Summary

Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation prohibiting local decisions on fluoridation.

Cox cited cost and personal choice, likening fluoride to government “medication.”

The ban faces opposition from dentists and health experts, who argue fluoride prevents cavities and benefits low-income communities.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans receive fluoridated water. Some cities have already removed fluoride, and a recent court order requires the EPA to regulate high levels that may affect children’s intellectual development.

  • Manticore@lemmy.nz
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    4 days ago

    Natural groundwater already has some fluoride in it; it’s the potability processing that takes it away. So of course a lot of places put it back in.

    I see the push to remove it in my country, too. People claim is kills children’s brains - but the amount of fluoride to do any damage is so insanely high. You would die of literal water poisoning several times over before you ingested enough fluoride.

    Literally anything hurts you if you have too much, that’s what ‘too much’ fucking means. Deciding something is bad because it has an unreachable ‘too much’ is like refusing to eat bananas because of Chernobyl.

    The water here is extremely hard and has a lot of lime. Limescale is inevitable. Yet I don’t see people complaining about drinking rocks? Who benefits from blaming fluoride? Where is this fear coming from?

    • ours@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Who benefits from blaming fluoride?

      Dentists?

      Where is this fear coming from?

      Idiotic conspiracy theorists.