this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
293 points (93.7% liked)

News

23275 readers
4696 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.

The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the affect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Spitzspot@lemmings.world 141 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's almost like "the dose makes the poison".

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 120 points 2 months ago (38 children)

Levels at twice the limit do bad things? Who would have thought.

[–] finley@lemm.ee 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Maybe

Sometimes

load more comments (37 replies)
[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 83 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Maybe that's why there's a limit that's lower than the danger point?

[–] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 44 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And also why water fluoridation is done at a level far below the limit. Lots of things that are good for you at one dosage level are bad for you at a much higher dosage level.

[–] towerful@programming.dev 17 points 2 months ago

Including, funnily enough, water!

[–] TommySoda@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (6 children)

Fluoride is naturally in the water in my area. Most toothpaste also has fluoride added into it. Guess I'm destined to be a lemon. Just don't taste me after brushing.

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 23 points 2 months ago

Fluoride is naturally in most water sources. As long as your water is within limits, you're fine using fluoride toothpaste.

[–] Dearth@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're not eating your toothpaste are you?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I don't think this is conclusive without either a mechanism or an analysis that definitively shows there's no other water contaminants in these poorly regulated areas

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 25 points 2 months ago

Considering they specifically say "with moderate confidence" I don't think they think it's conclusive either

[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Next thing they’re gonna say is drinking too much water can kill you… /s

[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

We call that drowning, I think.

[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

There actually is a thing called water intoxication where if you drink too much water, it can kill you. I only heard about it years ago when a lady, Jennifer Strange, died after doing a radio contest, “Hold your wee for a Wii” where she must’ve drank way too much water. Her husband later sued the radio station and won compensation. She drank two gallons of water in ~3 hours.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 2 months ago (3 children)

General Jack D. Ripper : Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake : [very nervous] Lord, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper : You know when fluoridation first began?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake : I... no, no. I don't, Jack.

General Jack D. Ripper : Nineteen hundred and forty-six. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.


Welp. Truth is stranger than fiction, they say.

[–] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 6 points 2 months ago

I've been meaning to re-watch this for years. Brilliant movie.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TBi@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I once had an argument over someone who was anti fluoride. They said it makes you dumb. But they have also in the past commented that I was smart, so I said imagine how smart I’d be without fluoride? They don’t have a comeback for that one.

Also too much oxygen (twice the limit) will also cause you harm and possibly kill you, do we ban oxygen?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] dhork@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.

-- Gen. Jack D. Ripper

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 months ago

Damn, beat me by about a minute!

[–] NadiaNadine@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

While contact with teeth may be beneficial, there is no reason to ingest flouride. There is also no reason to wash your hair with flouride and water your plants and lawn with flouride.

If you want to supplement for children, have swish packets at school. The money could be better spent for the desired outcome.

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This used to be common in "the olden days" in rural America. I remembered the school nurse would hand out the fluoride rinse to students who's families signed up for it. I remember thonking that they were all the rich kids who's families could afford the $5/year for their fancy oral hygiene. Well who's laughing now? I've got the most expensive teeth after all my fillings, crowns, root canals and dental surgeries!

Yeah, i'm leaving all the grammatical errors in there; it better illustrates my point.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Yep. Grew up in the unincorporated area of my town and had well water.

Also have plenty of dental work today.

It was obvious enough that the hygenist even asked if I’d grown up with well water.

[–] iiGxC@slrpnk.net 14 points 2 months ago

strong teeth 💪🦷🦷🦷 dumb brain 🧠😵‍💫

[–] Bosht@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Is there even a reason the levels are that high to begin with? Does it have something to do with regular treated water vs water from a water treatment plant althat recycles wastewater? Or is this just dumb government?

[–] Longpork3@lemmy.nz 17 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Fluorides, like all trace elements, naturally occur in many water sources. The reason water flouridation caught on initially was because of the strong correlation between locations with water supplies naturally high in fluoride and better dental health.

[–] addie@feddit.uk 9 points 2 months ago

Indeed. Here in the UK, people can request that their water company should add it in if their water supply is low-fluoride, for instance from a reservoir, and the water company must add it in.

Back when I used to work in water, that was always the stuff that gave me nightmares. Concentrated hexafluorosilicic acid is what we'd use for dosing. We'd test all the equipment in the chemical room on plain water, drain it out and then literally brick up the doorway. Site would be evacuated during delivery - delivery guy would connect everything up in a space suit, hop in the shower afterwards. Lasted for ages and ages, since you only need the tiniest drip in the water supply to get what you need, but the tiniest drip on your skin would be enough to kill you as well; its lethal dosage is horrifically small.

Made working with all the other halides much less of a concern - we use shed loads of chlorine, but that stuff is much much less nasty in comparison.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 13 points 2 months ago

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water. Wells tend to have varying amounts of fluoride, while lakes have almost no fluoride. This is basically due to unsafe/untreated wells being used for drinking water.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 7 points 2 months ago

Now we know where MAGA comes from.

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 months ago

Very cool picture btw

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 4 points 2 months ago
load more comments
view more: next ›