Fluoride in the water

[probinson]

Much has been made of RFK Jr.'s initiative to stop putting fluoride in our water supplies.

Factcheck.org has dutifully responded by regurgitating the CDCs talking points.

The mineral fluoride, at the right dose, has been shown to reduce the risk of tooth decay. Based on studies demonstrating this in children drinking naturally fluoride-containing water, individual cities in the U.S. began to add fluoride to tap water beginning in 1945.​

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CDC, Experts Say Fluoridated Water Is Safe, Contrary to RFK Jr.'s Warnings - FactCheck.org

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and multiple expert groups endorse water fluoridation as a safe way to reduce tooth decay. However, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a sweeping claim about fluoride’s effects on the nervous system, and promised to order...

www.factcheck.org

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But here is a different perspective.

Beware of the swift condemnation of anyone who asks questions. Experts will espouse that fluoride is well tested, it definitively or significantly decreases caries, and has no association with any harm—all without reference to the evidence. Furthermore, the argument is lost when an individual who puts forward questions about healthcare exposures is referred to as a denialist. ​

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RFK Jr. rightly asks questions of an intervention based on evidence going back to the 1930s. In the meantime, there have been growing concerns about harm and little contemporary evidence evaluating the effectiveness of water fluoridation in preventing caries. So, stopping fluoride in the context of epidemiological evaluations isn't far off the mark. ​

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Fluoride in the Water

So, where does this leave RFK Jr.?

trusttheevidence.substack.com

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I find the first sentence of that paragraph quite relevant to the current moment.

Beware of the swift condemnation of anyone who asks questions.

 

[RileyG]

Wasn’t that a conspiracy theory in the 1960s and 1950s?