The first time I told someone where fluoride comes from, he thought I had fallen prey to online conspiracy theorists.
When dentists talk about the benefits of public water fluoridation, they describe fluoride as a “naturally occurring element, found as a constituent of minerals in rocks and soil.” Doesn’t that sound so healthy and… mineral-y?
Sadly, this is not the same fluoride that is added to most of the public water supply throughout the United States. You’re probably not going to believe me when I tell you this, but that fluoride is an industrial byproduct of the aluminum and fertilizer industries.
Calcium fluoride. Sodium fluoride. Hydrofluosilicic Acid. It’s all the same. This is the logic fluoridation proponents use to justify purchasing fluoride in its industrial form. Does this logic make sense to you?
For those of you who don’t believe me, I offer further evidence. The image below is cut and pasted directly from the water quality report for the neighboring town of Jupiter, Florida. You can download it for yourself at http://www.jupiter.fl.us/water/.
The water quality report from my parents’ town said the same thing. These companies used to release fluoride out the smokestack along with the rest of the pollution. Now they sell it to taxpayers for a pretty penny. Not a bad deal.
It gets worse. Did you know that an increasing number of water treatment plants buy their fluoride from China? U.S. manufacturers are not able to compete with the low prices of Chinese firms entering the fluoride market.
One town in Massachusetts recently discontinued water fluoridation because the powder supplement they purchased from a Chinese industry was damaging their equipment. (Click here to read the article in the local newspaper.) The American Water Works Association is receiving similar complaints from treatment plants across the country.1
Do you know if your water is fluoridated? If so, where does YOUR fluoride come from?
*This post is part of Fight Back Friday hosted at FoodRenegade.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This makes me glad I have well water!
Charlene
The Balance Beam
Yes, Charlene, that is something to be grateful for! You still have to ensure your well water is safe, but at least you have more control over any added chemicals.
Hi there! Here is the link to the post on cellulite I did. It doesn't say too much about Dr. Oz except that he says there is no cure. It's more about my terrible bathing suit shpooing experience. lol
http://www.mommiestimeouttoday.com/2009/07/eeewwwwcellulite-butt.html
Thanks, MTOT! I was looking for that one. Your shopping experience is eerily familiar…
Oh my!This just scared me – which is good – THANKS!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am a new follower here from FF.
Also, thanks for those blogs – I'm off to check them out now!
I usually hate to scare people, but this stuff is so darn scary it's hard to write about it otherwise. Fortunately, it's the kind of thing where once you know about it, you can take steps to mitigate the problem (water filters, writing to the people in charge, etc). I hope you enjoy those two blogs. They are some of my favorites!
Fluoride from China? That sounds so healthy (yeah, right). We drink filtered water, but I don't think our filter takes care of fluoride. I think only the reverse osmosis systems do that? Is that right, Melissa?
Following from Friday Follow. Thanks for the link. be I'd like to read that article about Chinese industry.I'll be checking it out. Have a great weekend!
Reverse osmosis is the best for fluoride — it filters out 95 percent of it. Other filters get rid of some of the fluoride, just not as much. You can always check with your local water company to see if they add fluoride and where it comes from.
This is very interesting. We also have well water and it has enough natural fluoride that the kids don't need supplements from the dentist.
That's great, Corrie. There is a lot of controversy over whether or not fluoride helps prevent cavities at all. Personally, I don't think it does. Did you know a lot of pre-industrial societies did not care for their teeth at all (through brushing, etc) and yet they didn't get cavities? There is a whole different school of thought that asserts cavities are caused by a lack of nutrition. It's a very convincing argument. Rami Nigel talks about it in his book, Cure Tooth Decay. He cures cavities with cod liver oil and high-vitamin butter. Crazy, no?!
Hi… I found you on the Friday Follow list, but I had seen you on Elizabeth Ours blog too. Looks like some good stuff to read here… Glad to get to know you!
Stopping by for Friday Follow and glad you stopped by my blog and no I don't think your quest is too ambitious but busy goal. LOL
Following from the FF linkup. Hope to see you at http://luvsjurn3.blogspot.com soon!
I'm following..here from Friday Follow – I have looked into fluoride consumption before and we gave nonfluoridated water to our children when they were babies. Now I really want to find out where our town gets its fluoride! Thanks for the info and links.
Oh. My goodness that's gross. I knew that toothpaste / flouride was not healthy…but this actually enlightened me as to why. And the added flouride to water. That is troubling.
Just loved this post… coming from SITS. Random, but are you going to Bloggy Boot Camp in Baltimore?