In America the population grows up with a positive impression of fluoride. Toothpaste commercials, which are backed by the American Dental Association, communicate to the public that fluoride helps prevent tooth decay and nine out of ten dentists recommend fluoride toothpaste. At regular dental checkups, fluoride treatments are given to topically treat the teeth. Additionally, fluoride is added to the municipal water across the majority of the United States, so drinking the tap water gives the public a varying amount of fluoride daily. The amount of Fluoride an individual intakes cannot be measured due to the quantity of water that people drink fluctuates; fluoride is also found in the food supply and manufactured beverages. The general population assumes that the use of fluoride is healthy; however, research has shown that it is harmful and unnecessary for the body and the …show more content…
ALCOA was restricted by the government on the amount of waste they could sell to pesticide companies. Francis Frary, the Director of Research at ALCOA, approached Gerald Cox, a researcher at the Mellon Institute, recommending Cox to analyze the effects of fluoride on teeth. Cox administered fluoride to laboratory rats and publicized that it gave the rodents cavity-resistant teeth becoming one of the first researchers to suggest adding fluoride to public water supplies. Cox’s findings were published in the Journal of American Medical Association declaring fluoride protected teeth from decay. The leaders of ALCOA came up with a way to market the bio hazardous waste to the public as a healthy product while making a profit. This is how one of the most caustic of industrial chemicals, which was used only as a toxin in pesticides, was added to toothpaste and the water supply. The health risks of fluoridated water are the last on the list of government and corporations