Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that a Trump administration would prioritize removing fluoride from public water systems, a position at odds with major health organizations like the CDC, the American Dental Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, all of which endorse water fluoridation as safe and beneficial for dental health.

Despite Kennedy’s controversial stance on health and environmental issues, which includes previously debunked claims linking vaccines to autism, Trump has praised his passion, stating that Kennedy would have significant freedom to influence health policy if Trump were elected.

    • nightingale@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      The issue is not whether fluoride is good or bad. Conservatives vilify medical experts as “woke” and it that as a reason to dismiss their advice.

      I too can cherry pick an article to support my position. The number of cavities in children born in Calgary, Canada within the decade after they removed fluoride from their water was higher than nearby Edmonton who kept fluoride.

      We can argue about who has more links to support their argument; or we can argue about whether politicians should govern based on the recommendations of experts, or trust that “they know best”.

      • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        That isn’t an article I cherry picked. It’s literally actual research from those “experts” you pretend to worship.

        • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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          1 day ago

          Claims to not have cherry picked anything yet follows up with the claim that scientists are fake experts and he doesn’t listen to them.

          You’ve exposed your ruse here, bud.

          • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            You’re putting words in my mouth. I’m challenging people to actually read and engage with the content, instead of treating scientists like some higher power which must be deferred too, even in absence of understanding.

            • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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              1 day ago

              I’m not putting words in your mouth, you clearly don’t think they’re experts by your use if the snarky quotes around it and stated “you people worship” which obviously excludes yourself from that category.

              If you’re trying to challenge people, why aren’t you replying to the multitude of comments pointing out that the study you linked doesn’t say what you think it does?

              • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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                1 day ago

                Why reply the same thing multiple times? I already quoted the very first line, which quite clearly states that there have indeed been multiple studies recently which represent fluoride as a neurotoxin. Whether you agree with them or not, it’s very obvious evidence that concerns are not without foundation.

                  • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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                    17 hours ago

                    It’s literally not misinformation though. The very first line quite clearly states that there have been multiple studies in recent times which characterize Fluoride as a neurotoxin. This sort of behaviour, deliberately lying about the content of scientific research, is exactly why people are losing faith in our systems.

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          When you dismiss other scientific evidence like this, it makes it seem less like you are mindfully sharing research for open discussion, and more like you have a link to use as “ammunition” to defend the conclusion you’ve already reached (and won’t be reasoned out of)

          • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            And didn’t even fucking read the article they are attempting to use as ammunition, to boot, the article specifically denies the point they’re trying to make

          • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            If I were looking for ammunition, I certainly wouldn’t share something which doesn’t explicitly state my point. I shared this to show, for those honest enough to actually consider it, that there is in fact research suggesting concerns aren’t baseless.

            Recently, epidemiological studies have suggested that fluoride is a human developmental neurotoxicant that reduces measures of intelligence in children, placing it into the same category as toxic metals (lead, methylmercury, arsenic) and polychlorinated biphenyls.

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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            1 day ago

            These people use research the same way a drunkard uses a lamppost - for support rather than illumination.

            (Paraphrasing)

        • Jay@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          … And it literally actually says it’s not a concern.

        • airglow@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          The article you linked explicitly concludes:

          Overall, despite the remaining uncertainties, and based on the totality of evidence the present review does not support the presumption that fluoride should be considered as a human developmental neurotoxicant at current exposure levels in European countries.

    • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That paper specifically concludes that despite all that, there is no reason to even look into whether fluoridation in drinking water might be a problem because there has clearly been no corollary deleterious effect. So, knowing what it would look like if it was a problem, was enough to know that it isn’t even close enough to warrant checking how close it is. The highest reported extremes of exposure already didn’t cause issue, so there is certainly no cause for concern at normal levels.

      • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        The point of it being, that fluoride is, in fact, recognized to be a neurotoxin, so it’s not just people pulling baseless crap out of their asses. There was a time, not long ago, when lead levels in consumer products were believed to be safe.

        • rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com
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          1 day ago

          Lead levels in consumer products are now regulated to the point where they’re negligible in terms of the effects on human health, so lead levels in consumer products are safe. We know the toxic level of fluoride; an adult would basically have to eat 2+ full tubes of toothpaste (which has more fluoride than tap water) to die and so your concern is out of proportion to the actual level of risk.

          • eramseth@lemmy.world
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            19 hours ago

            This is not true. To elaborate on what the other person who replied said… there is no safe level of lead in consumer products because lead accumulates in the body. Also, lots of consumer products still contain lead because there are loopholes. And the regulations any way aren’t that stringent.

        • airglow@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          The paper does not recognize fluoride as a neurotoxin in its current application in Europe:

          Overall, despite the remaining uncertainties, and based on the totality of evidence the present review does not support the presumption that fluoride should be considered as a human developmental neurotoxicant at current exposure levels in European countries.

    • macarthur_park@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Those concerns are for unrealistically high doses though. The last sentence of the abstract you linked:

      In conclusion, based on the totality of currently available scientific evidence, the present review does not support the presumption that fluoride should be assessed as a human developmental neurotoxicant at the current exposure levels in Europe.

      Calling concerns about the safety of fluoridated water “founded” is a bit of a stretch.