Topics: Health, Science, US News, Food and Drink
A doctor has issued a warning over fluoride in drinking water, calling it 'hazardous waste'.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that was first added to public water in the US back in the 1940s for oral health reasons.
Fluoride is known to reduce cavities and tooth decay, but in more recent years, some doctors have raised safety concerns over the mineral and the levels that have been found in public drinking water.
It's important to emphasise that there's no evidence to suggest that fluoride is dangerous in the levels found in tap water, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hhasve stated, water fluoridation is considered 'one of the 20th century's greatest public health achievements'.
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However, some medics are beginning to raise doubts over the side effects of fluoride.
Dr Staci Whitman, who is a pediatric dentist and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, has claimed that fluoride has the potential to cause neurocognitive issues at high levels.
In an interview with Dr Andrew Huberman, she said: "The fluoride that they get is a by product of the phosphate fertilizer industry, it's called hydrofluosilicic acid.
"So as a by product of the phosphate fertilizer industry, it's considered hazardous waste and it's very expensive to dispose of.
"They've found if it's diluted... it's an acid first of all, so if it's put into our water system, it's so diluted it becomes safe.
"Everyone can go research this and look for themselves, but it does come in cement bags with skull and crossbones on the front and they do have to wear hazmat suits to put it into our water."
Dr Whitman continued: "They're supposed to titrate it... we're supposed to target 0.7mg per litre.
"I've been involved in some educational campaigns, it's very hard to keep it in range, there are some communities testing at 2.2mg per litre, which definitely falls into the more concerning zone for neurocognitive issues and other health issues."
Dr Whitman went on to explain that in Florida and Utah, legislation has already been passed to ban fluoride in public drinking water.
There have been a couple of studies that have caused concern, including one - published in JAMA Pediatrics - which claimed higher fluoride exposure was linked to lower IQ scores.
However, an article published on Johns Hopkins, based on an episode of Public Health On Call, saw pediatrician and professor, Charlotte Lewis, debunk the study.
"There are a lot of problems with that particular study, and subsequent studies have not shown that same effect, and in fact, have shown an opposite effect," she said.
"There have also been population-based studies, which do a much better job at establishing cause and effect, that have shown absolutely no effect on neurocognitive development or IQ scores, and have shown that in an economic analysis, if you have fewer cavities, you're more likely to be successful in life and to attain higher earnings in adulthood."
