How to Reduce Exposure to Fluoride

When Fluoride was first added to water in the 1940s, in an experiment to prevent tooth decay, not a single dental product contained fluoride: no fluoride toothpastes, no fluoride mouth rinses, no fluoride varnishes, and no fluoride gels. In the past 60 years,as more communities began fluoridation and one fluoride product after another entered the market, exposure to fluoride increased considerably, particularly among children.

Exposure from other sources has increased as well, such as infant formula, processed foods, soups, and beer made with fluoridated water, food grown with fluoride-containing pesticides and fumigants (buy organic!), bottled teas, raisins, fruit juices, wine, mechanically deboned chicken, and pharmaceuticals that leave a fluoride metabolite, to name a few. Taken together, the glut of fluoride sources in the modern diet has created a toxic cocktail, one that has caused a dramatic increase in dental fluorosis (a tooth defect caused by excess fluoride intake) over the past 60 years. The problem with fluoride, therefore, is not that we are receiving too little, but that we are receiving too much. 

Here are several FAN guides to help you reduce your exposure to fluoride. Please share them with friends and family: 

• Top 10 Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure

•  FAN’s Grocery Store Guide: 7 Ways to Avoid Fluoride in Beverages and Food 

• Top 5 Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure From Infant Formula

• Considerations When Buying a Water Filter

• Tea / Bottled Water /Processed Beverages / Fruit Juice / Beer (from ffbeers.com)

• Mechanically Deboned Chicken / Fresh Food

• Dental Products

Other Sources of Exposure:

• Industrial Workplace

• Teflon Pans

• Pharmaceuticals

• Pesticides on Food

Of course, the very best way to avoid fluoride is to work with your friends and neighbors to get it out of your water – or keep it out of the water.  That requires organizing and education.  We need education not fluoridation!

The Fluoride Action Network is committed to educating citizens around the world about the risks associated with fluoride in an effort to ultimately reduce exposure to this neurotoxicant. With your help we can continue to develop more free educational materials and guidebooks in this pursuit. If you find these resources helpful and would like to see more developed, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution–why not give it to FAN instead of Uncle Sam!