Former President Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have singled out fluoride in water as a public health measure that Trump should address if he takes back the White House.
weekend, kennedyI wroteOn social media platform He claimed, without citing any evidence, that it is “industrial waste” that causes waste.
President Trump expressed openness to the rule, telling NBC News, “I haven't talked about this rule yet, but I think it's fine with me.''
Since Kennedy joined Trump's candidacy, campaign officials have said the environmental lawyer and prominent conspiracy theorist would have immense influence on public health policy during Trump's second term. . Although he has not yet announced exactly what role he will play in the administration, the former president said he intends to give Kennedy a “health scare.”
Decades of fluoride
Community water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay has been practiced in the United States since 1945, and an estimated 72 percent of the U.S. population lives in community water systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2022 National Water Fluoridation Statistics. are receiving fluoridated water. (CDC).
Fluoride has become popular in American households, especially in toothpaste, since it was introduced into local water systems.
In 2015, a commissioned force of the U.S. Public Health Service recommended a standard fluoride concentration in drinking water of 0.7 mg/L, citing the wide availability of fluoride.
The agency established this recommendation based on the need for cavity prevention, which is balanced by the risk of fluorosis, where excessive fluoride exposure in young children affects the appearance of teeth and manifests as white spots, spots, or streaks. I did.
Fluoridation has been cited as one of the greatest public health achievements of the past century.
the dose makes the poison
Health groups say adverse effects associated with fluoride occur when people are exposed to high doses, far above those typically set in local water systems.
The American Dental Association (ADA)Website“Toxicity is dose-related.”
“Although large amounts of fluoride can be toxic, it is important to be aware of the effects of large doses of very high levels of fluoride and the differences between the fluoride levels currently recommended for public water systems. ” states the ADA.
“Like many common substances essential to life and health, such as salt, iron, vitamins A and D, chlorine, oxygen, and even water itself, fluoride can be toxic if ingested in large amounts. .”
According toworld health organizationExcess fluoride exposure typically occurs during “consumption of naturally fluoride-rich groundwater.”
The widespread use of fluoridated water in the United States is associated with a sharp decline in the rate of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT). In 1999, the CDC observed that the average cavity rate among 12-year-old children in the United States decreased by 68% from 1966-1970 to 1988-1994.
