High doses of fluoride have repeatedly been found to interfere with the reproductive system of animals. Commonly observed effects in fluoride-exposed animals include: oxidative stress, damaged sperm, reduced sperm count, and reduced fertility. ( source )

Yes, the author of that quote did say ‘high doses’. After reading the article we naturally wanted to know if low doses of fluoride exposure could have detrimental effects as well. Thankfully some other folks also had the same question.

When given at high doses, fluoride has been found to damage virtually any tissue in the body, whether it be the thyroid, the brain, or the reproductive system. On this, there is now little debate. What is still disputed, however, is whether low levels of fluoride can also cause harm. Towards this end, it will be important for researchers conducting animal studies in the future to put greater focus on low-level effects than has heretofore been the case. In 2007, two research teams did this, in separate investigations of how fluoride ingestion may affect sperm function.

The two studies examined the effect of water fluoride concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 ppm. Since rats and mice are significantly more tolerant to fluoride than humans, 1 to 10 ppm represents a notably low level of fluoride for these animals. It has been estimated, for example, that rats are 5 times less sensitive to fluoride than humans (Turner 1996), and thus a 4.5 ppm concentration would be roughly equivalent to 1 ppm for humans, while 10 ppm fluoride would be roughly equivalent to 2 ppm. It is striking, therefore, that these 2 studies found damaging effects of fluoride on sperm at these levels. ( source )

What does this mean to couples struggling to have a baby? Get your water tested for fluoride and if your results come back positive, you may want to consider installing a fluoride removal system in your home.

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]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2009/09/26/fluoride-exposure-linked-to-sperm-damage/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2009/09/23/removing-fluoride-from-drinking-water/ http://watertestingblog.com/2009/09/23/removing-fluoride-from-drinking-water/#respond Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:51:57 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/?p=368 While the experts may disagree on the benefits and health issues offered by fluoridated drinking water, the fact remains that lots of people do not want fluoride in their drinking water and want to know how to remove it and other potentially dangerous contaminants.

The following information (text) comes from the About.Com Chemistry Section.

Ways to Remove Fluoride from Water:

Reverse Osmosis Filtration — This is used to purify several types of bottled water (not all), so some bottled waters are unfluoridated. Reverse osmosis systems are generally unaffordable for personal use.

Activated Alumina Defluoridation Filter — These filters are used in locales where fluorosis is prevalent. They are relatively expensive (lowest price I saw was $30/filter) and require frequent replacement, but do offer an option for home water filtration.

Distillation Filtration — There are commercially available distillation filters that can be purchased to remove fluoride from water. On a related note: When looking at bottled water, keep in mind that ‘distilled water’ does not imply that a product is suitable for drinking water and other undesirable impurities may be present.

These Methods Do NOT Remove Fluoride:

Brita, Pur, and most other filters — Some websites about fluoride removal state otherwise, but I checked the product descriptions on the companies’ websites to confirm that fluoride is left in the water.

Boiling Water — This will concentrate the fluoride rather than reduce it.

Freezing Water — Freezing water does not affect the concentration of fluoride.

Before investing in a fluoride removal system, or any other water filtration system, you will want to have your water tested to see what contaminants your water contains. We always suggest using a certified water testing laboratory for this sort of thing but for those wishing to do water quality testing on their own, we suggest using a Water Testing Meter such as the eXact Micro 7+ which can test for many different critical water quality parameters and not just fluoride.