Prominent Toxicologist Opposes Fluoridation

Statement on the fluoridation of public drinking supplies by Professor C V Howard. MB. ChB. PhD. FSB. FRMS. FRCPath. 14/2/2013

1) I am a medically qualified toxico-pathologist and expert on effects of toxic substances on the fetus and infant during the developmental period of life. I am a Past President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, which is a World Health Organisation and United Nations recognised NGO representing some 30,000 medical doctors around the world. I have served on UK Government regulatory committees and am currently Professor of Bioimaging at the University of Ulster.  I served as an Expert Witness on fetal toxicology causation in the case of Castillo vs Dupont in Miami, Florida.

2) Pre-industrial levels of fluoride in the environment were very low. There are now many different sources of both therapeutic and pollutant sources of fluoride. The former can be taken, under informed consent, for dental health purposes. 

3) It is generally accepted that the predominant action of fluoride on dental enamel is a topical one and that there is little additional benefit from systemic administration (CDC, 1999).

4) The ‘one dose fits all’ method of administration to whole populations via the public drinking water supply is known to be deeply flawed. This particularly applies to the neonatal infant being fed formula milk, which is reconstituted using fluoridated tap water. In the latter case it is acknowledged overdosing is occurring. A baby drinking formula made up with fluoridated tap water at 1 ppm will get 250 times more fluoride than a breast-fed baby.

5) Breast milk contains very low levels of fluoride (0.004 ppm, NRC, 2006, p.40), even when the lactating mother has been administered fluoride. Though the serum level of fluoride increased, the breast milk level remained very low (Ekstrand, 1981, 1984)). It is my opinion that this is the result of a specific exclusion process that has evolved to protect the neonate from exposure to anything other than very low levels of fluoride during critical windows of development of a number of organs.

6) There is evidence of developmental neurotoxicity from exposure to fluoride, expressed as reduced IQ distributions in populations, when compared epidemiologically with populations with lower exposures. There now have been 36 studies (see the complete listing at www.FluorideAlert.org/health/brain) that have found a lowered IQ associated with even modest exposure to fluoride. For example Xiang et al. (2003) found a threshold for IQ lowering at 1.9 ppm. Ding et al. (2010) have found a lowering of IQ in the range of 0.3 to 3 ppm. Moreover, they and other researchers, have reported a correlation between the extent of the IQ lowered and the level of fluoride exposure as measured in the urine.

7) Recently a team from Harvard University (Choi et al, 2012) reviewed 27 of these IQ studies using a meta-analysis. They found a remarkable consistency in the results even though they were derived from four different countries (China, India, Iran and Mexico). Of the 27 studies comparing villages with low levels of fluoride and with villages with modest to high levels of fluoride (0.88- 11.5 ppm), 26 revealed a lower IQ in the children from the “high” fluoride village. The mean difference was 7 IQ points, which from a population perspective is highly significant. Such a shift would reduce the number of geniuses in a large population by at least 50%, and approximately double the number of mentally handicapped.

8) The mechanism by which this IQ lowering could occur is not fully understood. However, direct toxicological action by fluoride on the developing nervous system is a biologically feasible likelihood. There have now been well over one hundred animal studies indicating that fluoride can cross the blood brain barrier and cause changes in the brain (see appendix 1 in the book “The Case Against Fluoride” by Connett, Beck and Micklem). Another mechanism is an indirect one, via disturbance of thyroid hormone metabolism, which should be considered (See chapter 8 of the National Research Council report Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review of EPA’s standards, NRC, 2006, for a comprehensive review of fluoride’s interactions with the endocrine system). The finding that even variations in thyroxin levels within the maternal euthyroid (normal) range can subtly affect the IQ of offspring (Pop et al 1995, 1999) highlights the very critical role of the hormone in controlling normal neural development. The prior therapeutic use of F to reduce thyroid hormone levels in cases of thyrotoxicosis is well documented (Goldemberg, (1926, 1930, 1932); May (1935, 1937); Orlowski (1932) and Galletti and G. Joyet, (1958)).

9) There is evidence that the incidence of osteosarcoma, a frequently lethal bone cancer, increased in teenage boys in fluoridated versus non-fluoridated areas (Hoover et al., 1991); Cohn, 1992). These findings were greatly strengthened by a case-control study conducted at Harvard by Elise Bassin (Bassin et al., 2006).  Bassin found that young boys exposed to fluoridated water in their 6^th, 7^th and 8^th years had a 5-7 fold risk of succumbing to osteosarcoma by the age of 20. At the time that this study was published Bassin’s thesis adviser, Chester Douglass promised in a letter (Douglass and Joshipura, 2006) that his larger study would refute her findings. However, Douglass’s study was finally published (Kim et al., 2011) failed to refute Bassin’s thesis. In other words we have a high quality – unrefuted - study, which indicates that fluoridation may actually be killing a few young men each year.

