The video above, produced by the Fluoride Action Network, warns that people with kidney disease should avoid drinking fluoridated water because it puts them at higher risk for bone problems, teeth problems, and endocrine problems associated with fluoride.

Since the 1950s, fluoride has been added to city water supplies across the country because of its anti-cavity properties. Recently, however, scientific studies have shown the fluoridated water may do more harm than good.

Too much fluoride can cause dental fluorosis – discoloration and deformation of the teeth. Toxic levels of fluoride may also contribute to osteoporosis, endocrine problems, neurological problems, and reproductive problems.

People with kidney disease are more susceptible to fluoride toxicity because their kidneys cannot eliminate the fluoride efficiently. Therefore, toxic levels of fluoride accumulate in their blood and their bodies rapidly. According to the National Kidney Foundation, all kidney disease patients should be notified of the risks of drinking fluoridated water.

Here in Atlanta, the water has been fluoridated since 1969. CBS Atlanta (WGCL) recently ran an investigative report on fluoride in water and found that plenty of people in Georgia are against fluoridation and campaigning to have this dangerous chemical removed from our water supply. Unfortunately, in Georgia, fluoridation of water is mandatory in all public water districts throughout the state.

Some cities (such as Corning, NY and Juneau, AL) are enacting anti-fluoridation laws to protect their citizens. When municipalities first began to fluoridate water in the 1950s, the water was the only source of fluoride. Now it is available in dental care products, and the fluoridation of water is completely unnecessary. It’s not only unnecessary but also dangerous.

The CDC now recommends that parents use non-fluoridated water for baby formulas. There’s no reason for babies to ingest fluoride since they don’t have teeth, and fluoride might cause developmental problems (such as dental fluorosis). If you know any parents of small children or anyone with kidney disease, please forward this article to them.

To remove fluoride from your water, you must use a reverse osmosis water filter or a fluoride water filter. For more information, see our under sink reverse osmosis water filter as well as our countertop fluoride filter.

Fluoride is an industrial waste product that’s added to water under the guise of promoting dental health. However, you only have to look at areas without fluoridated water to see that it offers no benefit for dental health. In fact, fluoridated water can cause fluorosis, a condition in which the toxic chemical damages the teeth. This occurs primarily in children who ingest fluoride from an early age.

According to the Environmental Working Group, “Like bones, a child’s teeth are alive and growing. Flourosis is the result of fluoride rearranging the crystalline structure of a tooth’s enamel as it is still growing. It is evidence of fluoride’s potency and ability to cause physiologic changes within the body, and raises concerns about similar damage that may be occurring in the bones.”

“Common sense should tell us that if a poison circulating in a child’s body can damage the tooth-forming cells, then other harm also is likely,” says Dr. John Colquhoun, a dentist who wrote Why I Changed My Mind About Water Fluoridation.

Now there’s another reason to avoid drinking fluoridated water: Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control found traces of arsenic, copper, lead, and other impurities in samples of the chemicals used to fluoridate municipal water supplies between 2000 and 2006. Arsenic is classified as a likely carcinogen by the EPA, which sets the maximum contaminant level goal of arsenic in water supplies at zero. Unfortunately, if you’re drinking public water, you’re likely drinking arsenic.

Bottled water is no safer than municipal water. The FDA regulates bottled water in a rather odd manner. Here are the FDA standards for bottled water:

Domestic bottled water with no added fluoride may contain between 1.4 and 2.4 mg/L of fluoride.

In other words, the FDA has no problem with fluoride in bottled water.

“Fluoridation is irrational whether it’s coming from the tap or the bottle,” says Paul Beeber, president of the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. “It’s time to leave fluoride chemicals and all their contaminants out of every water source.”

A home water filter will remove these dangerous chemicals from your water.