this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 3 days ago (9 children)

So, once again, DHMO is the chemical we need to fear.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

but what about my precious bodily fluids?!?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

"Have you ever seen a commie drink a glass of water?"

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But what about our precious bodily fluids?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It could likely be replaced with hydroxyapatite instead (it also can be used to remove lead and other things from water, which makes searching about being added to municipal water difficult). Good for not only teeth, also bones.

I also wonder if adding other vitamins would make more sense (just enough to stop deficiencies) if we're talking about health outcomes, though the first idea I had with vitamin C came up with results of that messing with the chlorine in the water.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Let's just not add things to water except to ensure it stays as close to safe from infectious disease as possible. Water is water, it shouldn't be more than that. Even if what you add is safe for humans, what about the ten billion other uses tap water has that affects the environment.

People shouldn't have to buy filters if they just want water instead of whatever some random group thinks the population needs instead of just water

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

throws Coors light

"That's just what they want you to think!"

Come up with a rebuttal to this that an ignorant right-winger would believe.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Lemminologist here:

the fluoride levels vary because that’s how numbers do in reality

[–] [email protected] 72 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

The fluoride added to water gets it up to 0.7mg/liter.

That ends up to be 2 or 3 drops in a 55 gallon drums worth of water. Not much.

Fluoride is a natural substance and is found in many areas drinking water already. Many areas in much higher concentrations than 0.7mg/liter, so realistically people all over the world have drank fluoridated water for thousands of years.

You have to well over double the 0.7 before any health issues may appear and the first to appear is at about triple the concentration in kids under 8 years old who drink it for years getting spots on their teeth. The spots are only superficial.

Going into concentrations even higher than that CAN cause health issues when drank for longer periods of time. All of those cases being from naturally occurring fluoride, which actually effects somewhere north of 20% of the world's population.

Which makes the argument that fluoride in our water keeps us passive as being extra stupid, since water sourced around Columbia (the country) is far higher than .07mg/liter and Columbia seems to be caught in violence and turmoil and instability quite a bit over the decades.

*edit: Colombia

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Its presence in groundwater is how we discovered it's good for teeth.

In fact, there used to be so much in some areas,it actually stained the teeth. In Colorado Springs a dentist noticed that the children were developing brown stains on their teeth. In researching it, it was discovered that the "Colorado Brown Stain" was caused by excessive fluoride in the drinking water. But it also lead to the discovery that regions with natural fluoride present but in lower levels than Colorado Springs didn't have stained teeth, but did have lower levels of tooth decay.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

Yep. In fact, 21% of the world's natural drinking water used falls within the recommended range for fluoride, while over another 20% is higher and in some countries actually does cause some non-superficial side effects and problems. Those don't pop up until in concentrations at least 3 times higher than recommended.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Small note: the country name is spelled “Colombia,” and spelling it correctly means you don’t need to specify which one!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Fair enough!

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