3. Fluoride is a drug that every individual should have the right to choose for themselves whether or not to consume
Fluoride meets every legal and medical definition of a drug and is the only drug that is added to the water supply to affect human health- ie. dental cavities.
This raises major ethical and moral issues, as many people either do not want fluoridation chemicals in their water or cannot tolerate fluoride in their water because of health conditions such as hyperthyroidism or diabetes. Typical water filters will not work to remove fluoridation chemicals.
Because people drink very different levels of water (athletes or construction workers, for example, consume much more water than a typical office worker) water fluoridation means people can get wildly different fluoride exposures from drinking the same water source.
The 2006 National Academy of Sciences report, for example, found infants who consumed formula mixed with fluoridated water ingested fluoride levels far in excess of the maximum recommended levels.
This was one of the reasons the federal government reduced maximum water fluoridation levels by 40% in 2015.
Even with this reduction, fluoridation promoters at the CDC admit that “if your child is only consuming infant formula mixed with fluoridated water, there may be an increased chance for mild dental fluorosis” and recommends using fluoride-free bottled water instead of tap water for mixing infant formula.[i]
But buying bottled water or installing very expensive water filtration systems that can remove fluoride are not options for low-income families that have no practical way to avoid drinking fluoridation chemicals if they are added to their drinking water.
[i] US CDC, Overview: Infant Formula and Fluorosis, at: http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/safety/infant_formula.htm.