{"id":66055,"date":"2026-04-14T00:56:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/66055\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T00:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:56:41","slug":"us-fluoride-shortage-iran-war-is-affecting-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/66055\/","title":{"rendered":"US fluoride shortage: Iran war is affecting supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not just gas prices: Some U.S. water utilities are reporting the Middle East war<\/a> is disrupting their ability to maintain recommended fluoride levels in the drinking water.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks, a few water utilities have said their supply had been disrupted, according to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Fluoride is used in water systems as a public health measure to prevent tooth decay.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s driving the fluoride shortage?<\/p>\n

Israel is one of the world\u2019s top exporters of fluorosilicic acid, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>. EPA data also shows the U.S. is among the world\u2019s top five importers of the product.<\/p>\n

At least one Israeli supplier has been facing workforce challenges because many employees have been called into active military service, said Dan Hartnett, chief policy officer for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has led to decreased production, and supply shortages for the U.S. market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Not every water system is affected<\/p>\n

The number of water utilities affected so far is small, but the shortage is affecting hundreds of thousands of people. As the conflict continues, \u201cthere will likely be additional stressors placed on the supply chain, leading to shortages in additional communities,\u201d Hartnett said.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s eighth largest water and wastewater utility, WSSC Water in Maryland, is among those facing a shortage. On April 7, utility officials said they were lowering the level of fluoride in the water to 0.4 milligrams per liter, down from the recommended 0.7 milligrams per liter.<\/p>\n

Chuck Brown, spokesperson for the utility serving 1.9 million customers, said officials did not know how long the shortage would last, \u201cbut we feel confident that we\u2019ll be able to stretch that out for a couple more months.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, the borough of Lititz told its water customers it had to halt fluoridation for a couple weeks last month because of supply issues.<\/p>\n

What dentists say you should do<\/p>\n

Water utilities add fluoride voluntarily to improve communities\u2019 oral health, so lower levels have no effect on drinking water safety.<\/p>\n

A few months\u2019 drop in fluoride levels is probably not a cause for concern for most people, said Dr. Scott Tomar, an American Dental Association community water fluoridation expert.<\/p>\n

Research from places that stopped fluoridating their water \u2014 Calgary, Canada; Juneau, Alaska; and Israel \u2014 has found that lower levels can have an impact over the span of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the best available information we have, below about 0.5 milligrams per liter, you\u2019re probably not going to see effective preventive exposure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tomar said younger children would be the first to experience tooth decay, because the fluoride strengthens enamel as their teeth are developing and once they\u2019ve grown in.<\/p>\n

He recommends people in shortage areas brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and keep up with their routine dental appointments. If people are concerned they aren\u2019t getting enough fluoride, they should talk to their dentist before taking a fluoride supplement or other treatment.<\/p>\n

What else should I know about fluoride in the water?<\/p>\n

Research shows water fluoridation is beneficial even when it is also available through toothpaste and other means. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water<\/a>, according to CDC data.<\/p>\n

The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered<\/a> one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. The American Dental Association credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults.<\/p>\n

However, misinformation about fluoride\u2019s safety has proliferated. Last year, Utah became the first state<\/a> to ban public water fluoridation. And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly sown doubt<\/a> about its safety and restricted the use of fluoride<\/a> for dental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe levels we use in the United States is perfectly safe,\u201d Tomar said. \u201cDespite a lot of the misinformation, there are no adverse health effects associated with the levels we use in our drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not just gas prices: Some U.S. water utilities are reporting the Middle East war is disrupting their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[719,2371,328,24711,24707,197,5652,34,196,37,9427,24704,49,24703,24705,1544,15800,24710,24709,24708,782,5526,24706,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-66055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-chuck-brown","12":"tag-dan-hartnett","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-iran","16":"tag-iran-war","17":"tag-israel","18":"tag-maryland","19":"tag-md-state-wire","20":"tag-middle-east","21":"tag-oral-health","22":"tag-pa-state-wire","23":"tag-pennsylvania","24":"tag-public-health","25":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","26":"tag-scott-tomar","27":"tag-u-s-environmental-protection-agency","28":"tag-u-s-news","29":"tag-water-quality","30":"tag-water-shortages","31":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116400343557076967","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}