A lot has been said about fluoride in water. There are even some crazy conspiracy theories around the topic. It’s not easy determine what are the genuine facts. We’ve researched everything there is to know about fluoride. How fluoride gets into our water and what are the effects of fluoride on your health.
Fluoride is a compound that originates from fluorine, an abundant mineral that occurs naturally in water, soil, and the food we eat. It is also added to dental products to improve the health of tooth enamel, these include:
In the 1930s, it was discovered that fluoride improved dental health, particularly in children who are developing new teeth. At the time, it was determined that increasing fluoride consumption would improve the dental health of the general population. As a result, most municipal water utilities in the United States, and elsewhere, started adding fluoride to municipal water supplies.
More recent studies have indicated that excessive fluoride can lead to health complications.
Is Fluoride Bad For You?
While fluoride is essential to healthy teeth and bones, too much of the mineral will have a negative effect on your health. Children exposed to high concentrations of fluoride when new teeth are growing have shown signs of damaged tooth enamel. This can be observed as white marks on the teeth.
The recommended amount of fluoride for healthy teeth and bones is 0.7 parts per million (PPM). Increased fluoride consumption can lead to numerous health disorders. Fluoride levels higher than 4 PPM is considered to be a health risk.
Apart from dental issues in children, numerous other conditions have been identified as being a health risk associated with consuming too much fluoride. While some of these conditions have been certified as health risks associated with high fluoride intake, others have merely been suggested as possible risks resulting from too much fluoride.
Many of these conditions are rare and may be caused by other factors, with fluoride only increasing the risk of certain conditions. Despite some uncertainty regarding some health conditions, high levels of fluoride will certainly increase the risk of numerous health disorders.
Because of the risks associated with excessive fluoride, you should be aware of how much fluoride you consume. Since most dental products contain fluoride, and many common foods, additional fluoride in drinking water may not be necessary, possibly hazardous.
The best way to ensure that you obtain enough fluoride is to brush your teeth regularly, using a fluoride toothpaste, and never swallow tooth paste or mouthwash as this will increase the amount of fluoride in your blood, putting you at risk. A balanced diet will ensure that you have a healthy body with the correct intake of fluoride.
Food that Contains Fluoride
There are many common food types that contain enough fluoride to ensure your good health. The best natural sources of fluoride are:
While these are the best sources of natural fluoride, there other food products that will also provide small amounts of the mineral. Since most of us consume some or all of the foods that naturally supply our bodies with enough fluoride, additional fluoride in drinking water is unnecessary. It can even be hazardous to your health, especially over many years of drinking water with added fluoride.
Because of the health risks associated with increased fluoride consumption, some municipalities have ceased the practice of adding fluoride to tap water. Though many still do. If you live in an area where fluoride is added to the water, or have a well with high concentrations of fluoride, you should consider a filter to remove fluoride from your drinking water.
How Do You Know if Your Water Contains Fluoride?
The Center for Disease control has made it easy for people to find out if the water in their area is fluoridated. You can follow the link to check whether your tap water has added fluoride:
Find Water System Info - https://nccd.cdc.gov/doh_mwf/default/default.aspx . A drop down menu allows you to select your state and county, this will direct you to a list of towns and cities in that county with water fluoridation data.
You can also have your water tested by a laboratory or use a fluoride test kit. There are two methods used for testing fluoride in water:
How Do You Remove Fluoride From Your Water?
There are many water filters available, most remove common chemicals like chlorine, as well as some pesticides and herbicides. Not all water filtration systems remove fluoride from the water.
Boiling water is ineffective at removing fluoride, as are most water filter pitchers and countertop water filters. Though some may have media to remove fluoride from the water.
The Best Filters to Remove Fluoride
The best water filters remove most chemicals and harmful minerals from water. If you’re thinking of buying a water filter that will remove fluoride, here’s a quick guide of what to look for.
Reverse Osmosis
Generally, reverse osmosis (RO) is considered the best method of removing a wide range of toxins from your water, including fluoride. These systems use water pressure to force the water through an RO membrane which removes most toxins from the water. Several stages can be added to improve the quality of the water and perform more advanced filtration.
RO water filters can be expensive and are quite large. They can be installed as a whole house water filter or smaller under counter RO filters that typically supply a single faucet. There will also be maintenance involved, as filter cartridges need to be replaced periodically.
The greatest benefit if using an RO system is the high level of filtration and the fact that you have pure, filtered water on tap whenever you need it.
Water Distiller
A water distiller is easy to use and is not complicated to install. It works by boiling the water and then distilling the water vapor. In the process, all bacteria, viruses, and most minerals (including fluoride) are removed.
Water distillers are inexpensive and don’t require any filters that need to be replaced. They do, however, consume quite a lot of electricity, which is cost to consider. The process of distilling water is time consuming and countertop water distillers have a limited capacity. This means that you won’t always have fluoride-free distilled water on demand.
Activated Alumina
Aluminum oxide is highly effective at absorbing minerals like fluoride. Many advanced water filtration systems use activated alumina. Filter cartridges for pitchers and countertop water filtration systems may utilize activated alumina, but this is not common. It is also used in more advanced RO filters as a stage of demineralization.
To effectively remove fluoride, using activated alumina, the water PH has to be lower than 8.5. This may require an additional filtration stage to adjust the water PH.
Bone Char Carbon
Activated carbon filters are a common method of removing chemical toxins to improve the good health, color, taste, and odor of the water. Not all carbon filters make use of bone char, which is made by heating animal bones to very high temperatures, leaving only carbon.
Regular charcoal carbon filters will not remove fluoride, these are mostly used to remove chlorine and other chemicals. Some RO filtration systems will comprise several stages of carbon filtration. One of these stages can make use of bone char carbon, an effective means of removing fluoride from water.
Filter cartridges used for pitcher and countertop water filters may also contain bone char carbon, along with other carbon filtration media, for more comprehensive contaminant removal.
Conclusion
In the early 20th century, scientists believed that adding fluoride to municipal drinking water was beneficial, as it improved the health of our teeth and bones. At the time, people were not aware of the possible risks.
Today, we know that too much fluoride has the opposite effect, deteriorating teeth and bones. There have also been many other health risks that have been attributed to high levels of fluoride in the body.
Since modern dental products contain enough fluoride to ensure good dental health, adding fluoride to drinking water no longer provides any benefits. It may increase the fluoride in our blood to a point where it becomes dangerous.
Because of an increased awareness of fluoride, and may other harmful contaminants, in our tap water, many people prefer to drink bottled water. Though this is costly and the environmental impact of plastic bottles, that end up in landfill sites, is totally unnecessary. Water filters will save a lot of money over time and provide clean safe water, that is free from odors and tastes great.
If you need fluoride removal as part of your water filtration, makes sure that it is capable of doing this by using one of the above filtration methods:
Leave a Reply