10) Given the above uncertainties concerning the causation of harm to human health through mandatory fluoridation of the public drinking water of whole populations, allied to the very dubious advantage for dental health of the practice, it is my considered opinion that on the balance of medical probabilities that there is a strong case for not considering the fluoridation of public drinking water.  This statement is made also in the light of ethical issues concerning a) the incidence of avoidable dental fluorosis in young people and b) the mass medication of a whole population without prior informed consent.

11) Statement on conflicts of interest. I have no commercial interests or research grants, current or past, concerning the fluoridation of drinking water. I hold no shares in any companies involved in water fluoridation. I have never received a fee for speaking on the topic of fluoridation.

References

Bassin, EB, Wypij, D,  Davis, DB, and Mittleman, MA. (2006). “Age-specific Fluoride

Exposure in Drinking Water and Osteosarcoma (United States),” Cancer Causes and

Control 17, no. 4 (May): 421–28.

CDC (1999). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Achievements in Public Health,

1900–1999: Fluoridation of Drinking Water to Prevent Dental Caries,” Mortality and

Morbidity Weekly Review 48, no. 41 (October 22, 1999): 933–40, http://www.cdc.gov/

mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4841a1.htm.

CDC (2010). Beltrán-Aguilar ED, Barker L and Dye BA. Nov 2010, Prevalence and Severity of Dental Fluorosis in the United States, 199–2004 National Center for Health Satistics.  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db53.pdf

Choi, A.L., et al., Developmental Fluoride Neurotoxicity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Environ Health Perspect, 2012

Cohn, PD (1992). An Epidemiologic Report on Drinking Water and Fluoridation, New Jersey Department of Health, Environmental Health Service, November 8, 1992. Note:

The original title of this report was A Brief Report on the Association of Drinking Water

Fluoridation and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma Among Young Males. The word “osteosar-

coma” was deleted from the title soon after the report was released; http://fluoridealert

.org/cohn-1992.pdf.

Connett, P., Beck, J. Micklem, H.S.  The Case Against Fluoride. Chelsea Green, Vermont, 2006.

Douglass, CW and Joshipura, K (2006). “Caution Needed in Fluoride and Osteosarcoma Study” (letter), Cancer Causes & Control 17, no. 4 (May 2006): 481–82.

 Ekstrand, J., Boreus, LO and P. de Chateau, P. (1981). No Evidence of Transfer of Fluoride from

Plasma to Breast Milk.  British Medical Journal 283, no. 6294: 761–62.

 Ekstrand, J., Spak,CJ, Falch, J. et al. (1984). Distribution of Fluoride to Human Breast 

Milk Following Intake of High Doses of Fluoride. Caries Research 18 (1):

93–95.

Galletti P, and Joyet, G. (1958). Effect of Fluorine on Thyroidal Iodine Metabolism in

Hyperthyroidism. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology 18, no. 10: 1102–10.

 Goldemberg, L. (1930). Traitement de la Maladie de Basedow et de l’Hyperthyroidisme par le Fluor. La Presse Médicale 102: 1751.

Goldemberg, L. (1932).  Comment Agiraient-ils Therapeutiquement les Fluoers dans le Goitre Exopthalmique et dans L’Hyperthyroidisme. La Semana Médica 39: 1659.

Hoover, et al. (1991). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks,

Public Health Service, Washington, DC, February 1991, http://health.gov/environment/

ReviewofFluoride/ appendix E.

Kim FM, Hayes C, Williams PL, et al. (2011). An assessment of bone fluoride and osteosarcoma. J Dent Res. 2011. doi: 10.1177/002203451141882

May, W. (1935). Antagonismus Zwischen Jod und Fluor im Organismus. Klinische

Wochenschrift 14: 790–92.

May, W. (1937). Behandlung the Hyperthyreosen Einschliesslich des Schweren Genuinen

Morbus Basedow mit Fluor.  Klinische Wochenschrift 16: 562–64.

NRC (2006). National Research Council of the National Academies, Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006),

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571.

Orlowski, W. (1932). Sur la Valeur Therapeutique du Sang Animal du Bore et du Fluor dans la Maladie de Basedow.  La Presse Medicale 42: 836–37.

Pop VJ, Kuijpens JL, van Baar AL, Verkerk G, van Son MM, de Vijlder JJ, et al. Low maternal free thyroxine concentrations during early pregnancy are associated with impaired psychomotor development in infancy. Clinical Endocrinology 1999;50:149-55.

