According to the National Cancer Institute, many studies, in both human and animals, have shown no association between fluoridated water and cancer risk!!!
There are more that 60% of the U.S. population that has access to fluoride through the public water system. Fluoride is the name given to a group of compounds that are composed of the naturally occurring element fluorine and one or more other elements. Fluorides are present naturally in water and soil at varying levels.
It was noted in the 1940’s by scientists that people who lived in areas where naturally occurring fluoride levels were 1 part fluoride per million parts water or greater had fewer dental cavities. It was found that fluoride can prevent and even reverse tooth decay by inhibiting bacteria that produce acid in the mouth. Ingested fluoride can also accumulate in bones.
The optimal level for preventing tooth decay is approximately 0.7 ppm or 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.
The first city to fluoridate the public water supply was Grand Rapids, MI in 1945; however, by 2008 over 71% of the U.S. population had access to fluoridated water through the public water systems.
In 1991 the Public Health Service (PHS) found no evidence of as association between fluoride and cancer in humans. “In one of the studies reviewed for the PHS report, scientists at NCI evaluated the relationship between the fluoridation of drinking water and the number of deaths due to cancer in the U.S.” To date CDC has concluded that optimal fluoridation of drinking water “does not pose a detectable cancer risk to humans” based on extensive human epidemiological data (more than 50 human epidemiological studies) over the past 40 years.
For additional information on fluoridated water, the CDC has information on standards for and surveillance of current fluoridated water supplies in the United States.
