Why BEWARE of Fluoride In Water and How To Safely Remove It

Water Filter Options That Do NOT Remove Fluoride

Not all water filters treat fluoride. In fact, some of the most popular filters and water filter methods are highly ineffective:

Brita, Pur, and similar basic water jug filters do not effectively treat fluoride. In fact, the truth is that most commercially sold water filters do not remove fluoride. This means you must always check before you buy and not assume. Also be careful of some websites that talk about fluoride removal in general and not specifically related to the product for sale. Do this to make sure you know for sure and can confirm that fluoride is indeed something that it is capable of treating.

Boiling Water: It’s sad but true, boiling water does not remove fluoride from water. Think about it, if it does, why is there so much limescale in your kettle? In actuality, when you bring fluoride contaminated water to a boil it will actually concentrate the fluoride rather than reduce it.

Freezing Water: Just like boiling water, changing the temperature to freezing does not remove fluoride either. Simply putting fluoride water into the freezer will not have any effect on the level or concentration of fluoride.

Filters That Remove Fluoride

If you want to remove all the fluoride from your drinking water, here are some of the best water filtration systems you should consider for your home:

Big Berkey (With Special Fluoride Filters Can Remove Fluoride by 99.99%)

This unit serves as a water dispenser, indicating that it operates with a slightly extended timeframe and has limitations on the volume of water it can purify in one go.

To break it down, the largest model, the Big Berkey, can hold a maximum of 6 gallons of water at once.

On a regular basis, it efficiently filters around 3.5 gallons per hour. This makes the Berkey an ideal choice for individuals seeking a solution to eliminate impurities, particles, and fluoride from their drinking water.

AquaTru (Removes Fluoride by 91.8%)

AquaTru made waves on social media because it’s able to turn almost any liquid substance into water.

It is an easy to use counter top water filter. Once plugged in, you simply have to pour water into into and it gets to work immediately.

It only takes a few seconds to filter (or minutes, depending how difficult the substance is to treat).

Once the water is ready, you simply need to press the blue button to get clean filtered water.

The only drawback of this device when compared to the Big Berkey is that AquaTru needs an electric outlet.

This means that it is not a great option for emergency situations like a power cut.

AquaTru Water Filter	Berkey Water Filter
- Arsenic: Approx 90% (unspecified). - Fluoride by 91.8% (WITHOUT extra filters). - Lead 97.5% - Benzene 99.9% - Chlorine 96.6% - Cysts 99.99%	- Arsenic by 99.9% (special filters required). - Fluoride by 99.9% (special filters required). - Lead 97.5% - Benzene 99.8%
Available in 1-size only.	Available in various sizes.
Plastic materials.	Metal & plastic materials.
Number of filters: 3	Number of filters: 2 - 4
Filter methods: Mechanical, Reverse Osmosis & Activated Carbon filters.	Filter methods: Black microporous-filters & white fluoride Filters
4-stage filter process.	2-stage filter process.
Holds a maximum water capacity of 3-quarts.	2.25 Gallons
45.7 x 45.7 x 38.1 cm	19" High x 8.5" Diameter
System: 1 year limited warranty.	Filters: 2 years; System: 1 year.
Full Performance Data Sheet (AquaTru).	Berkey Contaminants List NSF/ANSI test results
SPECIAL OFFER? Yes, use code MRWATERGEEK	SPECIAL OFFER? Yes, Big Berkey bundle sale

Why is There Fluoride In The Municipal Water Supply?

Artificial fluorinated water is supplied as oral health aid to about 10% of the UK population and a significant part of the US.

The recommended national fluoride concentrate is 1 ppm (parts per million). Fluoride is generally considered good for oral health.

According to government agencies, fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. However, there is controversy over whether direct consumption of the substance through our water supply is harmful to our overall health.

Is Fluoride a Poison?

No, fluoride in its natural form is NOT harmful to health.

However, artificial fluoride added to water sometimes contains by-products such as fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride and sodium fluoride. These are the types that can negatively impact your overall well-being.

Additionally, they are responsible for the most prevalent side effects associated with excessive fluoride intake, such as tooth fluorosis and discoloration of the teeth.

Cheap and Simple Steps to Reduce Fluoride Exposure

Don’t take fluoride based medications.

Try not to use non-stick cookware. Teflon and some other coatings contain fluoride, which can be released during cooking.

Read the labels for bottled drinks. If they are not made with distilled water or reverse osmosis, they are likely to be made with fluorinated water.

Consider using non-fluoridated toothpaste.

Avoid drinking black or red tea: There are many health benefits associated with the chemical compounds contained in the tea, but this can be a beverage that should be avoided if you need to reduce your fluoride intake. Black and red tea comes from two different plant species, but both naturally contain high levels of fluoride.

