this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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flouride (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Back when I was in college, people didn't like fluoride because it calcifies the pinneal gland. I assume that rhetoric has only been further exaggerated over the years

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It does do this. However so does ageing, low sunlight exposure, low altitude, ethnicity, sex, nutrition, neuro-divergence, cell phone use, EM fields... you get the idea.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Don't forget the gravitational pull of Betelgeuse. In a very, very small way, that also effects calcification of the pineal gland.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

(Don't give them ideas...)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does fluoride-enhanced water actually do this, though? Or just pure fluoride? Yes, pure fluoride has an effect, but I always thought the miniscule amount in our water is not enough to actually make a difference to the natural calcification of our pineal gland, anyways.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

From what I have read studies do not show it, however it is believed it does happen because, when the data in those studies is extrapolated for 60+ years, it shows that it should contribute to it, at least

So, yeah, seems too, but it really isn't a factor worth worrying about

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does it though? Did they really do XCT on enough brains in areas with different F in their water to show this over time? And correct for the fact that it calcifies with age anyway? And probably does so variably across individuals and populations (2023 meta-analysis says old white men are the most likely to have calcified pineal glands).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Well, I have to defer to the conclusions of neuroscientists in the papers I have read, and what my neurologist has told me. You can go and peer review research, if you would like, though.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Another point that conspiracy bros will bring up is that fluoride is a toxic byproduct of aluminum manufacture and dumping it into the water supply is a cheap way for Alcoa to dispose of it benevolently.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Honestly it really is sad, we have so many more uses for it

Every atom of fluoride going into our water is another atom that can’t go into chlorine trifluoride production. Putting it into the water is a huge sacrifice we make for the health of society.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Real men make chlorine pentafluoride anyway. We have no use for pathetic hypergolic oxidisers with only three fluorine atoms.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Weird. The only argument I heard, and successfully made it to policy in my area is that it costs tax money and takes away choice. All thus smart stuff is for those damn yankees.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

They have a choice, they can drink bottled water or well water.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

His joke is that fluoride can be used to make extremely dangerous substances

From the wiki on the one he mentioned:

This oxidizing power, surpassing that of oxygen, causes ClF3 to react vigorously with many other materials often thought of as incombustible and refractory. It ignites sand, asbestos, glass, and even ashes of substances that have already burned in oxygen.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The majority of fluoride that is released into our water supply is a by-product of fertilizer production.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Even better!