It is long known that fluoride occurs naturally in all bodies of water. Some researchers have proved that consuming fluoride in lower volume has its dental benefits, but at the same time, we know that fluoride is a toxin.
Now, any toxin will be bad for your health if consumed too much, but fluoride is said to be good for your health if there is a very little amount of that in the water.
You would wonder where the extra fluoride comes from? The municipality of the city adds fluoride in the water in order to reduce decay and to promote teeth health. The whole process is called water fluoridation.
A question might come up in your mind; why do you need to remove the fluoride from the water if it’s added in the water purposefully? We learned that the water naturally has some amount of fluoride in it.
Now when the fluoride is added externally to the water, it increases the amount of fluoride that is already there in the water.
Table of Contents
What is fluoride?
Fluoride is one kind of mineral that is good for your bones and teeth. It is a mineral that prevents teeth from decaying with the processes like remineralization and demineralization. If you are consuming water with fluoride in it, it will help form a protective layer around your teeth, being attacked by acid in sugar, bacteria, etc. Fluoride is also present in toothpaste, mouthwash rinses, and many other supplements related to bones.
Why is fluoride added to the water?
To get an answer to that question, let’s hop on the history train. In 1931, a dentist named Frederick McKay from Colorado discovered fluoride in the municipal water supply. Later on, he found out that the people who used municipal water supply had minimal tooth decay or no tooth decay at all.
In 1931, McKay and one chemist named H.V. Chrchhill researched and theorized the whole thing. Between 1940 to 1945, fluoride was added willingly to the water supply in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After 1962, slowly but almost every state started adding fluoride to their water supply because the United States Public Health Service (PHS) recommended it.
However, the recommended amount of fluoride in the water supply was between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter. The amount of fluoride in the water was revised in 2015 to 0.7 milligrams per liter.
If we look into the guidelines of fluoride in drinking water, the EPA suggested that the water with a fluoride level of 0.4 mg/L is healthy for an adult to drink. For children, the guidelines suggest 0.2 mg/L of fluoride in the water.
“Fluoride causes cancer.” Is there any truth behind this?
It is obvious when some minerals are added externally to the water. There are always going to be theories regarding the benefits and side effects of the same. Some studies have shown after 1991, the rate of bone cancer has increased. But after a thorough examination, it was also noticed that after the 1970s, there weren’t that many cases. Although, there are still countless articles and blogs linking fluoride with cancer. Let us solve this mystery for you. Fluoride does not cause cancer. It’s a complete myth.
If you are still a skeptic about this whole thing, let us tell you that agencies like the Medical Research Council, European Scientific Committee on Health and Environment Risks (SCHER), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), California’s Identification Committee, Royal Society of New Zealand and US Public Health Services, all of them have thorough research on the effects of fluoride consumption through the water.
During the years 2006 to 2011, the Harvard University Study shows that there was bias in the studies that were chosen by researchers, but the further study of cancer patients and the levels of fluoride in the tumor bones proved that there was no connection of fluoride causing cancer.
Is fluoride hazardous to health in any other way?
Even though it is now proven that fluoride does not cause cancer, it does have certain health risks if consumed in high amounts. However, it is a potential hazard once the fluoride is added to the water. It goes to everyone’s tap, which uses municipal water despite their age, height, or health. Here is the list of all the potential health hazards caused by extra fluoride in the water,
- Bone weakness or fractures
- Cardiac failures
- Acne and dermatological diseases
- Hypertension
- Lower fertility in women
- Diabetes
- Joint disorders
- Thyroid
- Insomnia
- Iodine deficiency
- Dental Fluorosis and many more
How to remove fluoride from the water?
So many individuals are concerned about fluoride in the water that they consume. Even though the CDC has tested and proved that the fluoride in the water is beneficial and safe, some “anti-fluoride” people have been doing polls and campaigns on how the municipal needs to stop adding fluoride in the water.
Until there is any reason or response to this, if you do not want the fluoride in your water, here we have mentioned different ways to remove the fluoride from the water.
1. Different water filters
There are different types of filter systems you can get to remove the fluoride from the water.
- Water filtration– This is the most preferred way of filtration for most consumers. The filter systems have a particular cartridge that removes fluoride from the water significantly. Here is the list of different filter systems.
- Reverse Osmosis system– The complete RO system removes contaminants from the water very effectively. RO systems eliminate fluoride from the water by 90%. However, if you want to purchase an RO system for your house, you have to be ready to spend a little extra on the cost. RO systems can be installed in office spaces or homes.