Pop V.J., de Vries E., van Baar A., Waelkens J.J., de Rooy H.A., Horsten M., et al. Maternal Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies during Pregnancy: A marker of impaired Child development? Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and

References to the 25 IQ studies:

 (links to the references cited here can be accessed at http://fluoridealert.org/caseagainstfluoride.refs.html. )

Y. Chen, F. Han, Z. Zhou, et al., “Research on the Intellectual Development of Children in

High Fluoride Areas,” Fluoride 41, no. 2 (2008): 120–24, (originally published in 1991 in

Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases), http://www.fluorideresearch.org/412/files/

FJ2008_v41_n2_p120-124.pdf.

Ding Y, Gao Y, Sun H, Han H, Wang W, Ji X, Liu X, Sun D. (2010). The relationships between low levels of urine fluoride on children's intelligence, dental fluorosis in endemic fluorosis areas in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.12.097.

X. Guo, R. Wang, C. Cheng, et al., “A Preliminary Investigation of the IQs of 7–13 Year Old

Children from an Area with Coal Burning-Related Fluoride Poisoning,” Fluoride 41, no. 2

(2008): 125–28 (originally published in 1991 in Chinese Journal of Endemiology), http://www.

fluorideresearch.org/412/files/FJ2008_v41_n2_p125-128.pdf.

F. Hong, Y. Cao, D. Yang, and H. Wang, “Research on the Effects of Fluoride on Child

Intellectual Development Under Different Environmental Conditions,” Fluoride 41, no. 2

(2008): 156–60 (originally published in 2001 in Chinese Primary Health Care), http://www

.fluorideresearch.org/412/files/FJ2008_v41_n2_p156-160.pdf.

X. S. Li, J. L. Zhi, and R.O. Gao, “Effect of Fluoride Exposure on Intelligence in Children,”

Fluoride 28, no. 4 (1995): 189–92, http://fluoridealert.org/scher/li-1995.pdf.

Y. Li, X. Jing, D. Chen, L. Lin, and Z. Wang, “Effects of Endemic Fluoride Poisoning on the

Intellectual Development of Children in Baotou,” Fluoride 41, no. 2 (2008): 161–64 (origi-

nally published in 2003 in Chinese Journal of Public Health Management), http://www

.fluorideresearch.org/412/files/FJ2008_v41_n2_p161-164.pdf.

F. F. Lin, Aihaiti, H. X. Zhao, et al., “The Relationship of a Low-Iodine and High-Fluoride

Environment to Subclinical Cretinism in Xinjiang,” Xinjiang Institute for Endemic

Disease Control and Research; Office of Leading Group for Endemic Disease Control

of Hetian Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China; and County Health

and Epidemic Prevention Station, Yutian, Xinjiang, Iodine Deficiency Disorder Newsletter 7,

(1991): 3, http://fluoridealert.org/scher/lin-1991.pdf; also see http://www.fluoridealert.org/

IDD.htm.

S. Liu, Y. Lu, Z. Sun, et al., “Report on the Intellectual Ability of Children Living in High-

Fluoride Water Areas,” Fluoride 41, no. 2 (2008): 144–47 (originally published in 2000 in

Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases), http://www.fluorideresearch.org/412/files/

FJ2008_v41_n2_p144-147.pdf.

Y. Lu, Z. R. Sun, L. N. Wu, et al., “Effect of High-Fluoride Water on Intelligence in

Children,” Fluoride 33, no. 2 (2000): 74–78, http://www.fluorideresearch.org/332/files/

FJ2000_v33_n2_p74-78.pdf.

Poureslami HR, et al. (2011). International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 21(Suppl s1):47.

L. Qin, S. Huo, R. Chen, et al., “Using the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices to

Determine the Effects of the Level of Fluoride in Drinking Water on the Intellectual

Ability of School-Age Children,” Fluoride 41, no. 2 (2008): 115–19 (originally published in

1990 in Chinese Journal of the Control of Endemic Disease), http://www.fluorideresearch

.org/412/files/FJ2008_v41_n2_p115-119.pdf.

D. Ren, K. Li, and D. Liu, “A Study of the Intellectual Ability of 8–14 Year-Old Children in

High Fluoride, Low Iodine Areas,” Fluoride 41, no. 4 (2008): 319–20 (originally published

in 1989 in Chinese Journal of Control of Endemic Diseases), http://www.fluorideresearch

.org/414/files/FJ2008_v41_n4_p319-320.pdf.

D. Rocha-Amador, M. E. Navarro, L. Carrizales, et al., “Decreased Intelligence in Children

and Exposure to Fluoride and Arsenic in Drinking Water,” Cadernos de Saúde Pública 23,

suppl. 4 (2007): S579–87.

B. Seraj, M. Shahrabi, M. Falahzade, et al., “Effect of High Fluoride Concentration in

Drinking Water on Children’s Intelligence,” Journal of Dental Medicine 19, no. 2 (2007):

80–86. Note: English translation forwarded by lead author (B. Seraj, department of pediatric

dentistry, faculty of dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences), http://fluoridealert

.org/scher/seraj-2007.trans.pdf.

