"Thanks for the information you provide to us all. It is greatly appreciated. My question: Is fluoride absorbed by the skin when showering? Berkey does not sell shower filters that remove fluoride. Their customer rep. told me that since the shower water is quickly running down your body the skin would not absorb it. Is this true?"

You will absorb some fluoride from skin exposure and inhalation. We have not found a company which produces shower filters that remove fluoride. The salesman should have told you that he did not know the answer to your question, instead of attempting to cover his ignorance with a lie. It is impossible to avoid all fluoride. For example, trace amounts of it can be found in tea, which occurs naturally. Fluoride can be neutralized with iodine supplementation, but supplementing with iodine should always be done transdermally. To different degrees, iodine also has a neutralizing effect upon other harmful halogens, such as chlorine. You should reference our article about iodine for more information. Fluoride causes calcification throughout the body (such as hardening of the arteries), so some of fluoride's harm can be reduced through a healthy diet that contains ample amounts of magnesium and vitamin D, since these things aid the body to properly utilize calcium. Vitamin C furthermore helps to protect the arteries from the excess inflammation that is responsible for calcification, especially when it is combined with folate.