Is Fluoride in Water good or bad?

Is Fluroide in Water good or bad?

Well it all really depends on concentration. Surface water supplies are normally low in fluorides (less than 0.5ppm). Some have no fluoride at all. Well water may contain excessive amounts of fluoride above the recommended amount 1mg/L for drinking water.

Fluorides are important because they have a definite relation to dental health. Research has shown that a concentration of 1 mg/l of fluoride in drinking water reduces tooth decay. On the other hand some children under nine years of age exposed to levels of fluoride greater than 2 mg/L may develop a condition known as “endemic dental fluorosis.” Sometimes called “Colorado Brown Stain” this condition appears as a dark brown mottling or spotting of the permanent teeth. In certain cases, the teeth become chalky white in appearance. Further, regulations require that fluoride not exceed 4 mg/L in drinking water. Exposure to drinking water levels above 4mg/L for many years may result in cases of crippling skeletal fluorosis, which is a serious bone disorder.

Research studies indicate that fluoride concentrations of 1 mg/L are optimum. Authorities generally agree: (1) where concentrations are greater than 4 mg/L, the excess fluorides must be removed from water; (2) where concentrations are less than 1 mg/L, fluorides maybe added to drinking water for the prevention of dental caries. In todays society, however , fluorides are ever more prevalent in many foods and beverages, and especially in toothpastes and mouthwashes. Most mains water in Ireland have fluoride added, if you want to check if your water supply has fluoride added you can contact your local county council. Where fluoride concentration is to great, it is necessary to reduce the amount to acceptable limits.

EW Technologies water treatment experts, suggest Various methods have been suggested for reducing fluorides. These can be classified broadly in three groups:-

1. EWT Reverse Osmosis (recommended for most irish homes that want to remove fluoride form there drinking water)
2. Those involving treatment with chemicals, such as aluminium sulphate, magnesium or calcium phosphate, and other.
3. Those involving percolation through a bed of material, such as activated alumina, granular tricalcium phosphate, or anion exchange resins.

The first treatment method has obvious advantages. Methods in the second category have distinct disadvantages. They require use of elaborate treatment plants, careful control of chemical dosage and PH. In some cases, further treatment is necessary to restore the pH of the treated water to normal.

Methods in the third category do not require such elaborate control. Of these, the only widely used method of reducing fluoride content involves the use of a tricalcium phosphate filter. Such a filter functions in much the same way as a carbon filter. As the water flows through a tricalcium phosphate filter, the fluorides are absorbed.

Past health studies have shown that the addition of fluoride to water supplies at levels above 0.6mg/l F- leads to a reduction in tooth decay in growing children and that the optimum beneficial effects were thought to occur around 1.0 mg/l. However, in light of recent international and Irish research which shows an increasing occurrence of dental fluorosis, the Forum on Fluoridation (2002) recommended the lowering of the fluoride levels in irish drinking water to a range of 0.6 to 0.8 mg/l, with a target of 0.7 mg/l.

One of the most common question we are now asked is, Do you think the reason people in Ireland don’t protest against austerity in Ireland is because theres fluoride in the water?