M. H. Trivedi, R. J. Verma, N. J. Chinoy, et al., “Effect of High Fluoride Water on Intelligence

of School Children in India,” Fluoride 40, no. 3 (2007): 178–83, http://www.fluoride

research.org/403/files/FJ2007_v40_n3_p178-183.pdf.

G. Wang, D. Yang, F. Jia, and H. Wang, “A Study of the IQ Levels of Four- to Seven-Year-Old

Children in High Fluoride Areas,” Fluoride 41, no. 4 (2008): 340–43 (originally published

in 1996 in Endemic Diseases Bulletin [China]), http://www.fluorideresearch.org/414/files/

FJ2008_v41_n4_p340-343.pdf.

S. Wang, H. Zhang, W. Fan, et al., “The Effects of Endemic Fluoride Poisoning Caused by

Coal Burning on the Physical Development and Intelligence of Children,” Fluoride 41,

no. 4 (2008): 344–48 (originally published in 2005 in Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics

[China]), http://www.fluorideresearch.org/414/files/FJ2008_v41_n4_p344-348.pdf.

S. X. Wang, Z. H. Wang, X. T. Cheng, et al., “Arsenic and Fluoride Exposure in Drinking

Water: Children’s IQ and Growth in Shanyin County, Shanxi Province, China,”

Environmental Health Perspectives 115, no. 4 (2007): 643–47, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

pmc/articles/PMC1852689/.

Q. Xiang, Y. Liang, L. Chen, et al., “Effect of Fluoride in Drinking Water on Children’s

Intelligence,” Fluoride 36, no. 2 (2003): 84–94, http://www.fluorideresearch.org/362/files/

FJ2003_v36_n2_p84-94.pdf. Also see Q. Xiang, Y. Liang, M. Zhou, and H. Zang, “Blood

Lead of Children in Wamiao-Xinhuai Intelligence Study” (letter), Fluoride 36, no. 3 (2003):

198–99, http://www.fluorideresearch.org/363/files/FJ2003_v36_n3_p198-199.pdf.

L. B. Zhao, G. H. Liang, D. N. Zhang, and X. R. Wu, “Effect of High-Fluoride Water Supply

on Children’s Intelligence,” Fluoride 29, no. 4 (1996): 190–92, http://fluoridealert.org/scher/

zhao-1996.pdf.

The following five Chinese I.Q. studies have not yet been translated:

J. A. An, S. Z. Mei, A. P. Liu, et al., “Effect of High Level of Fluoride on Children’s Intelligence”

(article in Chinese), Zhong Guo Di Fang Bing Fang Zhi Za Zhi 7, no. 2 (1992): 93–94.

Z. X. Fan, H. X. Dai, A. M. Bai, et al., “Effect of High Fluoride Exposure on Children’s

In Intelligence” (article in Chinese), Huan Jing Yu Jian Kang Za Zhi 24, no. 10 (2007): 802–3.

Y. L. Xu, C. S. Lu, and X. N. Zhang, “Effect of Fluoride on Children’s Intelligence” (article in

Chinese), Di Fang Bing Tong Bao 9 (1994): 83–84.

L. M. Yao, Y. Deng, S. Y. Yang, et al., “Comparison of Children’s Health and Intelligence

Between the Fluorosis Area with Altering Water Source and Those without Altering Water

Source” (article in Chinese), Yu Fang Yi Xue Wen Xian Xin Xi 3, no. 1 (1997): 42–43.

J. W. Zhang, H. Yao, and Y. Chen, “Effect of High Level of Fluoride and Arsenium on

Children’s Intelligence” (article in Chinese), Zhong Guo Gong Gong Wei Sheng Xue Bao 17,

no. 2 (1998): 119.

Limit Fluoride to Prevent Lead Poisoning, Study Says

---

Fluoride chemicals added to public water supplies, boosts lead absorption in
lab animals' bones, teeth and blood, report Sawan, et al. (Toxicology 2/2010).
Earlier studies already show children's blood-lead-levels are higher in
 fluoridated communities, reports Sawan's research team.

"…exposure to increased amounts of lead and fluoride occurs at about the
same age (1-3 years)… Therefore, this is a critical time when systemic
exposure to fluoride should be minimized since fluoride may increase lead
accumulation," the researchers caution.

Low-level lead exposure is associated with lower IQ, ADHD and many
health and behavior ailments.

Fluosilicic acid (fluoride) is added to water supplies ostensibly to reduce
tooth decay.  

Sawan's team put fluosilicic acid, with and without lead, into lab animals'
drinking water. They found more lead in tooth enamel, surface bone, whole
bone, and tooth dentin in rats co-exposed to fluoride and lead.

