There are some conspiracy theories that defy traditional ideological classification, and the anti-fluoride theories are among the oldest that still have currency. Though it is well-established that fluoridated water supplies improve dental hygiene, and that communities with fluoridated water are healthier in this regard, fluoride-phobia still runs rampant.
Disgraced right-wing broadcaster Alex Jones, during his heyday, would famously and frequently trumpet his fear of fluoride, specifically saying it had caused his IQ to drop. Scan the conspiracy theory pages on Facebook and Reddit and one will stumble upon innumerable anti-fluoride conversations, large and small. They can be inspired by practically anything, from a grassroots movement in Portland, Ore. to a single post about a 2012 Harvard meta-analysis linking fluoridation to neurological disease (by the researchers' own admission, it relied on studies of varied quality). During the Cold War, anti-fluoride citizens' movements often claimed, falsely, that water fluoridation was a Soviet plot.
