this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] madjo@feddit.nl 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

For what’s it worth, in my country (Netherlands), we don’t add fluoride to our tap water anymore since the early 70s. We just have it in our toothpaste (though you can also get fluoride free toothpaste for those who don’t want it).

Sure there’s still traces of fluoride in our water, as it appears in nature. But it’s not artificially added by our water companies.

[–] scholar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Most places that do add it to the water supply match the levels of places where flouride occurs naturally

[–] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

dihydrogen monoxide is also dangerous, we must ban it as well

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If they remove it from the water, then change the availability to be OTC for multivitamins with fluoride. I want to be able to get it with our having a copay and whatever else the Dr wants to charge .

many toothpastes have it, no need to use multivitamins

[–] RQG@lemmy.world 257 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (22 children)

Toxicologist here. I think that take is dishonest or dumb.

Taking a lethal dose is almost never the concern with any substance in our drinking water.

Hormones, heavy metals, persistent organic chemicals, ammonia are all in our drinking water. But for all of them we can't drink enough water to die from a high dose.

Some of them still have a large effect on our bodies.

It's about the longterm effects. Which we need longterm studies to learn about. That makes them harder to study.

Still doesn't mean flouride does anything bad longerm. But the argument is bad.

[–] refalo@programming.dev 5 points 2 days ago

never the concern

It is when you're responding to people who think 5G is turning the frogs gay and activating hidden vaccine microchips.

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 112 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Yeah, by this argument lead in the water isn't a concern.

[–] Hylactor@sopuli.xyz 107 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You just made me mad by helping me realize that the Trump bros are going to break water by removing fluoride long before they fix water by removing lead.

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[–] 4oreman@lemy.lol 39 points 3 days ago (2 children)

This is a conspiracy by fluoridians.

[–] Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Thats what the fluoridiots say.

[–] 4oreman@lemy.lol 19 points 3 days ago (4 children)
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[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 40 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah but I read an article on a bullshit website. I think some no name website knows more than a toxicologist

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why is some dumb scientist expert trying to tell me, a person who pays for an internet connection, what the truth is?

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[–] beebarfbadger@lemmy.world 90 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Oh yeah? And what if someone ignores that, simply lies and says it's toxic? I'm convinced!

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[–] wolfshadowheart@leminal.space 23 points 3 days ago (9 children)

Back when I was in college, people didn't like fluoride because it calcifies the pinneal gland. I assume that rhetoric has only been further exaggerated over the years

[–] Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (6 children)

It does do this. However so does ageing, low sunlight exposure, low altitude, ethnicity, sex, nutrition, neuro-divergence, cell phone use, EM fields... you get the idea.

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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 72 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

The fluoride added to water gets it up to 0.7mg/liter.

That ends up to be 2 or 3 drops in a 55 gallon drums worth of water. Not much.

Fluoride is a natural substance and is found in many areas drinking water already. Many areas in much higher concentrations than 0.7mg/liter, so realistically people all over the world have drank fluoridated water for thousands of years.

You have to well over double the 0.7 before any health issues may appear and the first to appear is at about triple the concentration in kids under 8 years old who drink it for years getting spots on their teeth. The spots are only superficial.

Going into concentrations even higher than that CAN cause health issues when drank for longer periods of time. All of those cases being from naturally occurring fluoride, which actually effects somewhere north of 20% of the world's population.

Which makes the argument that fluoride in our water keeps us passive as being extra stupid, since water sourced around Columbia (the country) is far higher than .07mg/liter and Columbia seems to be caught in violence and turmoil and instability quite a bit over the decades.

*edit: Colombia

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[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 50 points 3 days ago (9 children)

So, once again, DHMO is the chemical we need to fear.

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[–] Heavybell@lemmy.world 29 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The people who need to hear this sadly would not believe that too much water can kill you even if you showed them someone die from it, I fear. I'd also be shocked if they read "water poisoning" and didn't think of poisoned water.

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[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 13 points 3 days ago

I believe the objection to fluoride is that it is a tranquilizer that keeps us from achieving glory through violent uprising... or sweet sweet dentist profits.

[–] solarvector@lemmy.dbzer0.com 65 points 3 days ago (9 children)

It's not about toxicity, it's about mind control! Fluoride makes you passive. But you know this since you're a tool of the government pushing poison.

Just bleach your teeth like normal people! You know, with the bleach under the kitchen sink.

(Don't actually do this)

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