Possibly anticipating criticism that rats were fed higher fluoride-concentrated
water than people drink, the authors write, "This concentration was chosen
 because it produces plasma fluoride levels that are comparable with those
commonly found in humans…"

Increased prevalence and severity of fluoride-discolored teeth (fluorosis)
proves U.S. children are already fluoride-overexposed, "which may cause
their blood-lead levels to increase and produce more lead toxicity," they write.

"These findings suggest that a biological effect, not recognized so far, may
underlie the epidemiological association between increased blood-lead l
evels in children and water fluoridation," concludes Sawan's research team.

"[O]ur findings may have serious implications for populations exposed to
increased amounts  of both lead and fluoride, particularly young children,"
the research team writes.

Fluoridation chemicals often contain lead

Other studies link fluoridation chemicals to higher blood lead levels

Masters and Coplan's landmark studies show higher blood-lead-levels in
children living in silico-fluoridated communities.
 (Neurotoxicology 2000, 2007).

Macek's research shows children's higher blood-lead-levels are associated
 with water fluoridation when lead is already in the environment
(Environmental Health Perspectives,2006).

Some fluoridation chemicals originate in China, Mexico and Japan,
reports the CDC

SOURCE New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.

Fluoride and The Pineal Gland

Another Study Links Fluoride to Lower IQ - #36

The Fluoride Action Network (FAN) has recently obtained the summary of a new Chinese study linking fluoride exposure to reduced intelligence in children. Incredibly, this is the 36th study to find an association between fluoride and reduced intelligence.  Although FAN has yet to translate the full study, a translation of the abstract reveals that the scientists not only examined the neurological impact of fluoride in water, but also the neurological impact of the total fluoride dose from all sources. According to the summary, the children in the high-fluoride community (0.57 to 4.5 ppm) had an average of 8 less IQ points than children from the lower fluoride community (0.18 to 0.76 ppm). When the authors controlled for other sources of fluoride in the children's diets, they found a significant "dose response" trend, meaning that children with higher total daily intakes of fluoride tended to have lower IQs than children with low fluoride intakes. The total daily doses ranged from 1 mg/day to 4+ mg/day -- a dose range that overlaps the doses that millions of American children now regularly receive. FAN obtained this study as part of its ongoing translation project which monitors, accesses, and translates critical studies from China and Russia that would otherwise never see the light of day in the U.S. As attorney Michael Connett explains below, FAN's translation project has already had a significant impact on the scientific debate, and we expect this impact will continue to increase in the months ahead. FAN's Translation Project By Michael Connett, JD If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? A similar question could once be asked about Chinese research on fluoride toxicity: For decades, Chinese scientists published studies on how fluoride impacts human health that -- because they were written in Chinese and published in Chinese journals -- were completely unknown and ignored by scientists in the U.S. and other fluoridating countries. In recent years, however, FAN has taken unprecedented steps to change this situation -- and in the process, has helped to change the scientific and public debate on water fluoridation. As someone who has been at the forefront of this effort, let me take a second to explain some of the background. In 2007, I conducted a comprehensive search of several online Chinese databases to find studies investigating fluoride's effect on the brain. Up until that time, it was believed that only about 5 studies had ever investigated fluoride's impact on IQ. It became apparent to me upon searching through the databases, however, that many other IQ studies had been conducted that had never before been cited in the western literature. At FAN, we take our job of broadening public awareness about fluoride seriously. Believing that knowledge of these studies would draw much needed attention to fluoride's adverse effects on the brain, FAN accessed, translated, and published ten IQ studies in the 2008 volume of the journal Fluoride. Although these studies had been published in China as far back as 1989, they had almost entirely escaped the attention of western scientists. Thanks to FAN's research, however, they had become available for all to see. One of FAN's guiding principles is that better information produces better results; that the more the public knows about fluoride, the wiser they will be in handling it in a safe and sensible manner. We were very gratified, therefore, when a team of Harvard scientists -- in a highly publicized review on fluoride and IQ earlier this year -- cited almost all of FAN's IQ translations, and provided 8 links to the FAN webpage. When Harvard scientists publish a study in a leading environmental health journal (Environmental Health Perspectives) and cite your organization's research no less than 8 times, you know you're doing something right! The 2012 Translations In the spring of this year, I decided to do another comprehensive review of the Chinese databases to see if I could find any additional studies on fluoride and IQ, as well as other effects. As with the previous effort, it didn't take long to realize that there was still a vast amount of research on fluoride's toxicity that had still not seen the light of day in the western world. So, once again FAN began accessing and translating these studies. In total, FAN accessed and translated eleven previously unknown studies on IQ, ten of which reported a reduction in IQ from fluoride exposure. All of these studies are now publicly available on the FAN website for all to see. As it now stands, FAN has translated 48 studies from Chinese and Russian into English. These studies provide extremely important data and insights on how fluoride affects human health. FAN has unearthed studies, for example, showing that fluoride can cause diabetes and osteoarthritis, alter thyroid hormone levels, reduce testosterone levels in males, damage fetal brain, alter behavior in infants, and cause skeletal fluorosis at fluoride levels below 1 ppm (the level added in water fluoridation programs).

