Fluoride-Not the Super Hero We Thought He Was.

Is Fluoride necessary?  Now before you say I'm one of those environmental crackpots, read this excerpt from the EPA's own website:

What are fluoride's health effects?
Exposure to excessive consumption of fluoride over a lifetime may lead to increased likelihood of bone fractures in adults, and may result in effects on bone leading to pain and tenderness. Children aged 8 years and younger exposed to excessive amounts of fluoride have an increased chance of developing pits in the tooth enamel, along with a range of cosmetic effects to teeth.

This health effects language is not intended to catalog all possible health effects for fluoride. Rather, it is intended to inform consumers of some of the possible health effects associated with fluoride in drinking water.

Err...ok?  And what is excessive consumption?  A couple of glasses of water a day???
If that doesn't alarm you, maybe this might:

Fluoride ingestion has been associated with adverse health effects such as IQ deficits in children, depression, weight gain and heart disease. The "Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics" reports that "high fluoride intake has a damaging effect on intellectual ability," and human studies from China, India, Iran and Mexico found that elevated levels of fluoride in children resulted in reduced performance and impaired development of intelligence. The U.S. National Research Council has also found that fluoride affects normal endocrine function, which may contribute to hypothyroidism, or reduced activity of the thyroid gland. Hypothyroidism can lead to fatigue, depression, weight gain, hair loss, muscle pains and heart disease. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/133760-side-effects-fluoride/#ixzz1aV66TOJh

It seems that Fluoride, you've got some explaining to do.