A few months ago, we reported about the National Toxicology Program research that revealed the harmful effect of high fluoride concentration in water on children's brains.
While the world scientific community is patiently waiting for new evidence of that phenomenon and gradually conducting new research to find possible alternatives, some American politicians are treacherous enough to link fluoride water directly to arthritis, IQ loss, and bone cancer.
Robert F. Kennedy – a close friend of 47th US President Donald Trump and a nephew of famous 35th US President John F. Kennedy – recently made a pretty controversial statement: "On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease."
This utterly false myth was born many decades ago, during the Cold War period, by the John Birch Society – a far-right political advocacy group that experienced an acute paranoia regarding the communist activity in the US. They believed that fluoride was some kind of chemical weapon that was spread in us as a result of the Bolshevik's plot, aiming to poison Americans.
Well, apparently, Robert F. Kennedy recalled this trend from his youth and took it seriously. It would be fun if he were not a close friend of President Trump, who would highly likely join a new administration as an official, meaning that Kennedy would have real power and authority to implement his fixed idea.
In this short review, we will examine Robert F. Kennedy's statement to find out why it's false and potentially dangerous for all US citizen's dental health.
The importance of proper consuming
First of all, it's essential to note that all existing scientific evidence of fluoride's harmful effects is related to the high amount of the chemical - over 1.5 mg/L (recommended level is 0.7). Only in case when water fluoridation exceeds this limit, it may cause tissue damage to the musculoskeletal system, including arthritis, osteoporosis, joint-related problems, etc.
The same situation with 'over-fluoridation' is observed regarding nerve tissue damage. Recent research found that regular water consumption with a high amount of the chemical may damage nerve conduction velocity in mice.
Overusing almost any compound and even harmless vitamins can damage the human organism and cause some conditions. Medicine and chemicals may be helpful only if they are consumed reasonably and responsibly.
Additionally, there is no evidence or registered cases that some institutions add dangerous amounts of fluoride to the water to poison citizens. Instead, the high amount of fluoride in the water commonly may occur due to various natural causes, such as the presence of fluoride-based minerals and rocks (fluorspar, sellaite, fluorapatite, villiaumite) in the groundwater that affect other freshwater sources in different ways, dissolving this chemical in ponds.
Kennedy's Myths
So, what about water consumption with a proper fluoride level? Let's take a closer look at Kennedy's statement to find out what's wrong with it. According to his X post, we should be aware of:
- Arthritis. We have done various research proving a link between fluoride and joint problems. Still, these data highlight that health problems emerge only in high amounts of fluoride consumption – 1.9 - 3.6 milligrams per liter. Moreover, such amounts will probably cause skeletal fluorosis, which damages bones, joints, and teeth. Such problems often occur in regions with naturally fluorided water.
- Bone fractures. Scientists researched this problem a couple of decades ago. The study highlights that there is no direct link between the consumption of fluoride water and the condition.
- Bone cancer. Recently, a group of scientists conducted a paper review to find out if there is any link between fluoride and the development of this terrible disease. As a result, among 14 studies, only two reported that this link actually exists, and one of them did not provide any information about study participants. Obviously, we can not absolutely deny this link, but its existence has an inferior evidence base.
- IQ loss and neurodevelopmental disorders. As we mentioned in the text, this problem is the hottest topic of discussion around fluoride effects. Thus, the National Toxicology Program report highlighted various studies that show fluoride water may affect cognitive development in children, BUT only in cases when the amount of chemical exceeds the WHO recommendation – 1.5 mg/L. In turn, the statement that fluoride has harmful effects on adult IQ has very questionable evidence.
- Thyroid disease. And again, we face a statement that is true for a vast amount of fluoride in the water. This chemical actually non-linearly affects thyroid functions but only when its concentration exceeds 2.5 mg/L
As we can see, all fluoride harmfulness is highly dependent on its amount in the water, and there is no objective evidence that can make us assume the chemical itself is harmful.
The Actual Fluoride Question
Water fluoridation is crucial for national dental health because it makes tooth enamel more resistant to acids, effectively preventing tooth decay (according to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention—about 20-40% in adults). WHO recognizes the recommended minimum amount of fluoride in drinking water, and its scientific evidence base clearly identifies a healthy limit.
Any local excess of the norm is a severe problem; however, it's not a rational reason to stop water fluoridation completely. If the chemical is banned before the government and businesses can propose an effective alternative, such a significant change may aggravate the oral health situation.