Bottled Water NOT linked to More Tooth Decay, Dentists Admit

"There has been no research to show using bottled water causes tooth decay," reports American Dental Association spokesman Dr. Johnathan Shenkin in a Healthday.com article.

Dr. Burton Edelstein agrees. He is president of the DC-based Children's Dental Health Project and Columbia University dentistry professor who describes the increasing prevalence of tooth decay among young children as "alarming."

"[Today] one in 10 2-year olds, one in five 3-year olds, one in three 4-year olds and approaching half of 5-year-olds have visually evident tooth decay experience," he said, adding that "the consequences in terms of pain, infection, dysfunction and unmet treatment need are significant.” Edelstein told Healthday.com

No US child is fluoride-deficient. But up to 60% show signs of fluoride-overdose (dental fluorosis), Tooth decay rates are soaring despite 67 years of fluoridation, 57 years of fluoridated toothpaste, a glut of fluoridated dental products, and a fluoride-saturated food supply. 

The U.S. Surgeon General reports that excessive fluoride increases susceptibility to cavities.

To avoid crippling skeletal fluorosis, the Environmental Protection Agency sets 4 parts per million (ppm) or 4 milligrams per quart of water as a “safe” water level.. Many  Americans exceed that amount from all sources.

The Iowa Fluoride Study's principal investigator, Steven Levy, found that some babies ingest 6 milligrams fluoride daily. Furthermore, Levy found 90% of 3-month-olds consumed over their recommended fluoride levels. "There is no specific nutritional requirement for fluoride...,” Levy et al. admit.

Levy also found:

-- 77% of soft drinks had fluoride levels greater than 0.60 ppm
-- two ounces of baby chicken food provides baby's maximum dose
-- foods high in fluoride -- teas, dry infant cereals, dried chicken, and
seafood
-- grape juice, especially white, contains very high fluoride levels
-- 42% of juice and juice drinks tested revealed unlabeled fluoride levels
greater than 0.60 ppm
-- cereals processed in fluoridated areas contain from 3.8 to 6.3 ppm
fluoride

The USDA provides a database of fluoride contents of food
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Fluoride/Fluoride.html

Reports that bottled-water drinkers risk more cavities are
unsubstantiated. The Wall Street Journal reported, "Little research has been
done on the use of bottled water and risk of tooth decay, dental experts
concede. 

"For children's dental health measures, it was found that fluoridation rates were not significantly related to the measures of either caries or overall condition of the teeth for urban or rural areas." (West Virginia University Rural Health Research Center, 2012) 

"It may...be that fluoridation of drinking water does not have a strong protective effect against early childhood caries (cavities)," reports dentist Howard Pollick, University of California, and colleagues, in the Winter 2003 Journal of Public Health Dentistry.

Even when fluoridated water is the most consumed item, cavities are extensive when diets are poor, according to Caries Research.

Burt and colleagues studied low-income African-American adults, 14-years-old and over, living in Detroit, Michigan, where water suppliers add fluoride chemicals attempting to prevent cavities. Yet, 83%of this population has severe tooth decay and diets high in sugars and fats, and low in fruits and vegetables.

"The most frequently reported food on a daily basis was [fluoridated] tap water," write Burt's research team. Second were [probably fluoridated] soft drinks and third were potato chips.

Tooth decay in fluoridated Detroit's toddlers' teeth is also shocking. Almost all of Detroit's five-year-olds have cavities; most of them go unfilled.

The scientific literature now tells us that ingesting fluoride does not reduce tooth decay so it’s no surprise that drinking fluoride-free bottled water is not linked to higher rates of tooth decay and that people who drink fluoridated tap water are not experiencing less tooth decay.

Death by Fluoride

A wee bit of fluoride makes teeth and dentists happy, we’re told. Dr. Happy Tooth’s smiley face turns into a frown when his favorite decay magic bullet is busted as a killer. Anything in large doses kills, bristles Drs. Drill, Fill & Bill, even Dihydrogen Monoxide, they often tease. Ha, ha, get it – water – H2O. Stop picking on fluoride, they say, you make us look bad, often invoking the movie “Dr. Strangelove.”

Few people know that fluoride maims and kills. Dentists wouldn’t want you worrying your little head off, and possibly scaring you away from twice-yearly insurance-paid-whether-you-need-it-or-not treatments and those horrible toxic doses (26,000 ppm) of fluoride varnish they paint on babies' teeth. Fluoride’s toxicity is downplayed-–or worse, never mentioned. That way everyone stays happy including organized dentistry’s biggest benefactors--toothpaste makers, and the media and legislators supported by the same benefactors.

