 1970s, these pollutants were vented into the atmosphere and gave central Florida some of the most noxious air pollution in the country.

During the 1960s, however, complaints by farmers and ranchers eventually forced reluctant manufacturers to invest in pollution abatement scrubbers that converted toxic vapors into fluorosilicic acid (FSA), a dangerous but more containable liquid waste.

OSHA cautions that FSA, an inorganic fluoride compound, has dire health consequences for any worker that comes into contact with it. Breathing its fumes causes severe lung damage or death and an accidental splash on bare skin will lead to burning and excruciating pain. Fortunately, it can be contained in high-density cross-linked polyethylene storage tanks.

It is in such tanks that fluorosilicic acid has for the past half century been transported from Florida fertilizer factories to water reservoirs throughout the United States. Once there, it is drip fed into drinking water. This is a practice that the American Dental Association and numerous scientists and public health officials describe as “the precise adjustment of the existing naturally occurring fluoride levels in drinking water to an optimal fluoride level … for the prevention of dental decay.”

"Many are surprised to learn that unlike the pharmaceutical grade fluoride in their toothpaste, the fluoride in their water is an untreated industrial waste product, one that contains trace elements of arsenic and lead. Without the phosphate industry’s effluent, water fluoridation would be prohibitively expensive. And without fluoridation, the phosphate industry would be stuck with an expensive waste disposal problem"

[Defmix100 7,105]

1 hour ago, SHALLOW said:

Why? Most countries don't have fluoride in their water and from what i can see in Europe we don't have such bad teeth. It all depends on the single person's hygiene habits

I did see this mentioned too which I was actually surprised at and I'm British
"Only a handful of countries fluoridate their water such as Australia, Ireland, Singapore, and Brazil, in addition to the United States. Western European nations have largely rejected the practice. Nonetheless, dental decay in Western Europe has declined at the same rate as in the United States over the past half century"

[Chromanne 2,628]

8 hours ago, faysalaaa said:

Yeah but its still an option where you live, and its normalized. In my country, people dont even know that people drink tap! I was shocked when I first went to America and I still cant do it lol

Even in some developing countries, tap water can be fluoridated. It may not necessarily be drinkable, but it still improves your dental hygiene even if you just gargle water when you brush your teeth.

Some countries may have naturally occuring high fluoride levels in groundwater so there's no need to fluoridate the water further.