- Water filter pitchers– Water filter pitchers are perfect for small families with 2-3 members in the house. And if your concern regarding fluoride is just about drinking water, you can get a water filter pitcher. You will have to replace the filter cartridge whenever the cycle of the cartridge ends.
- Countertop filter system– Countertop filter systems are ideal for families with 4-8 members, depending on the countertop system that you get. Countertop filters remove 99% of the fluoride from the water again depending on the brands and type of the countertop filter you get,
- Gravity filter– Gravity filters are said to be the most effective way of removing fluoride from drinking water. Some brands even claim that their gravity filters remove 99.99% of the fluoride from the water with other contaminants. There are even traveling gravity water filters available for you to choose from. Just pour in the water, and the water will filter through the cartridges and will be collected in the lower chamber of the filter system.
2. Springwater
You can altogether avoid any water coming out of your tap by purchasing spring water. You have to make sure about the levels of fluoride in the bottled water. If you choose to get a spring water check, the fluoride content should not be more than 2 ppm. You can check the label that is given on the bottled water package or call the company of the water bottle to find out the levels of fluoride in the water.
3. Water Distillation
A distillation water filter is one of the methods that removes fluoride and many other contaminants effectively from the water. The water is heated, and the heat evaporates the contaminants from the water, including fluoride. Water distillation gives you highly purified water—the cost of the distillation system around $300 to $1000. One setback of this system is that it removes all the necessary minerals from the water, and sometimes that becomes hazardous to health sometimes.
4. Cleaning the water with Tulsi or Holy Basil
This can be one of the cheapest methods you can use to decrease fluoride from the water. You just have to put the Tulsi, or Holy Basil leaves in the water and let it be there for a few hours. You can boil the water with Tulsi or Holy basil in it, although it will change the taste of the water a bit. That is why it is suggested to just let it rest in it. A handful of leaves are enough to clean up 20 liters of water.
5. Activated Alumina
The Alumina is derived from rubies and sapphire. The impurities in this compound are the cause of the color the special gemstones get. Activated Alumina balls are capable of absorbing a high amount of fluoride from the water. AA balls that are available for you to purchase will eliminate 90% of the fluoride. EPA even suggested that it also removes arsenic as well.
6. Bone Char Carbon
It is one of the oldest methods to remove fluoride from the water. It removes 90% of the minerals from the water. The only problem with this kind of carbon is that it is made from the bone char of animals. It is also necessary to note that it increases the acidic pH levels of the water. You can get the bone char filter cartridges to install in your filter system.
7. Deionizers
Deionizers are wildly popular as water softeners. Deionizers operate on salt or resins, and the system does the ion exchange process with the contaminants in the water, eliminating fluoride from the water. It even removes all the minerals from the water as well. Water softeners are most efficient with water filter systems.
8. Solar Stills
This kind of filter works on solar panels. You can even build your own solar panel, although it requires a good amount of hard work. In other words, solar stills are solar distillers. The biggest difference between other distillers and solar distillers is that they use the sun’s energy to evaporate the minerals from the water.
9. Other ways you can avoid consumption of fluoride
- Avoid swallowing the toothpaste.
- Avoid getting Fluoride gel treatments at dentists.
- Avoid drinking black tea or green tea
- Avoid consuming processed food.
- Avoid cooking in Teflon pans
- Avoid highly processed wine or grape juice.
- Avoid medicines that have fluoride in it
What does not remove the Fluoride from the water?
There are some people who believe that boiling the water or freezing the water removes fluoride from the water. Let us tell you that it definitely does not remove the fluoride from the water. These processes might remove the bacterias and contaminants to some extent, but it does not remove fluoride or minerals from the water.
Some standard water filters do not remove fluoride from the water. If you want to remove fluoride specifically from the water, you can get a cartridge that removes fluoride. For example, bone char carbon block eliminates 90% of the fluoride.
Some of the consumers choose to purchase bottled water that does not have fluoride in it. We always advise avoiding using bottled water as it creates a lot of plastic waste and is not very cost-efficient to the customers. Instead, you can get a water filter system that will not only save expenses of bottled water but also is eco-friendly.
Conclusion
So here was an article we hope might clear your doubts and ideas about consuming fluoride in your water. We hope it guides you to purchase a better filter system for your fluoride removal needs. Although, fluoride is good for health if consumed in small amounts because of its natural occurrence in the water. Fluoride consumption in a higher amount causes a lot of other diseases and several health problems. We hope the article helps you in clarity regarding fluoride.