Beware of canned fish and preserves as fluoride can be used as a preservative.

Avoid black or red rock salt or objects containing black or red rock salt.

Don’t chew tobacco.

Avoid long-term intake of fluoride-containing medications. Certain antidepressants and medicines for osteoporosis contain fluoride.

More Effective Ways To Reduce Fluoride Exposure

While some chemicals can be removed by filtration systems and bottles, fluoride is proving to be a chemical product that is more difficult to remove and can only be achieved with special filters like reverse osmosis systems.

If you have questions about the amount of fluoride in your tap water, you should contact your local water company.

1. Stop Drinking Fluoridated Tap Water.

Tap water consumption is, on average, the largest daily source of fluoride contamination for people living in areas that have fluoride in water. Avoiding the consumption of fluorinated water is especially critical for babies.

2. Use An Appropriate Water Filter.

One way to avoid fluoride from tap water is to buy a water filter. Not all water filters, however, eliminate fluoride.

The three types of filters that can remove fluoride are reverse osmosis, deionizers (using ion exchange resins), and activated alumina. Each of these filters should be able to eliminate at least 90% of the  fluoride in your water.

In contrast, “charcoal” filters (e.g. Brita) DOES NOT remove fluoride.

3. Drink Bottled Spring Water If You Can’t Get A Water Filter.

Another way to avoid fluoride from tap water is to buy spring water. Most spring water brands contain very low levels of fluoride.

However, some brands contain high amounts of fluoride, if any.

You can find out the amount of fluoride content in some of the popular brands by checking the label. Alternatively, most companies have this information available on their website).

4. Use a Water Distiller.

Another way to avoid fluoride in the tap is to buy a distillation unit.

The distillation of water will eliminate most if not all of the fluoride. The price for distillation units varies greatly depending on the size.

Small countertop units cost $100 – $200, while large units may exceed $1000.

If you do not know if your region is fluoridated, you can contact your local water authority. Live in the US? You can also find out by going to the FAN State Fluoride Database.

5. Do Not Allow Your Child To Swallow Fluoride with Toothpaste.

Fluoride toothpaste is usually the main source of fluoride intake for young children. And is a major risk factor for the disfigurement of dental fluorosis.

This is because children swallow a large amount of the paste they put in their mouth.

In fact, research has shown that it is not uncommon for children to ingest more fluoride toothpaste alone, as it is recommended from all sources as a daily dose.

Therefore, if you have a small child, we recommend using a toothpaste that does not contain fluoride.

However, if you use toothpaste containing fluoride, it is very important to supervise your children while brushing to make sure to use no more than a “quantity of dough the size of a pea” and rinse thoroughly and spit out after finishing.

And finally, do not buy toothpaste flavored candy (P. Eg., Gum and watermelon) because these toothpastes (which still contain fluoride concentrations to the level of adult concentration) increases the risk that children will swallow (and really swallow).

6. Do Not Get Fluoride Gel Treatments From The Dentist.

Although tooth researchers have said on numerous occasions that using fluoride gel treatment is only used in patients at increased risk of tooth decay, many dentists still apply fluoride gels regardless of patient risk.

The fluoride gel procedure requires the patient to hold a dish for 4 minutes and use an extremely concentrated acid fluoride gel (12,300 ppm).

Due to the high acidity of the fluoride gel, the salivary glands produce a large amount of saliva during treatment, making it extremely difficult (for both children and adults) to avoid ingesting the gel.

Even though dentists use precautions like suction devices, children and adults still consume significant amounts of the gel, which can lead to unbelievable levels of fluoride in the blood (for up to 15 hours).

7. Eat More Fresh Foods and Less Processed Foods.

When tap water is fluoridated, not only is the water fluoridated, but all the beverages and foods made with the water.

As a general rule, the more food that is processed, the more fluoride it has.

The good news is that natural levels of fluoride in most fresh water (e.g. spring water) and most fresh foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, grains, eggs, milk) are very low in fluoride. Use this fact to your advantage by trying to change as much as possible from processed to fresh foods.

In addition, since processed drinks (e.g. soft drinks, reconstituted juices, sports drinks) contribute more to the intake of fluoride processed foods, the most important thing is to focus on reducing the consumption of processed drinks.

8. Buy Grape Juice and Organically Grown Wine.

In the United States, many vineyards use a pesticide containing fluoride called cryolite. As a result, fluoride levels in grape juice and wine from the US (especially white grape juice and white wine) are consistently high.

In 2005, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) reported that the average fluoride content of white grapes exceeded 2 ppm.

The fluoride content in red wine is also high (1 ppm) as well as in raisins (2.3 ppm).

If you buy grape and wine juice or if you are a big consumer of raisins, buy organic products.

In the case of wine, if you do not want to spend the extra money on organic, you should buy a European brand because Europe uses much less cryolite than the US.