The following are stories organized dentistry and fluoride profiteers fail to mention:

a) A two-year-old Australian boy died after swallowing too many fluoride tablets(4).

b) A three-year-old Austrian boy died from swallowing too many fluoride tablets (5).

c) Three-year-old American boy died from ingesting, instead of expectorating, his dentist’s fluoride treatment (6).

d) Three dialysis patients died from fluoride poisoning at the University of Chicago Hospital when equipment meant to filter out fluoride from the water supply malfunctioned (7).

e) Fluoride killed an Alaskan man and poisoned 296 others after too much fluoride accidentally flowed into the public water supply (8).

f) Fluoride killed a 65-year-old kidney dialysis patient who became ill during a blood cleaning process after water supply workers left a fluoride valve for too long to allow toxic fluoride levels to flow into the public water supply (9) in Annapolis, Maryland.

g) A 51-year-old committed suicide by fluoridated toothpaste, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (1). They won’t release the who, what, where, when and why to us.

h) 47 children were accidentally killed by a cook who mistakenly made their egg breakfast sodium fluoride powder instead of powdered milk (14)

i) A Kentuckian died after accidentally given liquid fluoride to wash down a pill at an Annapolis drugstore

These are cases where fluoride sickened and/or disabled people:

A) A 52-year-old women with a two-gallon, double-strength daily instant tea habit developed bone and joint pain and other abnormalities indicative of chronic fluoride toxicity or skeletal fluorosis. After breaking the tea habit her pain and discomfort alleviated. Tea is naturally high in fluoride and few doctors are trained to diagnose fluoride’s adverse effects (2).

B) Daily high-dose fluoride home therapy caused gastric distress, difficulty in swallowing, leg muscle and knee joint soreness, and general malaise in a patient, according to the Journal of the American Dental Association (3).

C) A 57-year-old Englishman’s misdiagnosed Paget’s disease (weakened bones) with osteoarthritis was finally correctly diagnosed as skeletal fluorosis caused by his long-term heavy tea-drinking habit. (x)

D) A 36-year-old Chinese woman’s ten-years of joint pain disappeared when she stopped drinking tea. (x)

E) French doctors identified 5 patients who developed bone softening (osteomalacia) from drinking tea. (x)


Each year there are thousands of reports to Poison Control centers in the United States related to excessive ingestion of fluoride dental products (toothpaste, mouth rinses, and supplements).
Animals aren’t immune. Elk drinking naturally high fluoridated water in Yellowstone Park die a decade sooner than they should (3a). 

Kangaroos are poisoned by fluoride, too. Fluoride makes lesions grow on their bones, which renders them lame.

Documented cases of animals poisoned by fluoride include horses, chinchillas and alligators.

Cattle have been killed from industrial fluoride emissions

Many Americans fail to notice their fluoridated toothpaste carries this message: “WARNING: Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”

Dentists often downplay this warning protecting fluoride more than your children. But a leading toxicologist and fluoridation promoter, Gary Whitford, PhD, protected his own children from their toxic fluoride tubes by putting them out of their reach. See:  http://fluoridedangers.blogspot.com/2014/08/keep-fluoride-toothpaste-out-of.html  Did your dentist ever tell you that?


Fluoride caused many industrial, occupational and environmental sicknesses and deaths also (10).

Natural fluoride cripples and maims too many people in the world who live on high naturally-fluoridated water supplies such as in Nalgonda, India (11).

Symptoms of skeletal fluorosis, according to Chemical & Engineering News (13):

In the early clinical stage of skeletal fluorosis, symptoms include pains in the bones and joints; sensations of burning, pricking, and tingling in the limbs; muscle weakness; chronic fatigue; and gastrointestinal disorders and reduced appetite. During this phase, changes in the pelvis and spinal column can be detected on x-rays. The bone has both a more prominent and more blurred structure.

In the second clinical stage, pains in the bones become constant and some of the ligaments begin to calcify. Osteoporosis may occur in the long bones, and early symptoms of osteosclerosis (a condition in which the bones become more dense and have abnormal crystalline structure) are present. Bony spurs may also appear on the limb bones, especially around the knee, the elbow, and on the surface of tibia and ulna.

In advanced skeletal fluorosis, called crippling skeletal fluorosis, the extremities become weak and moving the joints is difficult. The vertebrae partially fuse together, crippling the patient.

