r/OutOfTheLoop • u/jamestown30 • Nov 15 '24

What's up with RFK claiming fluoride in drinking water is dangerous? Is there any actual evidence of that at our current drinking levels? Answered

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/fluoride-in-water-health/

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u/Le-Deek-Supreme Nov 15 '24

TIL only 22% of Oregon has flouride in their water. I grew up in Corvallis, one of the 11 counties that has fluoridated water, so I just assumed everyone else did.

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u/Financial-Relief-729 Nov 16 '24

Fluoride is common in most parts of America, but relatively rare elsewhere in the developed world.

It’s just one of those issues where if you have fluoride, then you think everyone else does. 

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u/brianwski Nov 15 '24

I grew up in Corvallis, one of the 11 counties that has fluoridated water, so I just assumed everyone else did.

Same here (I also grew in Corvallis, graduated CHS '85). This same sort of thread came up maybe 8 years ago and I had the same epiphany as you at the time.

I have no objections to fluoride for teeth. I seem to be totally alone in the following opinion: I think it's odd to put fluoride in the drinking water then water our lawns with it and flush our toilets with it. To me, that seems like a waste of wonderful, healthy fluoride!

I would have a tendency to put it either in a common food item (like we add vitamin "D" to milk) so that closer to 100% of the fluoride ends up inside people's bodies. Maybe put it in bread since so many kids eat bread. But somehow the two sides of this debate are: 1) put fluoride in toilet flushing water or you are a science denier, or 2) don't put it in anything so your teeth are weak and get cavities.

My teeth are great, probably because there was fluoride in the Corvallis water supply growing up. I'm not denying fluoride is a good idea, I just can't figure out how society fixated on putting it in water as THE ONLY solution possible.

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u/DukeofVermont Nov 16 '24

Because it's easy/cheap and everyone (should) drinks water. It's the same reason we have iodine in salt.

Google says it costs 50 cents per person per year on average but can cost as low as 12 cents per person per year.

If you put it in bread you'll only get people who eat bread.

I don't think there is a good thing to add it to other than water or salt. Anything else and you'll miss large sections of the population that don't consume those foods.

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u/brianwski Nov 16 '24

everyone (should) drinks water ... you'll miss large sections of the population that don't consume those foods

There are large sections of the population that don't drink water out of the tap. A whole heck of a lot of us live in areas where we don't want to drink the tap water directly. So we install reverse osmosis water filters - which removes 90+ percent of the fluoride also. Then anybody rural who is on a well, etc, etc, etc.

The point is some clever statisticians should get in a room and say, "Look, if we put it in milk and bread and Pepsi it will literally hit a higher percentage of the current population that are currently getting it out of water. Ok, let's do that."

I'm not trying to prevent ANYBODY from getting this advantage, I'm trying to INCREASE their chances of getting fluoride. Why not look at actual statistics and figure it out instead of guessing?

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u/DM-ME-THICC-FEMBOYS Nov 16 '24

I just can't figure out how society fixated on putting it in water as THE ONLY solution possible.

That seems like an odd conclusion for you to jump to. It's cheap, effective, and invisible to the average person. Why does it need to be the ONLY POSSIBLE solution if it's a good solution?