Water Fluoridation Essay

More people drink fluoridated water in the United States than the rest of the world combined. In the U.S., around 70% of public water supplies are fluoridated. The goal of water fluoridation is to prevent dental caries by adding fluoride into the municipal water supplies. Although health authorities in North America continue to promote water fluoridation, a number of communities have recently decided to end their fluoridation programs. Three communities in Indiana have ended their water fluoridation programs. These communities, Lakeville, North Liberty, and Walkerton discontinued their fluoridation programs due to health and cost concerns. To become more knowledgeable of fluoride’s impact on my immediate family and my community. After doing

Dr. John Doull, who chaired the National Academy of Science’s review on fluoride, states “the safety of fluoridation remains “unsettled” and “we have much less information than we should, considering how long it has been going on” (Scientific American 81). In 2006, Doull’s representatives at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published an extensive 500-page analysis of fluoride’s toxicity. The report concluded that fluoride is an “endocrine disruptor” and can affect many things in the body including bones, the brain, the thyroid gland, the pineal gland, and even blood sugar levels (National Research Council). Fluoride’s capacity to damage the brain is one of the most highly studied areas of fluoride research today. In 2007, scientists from the Neurotoxicology Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classify fluoride as having strong evidence of “developmental neurotoxicity.” (A developmental neurotoxin is a chemical that can impair a young, developing brain) (Connett 11). Dr. Hardy Limeback, Former President of the Canadian Association for Dental Research states, "The evidence that fluoridation is more harmful than beneficial is now overwhelming”