A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.

The report, based on an analysis of previously published research, marks the first time a federal agency has determined — “with moderate confidence” — that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. While the report was not designed to evaluate the health effects of fluoride in drinking water alone, it is a striking acknowledgment of a potential neurological risk from high levels of fluoride.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

“I think this (report) is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the affect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children. She called it the most rigorously conducted report of its kind.

  • intensely_human
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    3 months ago

    just dig a well

    What the fuck? Are you not familiar with humanity after 1850?

    • SoylentBlake
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      3 months ago

      Do you think wells don’t get dug today? Lolololol, k, buddy.

      Having one dug for you is expensive. You can do it yourself, for real, people have done it for millennia. The ancient people from prehistory, were just like you or me. Just as smart, just as clever, just as compassionate, just as curious. We are more capable in a lot of ways because of science, but they were more capable than us, in thousands of ways that kept us surviving. And then the thousand bits of lost knowledge with questions we don’t even know how to ask.

      You don’t even need to go down far to hit water. I dug out a sand pointe well and only had to go down 25ft before I hit groundwater. Dig is a strong word there. Sand pointe wells are just hammering pipes into the ground with a sledge. You can buy all new gear to do it yourself for <$500, but it could be done for 40% of that if youre resourceful.

      And idk about you fella, but from my vantage, surveying the state of things…me thinks it might be real fucking prudent to learn some of them pioneering ways. Ya never know, you might have to save your own life one day, just saying.