One Hungry Mama

January 11th, 2011

{food for thought} Is Fluoridated Water Safe?

Almost exactly two years ago, I wrote a post about fluoridated water. At the time, I’d just started blogging, under a different name and with a writing partner. We weren’t even on a full-featured blog platform. We were just getting our feet wet, experimenting with the kind of content on which we wanted to focus. Would I want to talk about the political side of food? Should I just develop and write about recipes? What would work, what did you want, what did I want to share with the worldd?

I think that I’ve found the right balance—though I’m always still working on it—and have come to feel strongly that news on food issues like school lunch, Bisphenol-A and fluoridated water have a place on One Hungry Mama. Being able to share stories like this one from this weekend’s US Today one is validating:

U.S. says too much fluoride in water

(Let’s thank Nicole of the fab parenting blog Ms. Mary Mackfor the link!)

According to the article, “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is announcing a proposal to change the recommended fluoride level to 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. And the Environmental Protection Agency will review whether the maximum cutoff of 4 milligrams per liter is too high.”

The proposal is a response to, among other things, a reported increase in fluorosis, a condition marked by spotting on teeth as the result of too much fluoride intake. It has become unexpectedly common in 12- to 15-year-olds since the 1980′s. Apparently, 2 in 5 teens has fluorosis.

The article gives a broad overview of the issue and links to a related USA Today piece: Are my young children getting too much fluoride.

You can also take a look at my original post digging into the issue of fluoridated water. It gives a thorough overview of the research with a list of claims; goes over the controversial points made here and abroad; and recommends things you can do if you choose to reduce your child’s exposure to fluoride. It also has recipes for four delicious infused waters: Lime Rosemary, Pineapple Mint, Cucumber Mint and Orange Basil.

One more resource: you can find out how much fluoride is in your water here (based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention data updated as of 10/08).

What do you think? Are you worried that your child is getting too much fluoride? Should the government be adding fluoride to our drinking water?

Photo: iStockPhoto.com/aduhai