9. Reduce Your Consumption of Black and Green Tea (and / or Drink Tea with Younger Leaves).

Certain tea plant accumulate high levels of fluoride, and it is known that excessive tea intake causes a painful bone disorder called skeletal fluorosis.

However, some teas contain high levels of antioxidants that improve health. This not only promotes good health but also provides protection against fluoride toxicity.

Ideally, you should drink tea with high levels of antioxidants but low levels of fluoride. Recent research indicates that this could be a goal that can be achieved.

It has recently been shown that antioxidants in tea are much higher in young leaves than in old leaves. This is important because young leaves also have lower fluoride levels.

In fact, it has been suggested that the fluoride content of tea is an indicator of its quality: the higher the fluoride, the lower the quality and vice versa.

So, if you like tea, try buying varieties that are young leaves (for example, “white tea“).

This allows you to maximize the known benefits of tea while reducing known damage. To avoid this, avoid instant and cheap teas as these are low quality leaves that contain very little antioxidants.

10. Avoid Cooking with Non-Stick Pans (Teflon).

Some studies have shown that cooking with Teflon-coated molds (i.e. non-stick pans) can significantly increase the fluoride content of foods.

If you have Teflon pans, you should switch to stainless steel.

11. Do not take Cipro and Consider Other Fluorinated Pharmaceutical Products.

Many pharmaceutical products are fluorinated, which means that they contain a so-called “carbon-fluorine bond”. Although the carbon-fluorine bond is strong enough to withstand degradation in the body, this is not always the case.

It has been found that some fluorinated drugs in the body are metabolized to fluoride, which greatly increases a person’s exposure to fluoride. The most notable example is Cipro.

Other fluorinated chemicals, which are known to break down into fluoride are fluorinated anesthetics (isoflurane and sevoflurane), niflumic acid, flecainide and voriconazole.

If you are taking any of these medications, find out if there are alternatives available.

12. Minimize the Consumption of Mechanically Deboned Chicken.

Most types of meat that are pulverized in the form of pulp (e.g., chicken fingers, chicken nuggets) are processed by a mechanical deboning process.

This mechanical deboning process increases the amount of bone particles in the meat.

Since bone is the main cause of the accumulation of fluoride in the body, the higher content of bone particles in mechanically deboned meat leads to a significant increase in fluoride levels.

Of all the meats that are mechanically deboned, it has been discovered that chicken meat has the highest levels. Therefore, minimize buying mechanically deboned chickens.

13. Avoid Fluoridated Salt.

If you live in a country where fluoridated salt can be sold, make sure the salt you buy is not fluoridated. Consuming fluorinated salt can greatly increase a person’s exposure to fluoride.

Water Filters That Remove Fluoride

There are a few methods that actually remove fluoride from water. The list below are some of the most effective water filters that remove fluoride.

Reverse Osmosis Filtration: This type of water filter is the main filtration method used to purify several types of bottled water (not all). This means that some bottled waters are non-fluoridated. However, the disadvantage is that reverse osmosis systems a little bit expensive. Especially when compared to water filter jugs (most of which DO NOT remove fluoride).

Activated Alumina Defluoridation Filter: These are special types of filters that are used in places where fluorosis is rampant. They are a little bit expensive and may need frequent replacement. But on the plus side, they are some of the best water filters that remove fluoride.

Water Distillation: A water distiller removes everything from water. Everything. This includes fluoride. There are lots of commercially available distillation filters that you can buy to remove fluoride from water.

On a related note, when looking at bottled water, keep in mind that ‘distilled water’ does not always imply a product is just for drinking. Some distilled water is so pure that it is used by hospitals, factories and industrial processes.

How to Remove Fluoride From Water Infographic Credit: Positive Health Wellness

Scientific References

Koblar A, Tavčar G, Ponikvar-Svet M. Fluoride in teas of different types and forms and the exposure of humans to fluoride with tea and diet. Food Chemistry. 2012; 130(2):286–290.

Almodaresi, A. et al. Investigation of Fluoride Concentration in Rural Drinking Water Resources of Bardaskan County Using Geographic Information System (GIS) in 2014. Journal of Tanin Salamat (Health Chimes) 3(4), 32–41 (2015).

Ismail AI, Hasson H. Fluoride supplements, dental caries and fluorosis: a systematic review. Journal of the American Dental Association. 2008;139(11):1457–1468.

Zeng, Q. et al. Studies of fluoride on thyroid cell apoptosis and mechanism. Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine 46(3), 233–236 (2012).

Peckham, S., Lowery, D. & Spencer, S. Are fluoride levels in drinking water associated with hypothyroidism prevalence in England? A large observational study of GP practice data and fluoride levels in drinking water. J Epidemiol Community Health 0, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2014-204971 (2015).