DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
Related Articles
According to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Donald Trump plans to push for the removal of fluoride from drinking water in the United States on his first day in office.
On Saturday, former independent presidential candidate Kennedy went to X and claimed that fluoride is an “industrial waste” linked to arthritis, bone cancer, IQ loss and thyroid disease.
But experts call these claims unfounded because fluoride has been added to drinking water and toothpaste for decades in the United States and Canada as a way to help reduce tooth decay and improve dental health, especially in communities with limited access to dental care.
“If someone comes out and says, 'We're going to ban water fluoridation in the community because it causes arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid problems'… no one can say that carte blanche because there's no science to support that, ” said Dr. Gerry Uswak, a associate professor of public health at the University of Saskatchewan.
While he believes it is important to investigate the health effects of fluoride in community water, he emphasizes that such studies must be based on scientific evidence.
Kennedy, a known proponent of debunked health claims, also said Trump has promised to hold him accountable leading public health authorities in his government if he wins a second term.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all US. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease,” said Kennedy. in his message.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not yet discussed fluoride with Kennedy, “but it sounds good to me. You know it's possible.”
Although it can be controversial, Dr. Aaron Burry, the CEO of the Canadian Dental Association, said there is so much misinformation circulating about fluoride that the topic usually becomes a political issue right before an election.
“The benefit of this at the levels in Canada is that we are seeing people's oral health improving and cavities reducing overall in the population,” he said. It is only present at high levels, and usually comes from naturally occurring sources such as springs, where this is possible pose health risks.
Here you can read what you need to know about fluoride in drinking water.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral and is commonly found in water, air, soil, plants and food. according to Health Canada.
“It's leaching from the environment. There are naturally fluoridated water supplies where the fluoride levels are much higher than what goes into the community water system,” Uswak said.
And it can help strengthen teeth.
Fluoride molecules ensure stronger teeth by hardening tooth enamel, Health Canada said: which contributes to the remineralization of the tooth surface and deterrent of oral bacteria.
Why is fluoride in water supplies?
By the early 20th century, cavities were “endemic” in the U.S., Uswak explains. However, researchers discovered a community in Colorado that seemed immune to this problem.
Receive weekly health news
Receive the latest medical news and health information every Sunday.
After research, they discovered that the local water contained naturally occurring fluoride, which strengthened teeth and prevented decay.
These findings ultimately led to the decision to add fluoride to the public water supply as a way to prevent tooth decay. In the 1940s it was added to public drinking water in the US and Canada.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the past century.
However, there are limits to the amount that can be added to water.
In Canada, the optimal fluoride level in water is 0.7 milligrams per liter (which can also be described as 0.7 parts per million), according to Health Canada. The optimal level takes into account the fluoride that people get from other sources, such as fluoridated toothpaste or mouthwash.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Health Canada and several organized oral health agencies believe that the amount we use, in moderation, is safe,” Uswak said.
Health Canada stated that adding fluoride to drinking water is also “the most cost-effective and equitable method of delivering fluoride to the population. This population-based preventive intervention contributes to oral health equity by overcoming common social determinants of health, including age, education, income, and access to professional dental care.”
From a public health perspective, it is also associated with a 25 per cent reduction in tooth decay in children and adults, Health Canada added.
Are there risks associated with high fluoride levels?
Fluoride intake has both beneficial effects, such as reducing the number of cavities, and negative effects at high doses, including the risk of dental enamel and skeletal fluorosis with long-term high exposure. according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Such exposure can lead to dental fluorosis or crippling skeletal fluorosis, which is associated with osteosclerosis, calcification of tendons and ligaments and bone deformities, the WHO said.
Alberta Health says that fluoride levels of 2.5 milligrams per liter or higher can increase the risk of skeletal fluorosis.
Dental fluorosis is a condition that changes the way your tooth enamel (the outer layer of your teeth) looks: small white spots appear on your adult teeth, Health Canada said.
Skeletal fluorosis, a condition in which bones and joints harden, can occur when high levels of fluoride build up in the bones over many years. This condition is extremely rare in Canada, where fluoride levels in drinking water are carefully regulated and fluoride levels in products are limited, according to Health Canada.
“Researchers have been testing the safety and benefits of fluoride since the 1940s. Other than dental and skeletal fluorosis, there are no other health effects related to fluoride,” Health Canada said.
In his post, Kennedy claimed that fluoride is linked to bone cancer; However, the WHO states that this claim is based solely on a study in rats and has not been shown to apply to humans.
“Although the administration of very high doses of fluoride to rats in a two-year cancer bioassay was associated with an increased incidence of osteosarcoma, there is no evidence in recent and peer-reviewed publications that fluoride levels in drinking water, aimed at controlling dental caries, are related to the occurrence of osteosarcoma. with an increased risk of bone cancer in humans,” according to the WHO.
In August 2024, a report from the US National Toxicology Program found that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked to lower IQ in children. The report suggested that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter has been consistently linked to lower IQs in children.
However, the report did not conclude on the risks of lower levels of fluoride and said more research is needed. It also didn't answer what high levels of fluoride might do to adults.
Burry highlighted that many studies linking high fluoride levels to adverse side effects often come from regions such as Mexico and China, where there is naturally high concentration of this mineral in the water supply.
“If you look especially at studies from other countries, which are well above the maximum of 1.5 parts per million, these will largely relate to water sources, which are not municipal water sources,” he said. “So that's not what we have in Canada. So a reasonable comparison is really not being considered.”
Uswak stated that research continues to show that fluoride in water, in moderation, is safe and provides significant dental health benefits. However, he and Burry both emphasized the importance of continued research into both the health benefits and potential harms of fluoride.
“We need to provide the right information and spread the rhetoric, and it is our requirement to continue to investigate it to maintain its safety or make changes if it is not,” he said.
If the U.S. removes fluoride from its water, Uswak says it's difficult to predict exactly how cavity rates will be affected because results can vary by population. However, he believes that the number of cavities in general is likely to increase, especially in underserved communities.
“If there is a community that is more disadvantaged and has low health literacy or dental care, it will be even higher for people at risk,” he said.
He also pointed to the case of Calgary, where fluoride was removed from the water in 2011 and subsequently the number of cavities among the population increased.
In 2011, the Calgary City Council voted to remove fluoride from the city's drinking water. After this decision, studies conducted over the next few years observed an increase in the number of cavities, especially among children.
In November 2021, Calgary City Council voted to approve the reintroduction of fluoride after a plebiscite was held that showed 62 per cent support for adding the mineral to the city's drinking water.
The city is still working to reintroduce fluoride into drinking water, citing infrastructure issues.
– with files from Carolyn Kury de Castillo of Global News and the Associated Press
Katie Dangerfield
Source link
