Anti-fluoride movement gaining prominence as scrutiny increases on the decades-long practice of fluoridating public drinking water supplies
Since its widespread adoption in the 1960s, water fluoridation has proven to be a key ingredient in improved dental health for hundreds of millions of North Americans and people the world over.
But, spurred by a potentially seismic shift in U.S. policy, the practice of adding fluoride to public drinking water supplies has become a topic of conversation, and debate about its safety has been reignited.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to become the nation’s health secretary, maintains that fluoride is an “industrial waste” linked to several negative health outcomes, and has promised to end its use across the country.
“You know, it’s possible,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Canada, where the presence of fluoride in drinking water can vary greatly from one municipality to the next, the cities of Halifax and Montreal have recently made their own fluoride-related headlines — with the latter allegedly linked to Kennedy.
What is fluoride and why is it in my tap water?
The naturally occurring mineral is ubiquitous. It’s in the water, air, soil and the food we eat.
It came to be added to drinking water following epidemiological studies in the 1930s and 1940s that found a correlation between higher levels in water and lower incidences of cavities and tooth decay, or dental caries.
In fact, Brampton, Ont., was the third city in the world to start adding fluoride to its water when it did so as part of a case study with neighbouring Sarnia in 1945. (It was preceded only by Grand Rapids, MI., and Newburgh, N.Y.)
Mountains of evidence over the decades, widely accepted by Canadian and global dental and health organizations, confirm its presence in water strengthens tooth enamel, lowers the amount of acid in the mouth, and helps rebuild the minerals that make teeth stronger.
Those same organizations also endorse its continued use because of the equity community water fluoridation (CWF) creates in bringing relatively inexpensive dental care to everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, income, education, access to oral health services and the ability to afford oral hygiene supplies.
Do Canadians drink fluoridated water?
In Canada, water fluoridation, while recommended and regulated by Ottawa and the provinces, is at the discretion of municipalities.
In Ontario, about 73 per cent of cities and towns fluoridate their supply, including the Greater Toronto Area, Windsor, Hamilton, London and dozens of others.
Municipalities in Quebec and B.C., whose combined populations amount to slightly more than 36 per cent of all Canadians, have all but eliminated fluoridation since 2007, as have Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick, though its use was never widespread in any of those provinces.
Montreal recently decided to bring an end to CWF in six island suburbs where it’s been in place since the 1950s. But the decision didn’t come without some fresh controversy.
A councillor disputed the allegations.
Coelho, a former federal candidate for the now-defunct far-right Canadian Nationalist Party in 2019, told the Gazette the Kennedy scion “helped me out a lot” and that he even received a congratulatory text message after the Nov. 21 decision.
“Pro-fluoridation imbeciles now have Donald Trump against them,” he wrote. “Without endorsing any candidate, Fluoridation is ending over night in many cities across the globe. We won.”
What do the critics say about fluoride in drinking water?
Like pretty much anything, too much fluoride comes with risks.
Health Canada and the World Health Organization recognize fluorosis as the only negative health effect related to high exposure over a prolonged period. Mild fluorosis usually presents as faint white streaks on the teeth, and is a greater risk to young people, while rare severe fluorosis can harden and damage bones.
In Canada, the optimal level recommended for fluoride is 0.7 milligrams per litre (mg/L), far below an amount that would be considered high, and about the standard across the country. The World Health Organization, with consideration given to naturally occurring amounts, has set a safe limit of 1.5 mg/L.
Critics like Kennedy, Coelho and scores of others across a broad spectrum of people and groups also assert that fluoride can affect neurocognitive development and function.
“The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who’d had higher exposures,” the news agency reported.
Others who want to see CWF end are opposed to the expense being downloaded on taxpayers. Depending on the size of the municipality, a system can cost millions to install and operate annually.
But proponents of fluoride, including Health Canada, maintain the small annual per-person cost is worth it when weighed against the price of dental care.
And just as they have since it became the norm in the 1960s, some critics continue to oppose the proliferation of what amounts to a medicine in the public water supply without being given the choice.
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