• Lowpast@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    I don’t understand your point.

    Nobody drinks the ocean. Fluoride is barely active topically. Most humans rarely if at all swim in the ocean.

    • Acamon@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Talking about the ocean is odd, but there are towns in the UK (and most countries I’d assume?) where the natural level of fluoride is higher than the concentration they aim for when adding fluoride. I think that’s a pretty good argument for it being safe - the people of Hartlepool have been drinking fluoride rich water for 13 centuries and don’t have any noticeable issues compared to the rest OF County Durham.

    • Hamartia@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Yeah. It’s not an entirely salient point. It does, however, underline the ubiquitous nature of fluorine.

      The biggest source of Flourine in the environment is just the normal weathering of rocks that contain it. The biggest of the anthropogenic sources include brick production, phosphate fertiliser application and coal burning.

      The minor amount added to drinking water really wouldn’t be the biggest issue if it was as toxic as it’s made out to be.