Fluoride will eat a hole through concrete, so it’s not safe for your teeth.
If Your Time is short
- Hydrofluorosilicic acid is an additive used to fluoridate community water supplies in the U.S.
- Like many chemicals, it is caustic in its concentrated form. But it’s diluted in water treatment plants to produce a safe amount of fluoride in drinking water.
- Toothpastes made by Colgate and other companies use different fluoride compounds, typically stannous fluoride, sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate.
“??This type of misleading information is commonly spread by fluoridation opponents who have little or no understanding of the science of water fluoridation,” said Steven Slott, a spokesperson for the American Fluoridation Society, a group promoting community water fluoridation.
First, the hydrofluorosilicic acid, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is one of three types of fluoride additives used in U.S. water supplies, arrives at water treatment plants in concentrated form.
Like any chemical, hydrofluorosilicic acid can be dangerous to people who come into contact with it, such as in the spill referenced in the video, experts said. But water treatment plants are equipped to handle such chemicals, and the additives are then diluted to safe levels in the water supply.
“One drop of that fluoride additive in its concentrated form is diluted by 250,000 drops of water. The resultant fluoride concentrations delivered to homes and businesses for the community is at a concentration that is at 0.7 parts per million,” said Dr. Howard Pollick, a spokesperson on fluoridation for the American Dental Association. Pollick is also a consultant on fluoridation for the California Department of Public Health and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry.
“This has been established as the effective and safe concentration of fluoride in drinking water to help prevent tooth decay, which can be a very serious disease if it’s not prevented or taken care of,” Pollick said.
Our Sources
Email interview with Steven Slott, a spokesperson for the American Fluoridation Society, July 12, 2022
American Dental Association, “Fluoridation FAQs,” accessed July 11, 2022
American Fluoridation Society, “Fluoridation facts,” accessed July 11, 2022
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About Fluoride,” accessed July 11, 2022
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
“Water Fluoridation Additives,” accessed July 11, 2022
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Other fluoride products,” accessed July 11, 2022
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Over 75 Years of Community Water Fluoridation,” accessed July 11, 2022
National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, “Fluoride,” accessed July 11, 2022
Colgate, “ Can You Have Too Much Fluoride? Get The Facts,” accessed July 11, 2022
Colgate, “Learn more about what’s in our products,” accessed July 11, 2022
PolyProcessing, “Designing Proper Hydrofluorosilicic Acid Storage,” accessed July 12, 2022
*Original article online at
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jul/12/facebook-posts/fluoride-safe-your-toothpaste-and-drinking-water-e/#sources
Print 
PDF