Recent research has raised concerns about fluoride's potential neurotoxic effects, particularly in children. A 2024 systematic review by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) found a consistent association between elevated fluoride exposure and reduced IQ scores in children, especially at concentrations exceeding 1.5 mg/L in drinking water. Similarly, a 2025 meta-analysis reported that for every 1 mg/L increase in urinary fluoride, children's IQ scores decreased by an average of 1.14 points. These findings suggest that high fluoride exposure may pose risks to neurodevelopment, prompting discussions about the safety of current fluoride levels in public water supplies.

Refrigerator water filters are everywhere. People install them, sip their cold water, and assume they’re drinking something much cleaner than what comes straight from the tap. But here’s the truth: fridge filters don’t do much beyond making water taste better. If you think they’re removing harmful contaminants like fluoride, you’re in for a disappointment.

Most fridge filters rely on granular activated carbon (GAC), which is great at absorbing chlorine and some odors but useless when it comes to many real water contaminants. The design is simple—water rushes through, makes contact with some carbon, and comes out tasting a little less like a swimming pool. That’s about it. There’s no reverse osmosis, no fluoride-specific filtration media, no serious purification happening here. Just a quick, high-flow rinse through a basic carbon filter that’s designed for speed and convenience rather than effectiveness.

Fluoride is a dissolved solid, meaning it passes right through a fridge filter untouched. If you’re in an area where fluoride is added to the water supply, your fridge filter isn’t stopping it. Not even a little. 

To remove fluoride, you’d need something like: 

Reverse osmosis: A membrane that actually rejects fluoride molecules. This process also strips out good minerals from drinking water. 

Activated alumina: A material specifically designed to grab onto fluoride. 

Bone char carbon: A niche filtration media made from charred cow bones which is capable of fluoride removal. This is one of the oldest ways to filter water. 

Adsorbent Fluoride Filter Media: A filter resin that effectively removes fluoride, arsenic, and oxyanions, delivering cleaner, safer water with superior efficiency. This is the NSF tested & approved method that Epic Water Filter uses in their solid carbon fiber block filters. 

Refrigerator filters have none of these. Instead, they let fluoride, and a whole lot of other things, slip right through.

Even if a fridge filter had better materials, it wouldn’t matter. The water moves through too fast. Most fridge filters operate at 0.5 to 1 gallon per minute, which is way too quick for proper filtration. For fluoride to be removed, water needs extended contact time with the right filtration media, something a high-flow fridge filter will never provide. This is why we feel that gravity filtration (pitcher/dispenser) is a great way to remove fluoride from water. So, what are you actually getting with fridge filters? Slightly better-tasting water and a false sense of security.