Study Prompts Proposal To Reduce Fluoride In American Drinking Water
Posted January 7, 2011 2:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Officials in the United States have recommended lowering levels of fluoride in drinking water due to widespread reports fluorosis in young people, which causes spotting and streaking of the teeth.
The compound has been added to drinking water in the U.S. since the 1940s and is credited for preventing tooth decay.
Spurred on by a new study that shows two in five adolescents between 12 and 15 are experiencing tooth streaking and spotting due to too much fluoride, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency want to lower the amount in the water supply.
Fluorosis became relatively common among young people in the 1980s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since 1962 the standard range of fluoride in drinking water has been between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per litre in the U.S. Officials want to change that to a straight 0.7 mg/l.
Just over 40 per cent of the Canadian population lives in areas with fluoridated water. The Ontario Ministry of Health’s guideline for fluoride in water is 0.5 – 0.8 mg/l.
Adding fluoride to drinking water has been described as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the last century, but it’s a controversial topic in some communities that oppose having a medical treatment forced on them.
Most European nations don’t have fluoride in their drinking water for the same reason. About 10 per cent of the British population relies on fluoridated water supplies.
The American Dental Association released a statement Friday touting the government’s recommendation to lower fluoride levels as “a superb example of a government agency fulfilling its mission to protect and enhance the health of the American people.”
The government is also expected to release two other studies that examined how Americans are exposed to fluoride and the health effects.
Fluoride exists naturally in water and soil and about 70 years ago, scientists found people who lived in areas where their water supply was naturally fluoridated had fewer cavities.
