Whaddaya know? The newest zombie scientific conspiracy theory ravaging our country is also one of the oldest, the very same one that took the John Birch Society to conspiracy-theory superstar status so many years ago! The fluoridation of our drinking water supply, [jump] ostensibly to prevent cavities, but in actuality to destroy our ability to resist the blandishments of International Socialism! Or maybe not.
The current spur is the brand-new Big Data study from the Harvard School of Public Health—actually, it was published in July 2012—finding, through a meta-analysis of some 36 separate studies done in China, that there is a direct and statistically significant correlation between fluoride in drinking water and inadequate cognitive development, if by "cognitive development" you mean IQ points, which I normally don't, but I do admit that the IQ test tests something, so let's just let that pass.
Yes, without the slightest trace of a doubt, there IS a global fluoridation conspiracy!
Its ringleaders are headquartered in the United States.
Fluoride attacks the thyroid gland, the primary center of WILL POWER in the human body.
Fluoride also attacks the kidneys, the secondary center of will power.
Medical fact: A dysfunctional thyroid gland leads to MENTAL IMPAIRMENT.
So that's why the government wants to fluoridate my tap water! Or maybe it's because
fluoride is a toxic byproduct in the manufacture of nuclear arms, aluminum, cement, steel, and phosphates. Millions of tons of this poison are produced every year. Imagine the cost of containing and disposing of those mountains of waste every year. It's in the billions.
Well, it is in fact a byproduct in the manufacture of fertilizer from phosphorite rock, captured in the form of hydrogen fluoride and silicon tetrafluoride gases which are then condensed into water-based solutions which account for some 95% of the fluoride added to US drinking water, and it is in fact toxic if you get too much of it. Indeed, too much of it is bad for your teeth, causing a sometimes unsightly (though basically harmless) discoloration called fluorosis. Whether that much too much is the same too much as the too much causing impaired cognitive development among Chinese children is another question indeed, and one our eager paranoids keep forgetting to ask.
This is where this Harvard study comes in. It turns out that there haven't been very many good studies ("most are poor quality," says Wikipedia) of the question so far, and one reason is that there just isn't enough fluoride in American or European water supplies to make a difference: or as the Harvard study put it,
Opportunities for epidemiological studies depend on the existence of comparable population groups exposed to different levels of fluoride from drinking water. Such circumstances are difficult to find in many industrialized countries, because fluoride concentrations in community water are usually no higher than 1 mg/L, even when fluoride is added to water supplies as a public health measure to reduce tooth decay.
True, some water sources in America have more fluoride than others, which is why we have any cases of dental fluorosis at all:
The condition is more prevalent in rural areas where drinking water is derived from shallow wells or hand pumps.It is also more likely to occur in areas where the drinking water has a fluoride content greater than 1 ppm (part per million), and in children who have a poor intake of calcium. (Wikipedia)
But you'll note that it's not in places where the government is dumping the hydrogen fluoride in at the municipal water plant, and it also isn't in places where EPA regulations are followed, mandating maximum fluoride levels of 0.7 mg/L (or ppm; the two measures are equivalent) in most places in 1962 and throughout the US since 2011. That standard is, I repeat, after the government has put its fluoride in.
And it isn't widespread enough, apparently, for a proper epidemiological study, which is why there's better research to work with in China:
Multiple epidemiological studies of developmental fluoride neurotoxicity were conducted in China because of the high fluoride concentrations that are substantially above 1 mg/L in well water in many rural communities, although microbiologically safe water has been accessible to many rural households as a result of the recent 5-year plan (2001–2005) by the Chinese government.
Examples of what counted as high vs. low levels of fluoride in the Chinese studies are generally a lot more than 1 mg/L, to say nothing of 0.7 mg/L, as in the following:
2.1-7.6 mg/L vs 0.5-1.0 mg/L 4.12 mg/L vs 0.91 mg/L 3.15 mg/L vs 0.37 mg/L 0.57-4.5 mg/L vs. 0.18-0.75 mg/L 2.5 mg/L vs. 0.4 mg/L 5.44 mg/L ± 3.8 vs 0.73 mg/L ± 0.28 3.8-11.5 mg/L vs 0.3-1.1 mg/L 2.38 mg/L vs 0.41 mg/L
Thus the amount of fluoride that seems to cause cognitive impairment, according to the Harvard study, is the amount that's well over what the US government allows, let alone what it feeds you. If you're going to have a problem with fluoride, it'll come from living off the grid. I rest my case, bros. Go brush your teeth.
