Fluoride in the Water: Comparing Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia
My daughter came back from the dentist the other day and reported that Vancouver does not fluoridate its water system.
Having grown up in the United States, where water fluoridation is quite routine, I was surprised to learn of this fluoride policy.
I discovered that, according to Health Canada, less than half of Canadians (roughly 45 percent) receive fluoridated water.
Although Health Canada supports water fluoridation as a way to reduce tooth decay, the decision to fluoridate water is a local one in Canada.
Toronto, Hamilton, London, and Edmonton are among the cities with fluoridated water. Water is not fluoridated in Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, or Quebec City. Calgary previously fluoridated the city water, but its city council voted in 2011 to discontinue the practice.
The percentage is even higher in Australia, where approximately 90 percent of the population receives fluoridated water.
The U.K., like many European countries, has taken the opposite approach. Less than 10 percent of U.K. residents have fluoride added to their water supply.
One of the many unexpected things you learn when you move to a new country!
What about you? What facts surprised you when you moved abroad? Please leave a comment and share your discoveries.
Water glass photo by Greg Riegler Photography (flickr)
Fluoridation Opposition is Scientific, Respectable & Growing
New York – October 2012 — More than 4,393 professionals (including 341 dentists and 531 MD’s) urge that fluoridation be stopped citing scientific evidence that ingesting fluoride is ineffective at reducing tooth decay and has serious health risks. See statement: http://www.fluoridealert.org/researchers/professionals-statement/text/
In 2006, a National Research Council expert panel published a fluoride report which revealed that fluoride, even at low doses added to water supplies, can be especially harmful to the thyroid gland, kidney patients, babies, seniors and people who drink high amounts of water. They also revealed critical fluoride safety studies have never been done and studies linking fluoride to cancer and lower IQ are plausible.
Thirty-four human studies now link fluoride to lowered IQ, some at levels considered safe in the US. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/articles/iq-facts/
After 67 years of water fluoridation, the Centers for Disease Control reports that up to 60% of 12 – 15 year-olds are affected with fluoride overdose symptoms – dental fluorosis, white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth. Yet, the CDC says More young kids face cavity crisis in US
Tooth decay crises are occurring in all fluoridated cities, states and countries because Americans can’t afford dental care. New dental professionals are being created. New dental schools opened and others are planned, according to the American Dental Association.
New Hampshire passed first ever state-wide fluoride warning law that 6-month-olds should not be routinely fed infant formula mixed with fluoridated water to avoid dental fluorosis.
Emergency rooms are flooded with people in dental pain, costing taxpayers millions of dollars, because 80% of dentists refuse Medicaid patients, 130 million Americans don’t have dental insurance. Many of those that do can’t afford dentistry’s high out-of-pocket costs. No American is or ever was fluoride-deficient. Too many are dentist-deficient.
The CDC reports that 326 less communities adjusted for fluoride between 2006 and 2010.