To the Editor

How much flouride is safe?

To the Editor:

How much fluoride can you safely allow your baby to drink? Or bathe or shower or swim in? I’m not talking about topical fluoride applied to teeth. I’m talking about what you ingest, and absorb through the skin. We’re all familiar with the "Warning" label on fluoride toothpaste, advising us to call Poison Control if our child swallows more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. How much fluoride would that be if swallowed as a glass of fluoridated water? By some estimates, it could be the

equivalent of 1/4 of a liter: 1 glass of water. This isn’t safe -...