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The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Made Simple

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Why is the allowable safe limit for Fluoride in our water-according to the Australian Drinking Water guidelines at 1.5mg/L – more than twice what the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommends?

That should make you stop and think about who is correct and if the experts can’t agree- what is the safe limit of fluoride in our drinking water?

Here are a few facts to consider about the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines:

  • Fluoride has been used as an oral health drug in the majority of Australian tap water since 1953. Even though it is a drug for oral health, there is no consideration given to dose and body weight. It’s a one dose fits all, which is contrary to the standard guidelines for dosage of most drugs.
  • Naturally, occurring Fluoride is different than the fluoride that they add to most drinking water, with artificial fluoride often producing by-products such as fluorosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride.
  • Chronic fluoride ingestion of 1 ppm of fluoride in drinking water can cause mottling of the teeth (fluorosis), and an exposure of 1.7 ppm will produce mottling in 30–50 % of patients.
  • 50 Studies have linked fluoride with reduced IQ in children. (Source- www.fluoridealert.org) Fluoride Levels in Water: IQ reductions have been significantly associated with fluoride levels of just 0.15 to 1.38 mg/L (Bashash 2017); 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L (Sudhir 2009); 0.88 mg/L among children with iodine deficiency. (Lin 1991) Other studies have found IQ reductions at 1.4 ppm (Zhang 2015); 1.8 ppm (Xu 1994); 1.9 ppm (Xiang 2003a,b); 0.3-3.0 ppm (Ding 2011); 2.0 ppm (Yao 1996, 1997); 2.1 ppm (Das 2016); 2.1-3.2 ppm (An 1992); 2.2 ppm (Choi 2015); 2.3 ppm (Trivedi 2012); 2.38 ppm (Poureslami 2011); 2.4-3.5 ppm (Nagarajappa 2013); 2.45 ppm (Eswar 2011); 2.5 ppm (Seraj 2006); 2.5-3.5 ppm (Shivaprakash 2011); 2.85 ppm (Hong 2001); 2.97 ppm (Wang 2001, Yang 1994); 3.1 ppm (Seraj 2012); 3.15 ppm (Lu 2000); 3.94 ppm (Karimzade 2014); and 4.12 ppm (Zhao 1996).
  • 97% of Western Europe has rejected tap water fluoridation. The only western European countries that allow salt fluoridation are Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
  • Tooth decay rates have declined in Europe as precipitously over the last 50 years as they have in the USA.
  • World leading health expert Dr Mercola advises that even at the so-called safe dose of fluoride links have been made to conditions affecting the heart, brain and thyroid as well as behavioural issues such as autism and ADHD.
  • The following chart from www.fluoridealert.org shows levels of Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth in children under 12 from the World Health Organisation between 1970 and 2010.

“Although the prevalence of caries varies between countries, levels everywhere have fallen greatly in the past three decades, and national rates of caries are now universally low. This trend has occurred regardless of the concentration of fluoride in water or the use of fluoridated salt, and it probably reflects the use of fluoridated toothpaste and other factors, including perhaps aspects of nutrition.”SOURCE: Cheng KK, et al. (2007). Adding fluoride to water supplies – British Medical Journal 335(7622):699-702.

The great fluoride debate continues. In the meantime, if you would like some help removing fluoride from your drinking water while the experts battle it out to discover if it is making our kids less intelligent and not doing much for their teeth, then don’t hesitate to get in touch today.