Removing Fluoride
If you learn that your water supply is fluoridated, you’ll want to make efforts to have the fluoridation decision reversed. At the same time, you’ll want to assure that your own drinking (and bathing) water is fluoride-free. Water distillers and reverse osmosis systems effectively remove fluoride, along with other dangerous chemicals and are a practical and cost-effective solution to treating drinking water. Unfortunately, however, these methods are neither practical nor cost effective for treating all of the water coming into your home. Whole house filtration is necessary if your water supply is fluoridated because there is no shower filter on the market capable of removing fluoride – and fluoride, as previously mentioned, is readily absorbed through the skin (sidebar). There are three types of filtration media that will remove fluoride from water: bone char (a form of carbon), alumina (aluminum oxide) and a fluoride ion exchange resin. Knowledgeable water treatment professionals in your community can provide details about these filtration options. It should be noted that fluoride is not removed from water by boiling; it only becomes more concentrated in this manner. Even if you have effectively removed fluoride from your drinking and bathing water, if you are living in a fluoridated community, you will still need to exercise caution when dining out, for the water served – and everything made with it, like coffee – will contain fluoride. Aside from drinking only non-fluoridated water, you’ll want to buy only unprocessed foods. Choose whole foods that are grown organically, without use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The ultimate solution to the fluoride pollution problem, however, is to stop fluoridation.
Removing Fluoride