Dr. A. K. Susheela, a leading fluoride expert, explains in a video why US physicians overlook fluoride as a possible cause of diseases commonly caused by fluoride. http://tinyurl.com/Susheela

References:
(1) American Association of Poison Control Centers, 2002 Annual Report, (Page 367)
http://www.aapcc.org/archive/Annual%20Reports/02report/Annual%20Report%202002.pdf
(2) J Bone Miner Res. 2008 “Skeletal Fluorosis from Instant Tea,” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18179362
(3) Controlling the fluoride dosage in a patient with compromised salivary function.
Journal of the American Dental Association. January 2005 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15693498 by Fred Eichmiller et al ( Eichmiller presented pro-fluoride information at Alderman Bohl’s fluoridation hearing as an employee of Delta Dental who made over $400,000 a year in 2010 )

(3a) “Too Much Fluoride Takes a Toll on Elk,” BY BECKY BOHRER, The Associated Press, February 13, 2004 http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=29346&keybold=water%20AND%20%20fluoride
(4) http://www.fluoride-history.de/burton.htm
(5) http://www.fluoride-history.de/huala.htm
(6) http://www.fluoride-history.de/kennerly.htm
(7) http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/accidents/chicago-1993.html
(8) “Acute fluoride poisoning from a public water system,”.
New England Journal of Medicine, January 1994 http://tinyurl.com/3l8bdt
(9) http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/accidents/annapolis.html
(10) http://www.fluoridealert.org/f-pollution.htm
(11) Indian villagers crippled by fluoride, by Omer Farooq, BBC correspondent in Hyderabad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2926049.stm
(13) CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWSAugust 1, 1988
Fluoridation of Water Questions about health risks and benefits remain after more than 40 years
Bette Hileman, http://www.fluoridealert.org/s-fluorosis.htm
(14) TIME Magazine, "Death by Fluoride" November 1942
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766637,00.html
(x ) Case Reports by Cao and Yi in the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry (February 2008) “Tea and fluorosis:”

Beware Foreign Fluoride

Sodium fluoride is added to many US water supplies, including Sacramento, California, in a failed effort to reduce tooth decay in Americans who cook with and drink tap water. Fluoride is not added to purify the water.

"Crystalline sodium fluoride is no longer produced in the USA and now is only available from import manufacturers in China, Japan, and Belgium. It should be noted that Center for Disease Control (CDC) made strong recommendations that only US product be used due to quality control and efficient operation of the saturator system," according to the Director, Department of Utilities, Sacramento, California.

"The Japan and China manufactured supplies have been found to be of a lower quality, causing costly equipment problems and failures. Shipments of sodium fluoride often have damaged bags that are leaking product through punctures or failed seals as well," he reports.

"The movement of suppliers away from domestically produced sodium fluoride is adversely affecting the fluoridation feed equipment of our 28 wells, primarily due to clogged fluoride injector pumps. Much of the loss of ground water well production is due to fluoride related issues," he continues.

"Fluoridation is a very costly and labor intensive process and requires constant monitoring of fluoride concentrations to ensure proper dosages. The chemical is very corrosive, so all equipment that is used in the fluoridation process has a very short life expectancy and needs to be replaced frequently.; The crystalline sodium fluoride that is used at the 28 well sites not only causes the need for frequent equipment replacement, but also causes frequent and complex system failures.  Such system failures mean that, while wells are out of service and until the problem has been identified and resolved, the wells are not being used to deliver potable water to rate payers. Well shut downs also affect our ability to meet water pressure requirements which are mandated in Title 22," he continues.

Amesbury, Massachusetts, ended fluoridation when its Chinese fluoride clogged up the system with an unknown substance.

China has a history of contaminating food items for profit.  Why would we be buying China's fertilizer waste, sodium fluoride, and expect it to be safe? 


The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported  that Chinese authorities  discovered 15,000 cases of substandard food so far this year while shutting down 5,700 unlicensed food businesses.

The CDC says 3 types of  Fluoride Additives can be used for water fluoridation in the US:

• Fluorosilicic acid: a water-based solution used by most water fluoridation programs in the United States. Fluorosilicic acid is also referred to as hydrofluorosilicate, FSA, or HFS.
• Sodium fluorosilicate: a dry additive, dissolved into a solution before being added to water.
• Sodium fluoride: a dry additive, typically used in small water systems, dissolved into a solution before being added to water.

NSF International has the job of certifying fluoridation chemicals as safe and found 43 samples with detectable levels of arsenic



 

Dispensing With Fluoride, By Andrew W. Saul

As a child, there was nothing I liked about going to the dental dispensary, with the possible exception of the large tropical fish aquarium in the waiting room. This was a distraction to what was coming: three hours in a vast hall containing a double line of black dental chairs and a matching double line of white-clad dental students. And that, as a six-year-old, is where I first met fluoride on a regular basis. After a free cleaning and checkup (the reason my cost-conscious parents had me go there, and the reason it literally took three hours to complete), fluoride was applied to my teeth with a swab. I remember both the smell (acrid) and the taste (astringent). I actually looked forward to the fluoride treatment, simply because it was the last thing they did to me before I was allowed to leave. Did it work? Probably not. In addition to my regular topical fluoride treatments, I lived in a city with fluoridated water and was raised on fluoridated toothpaste. And I had a mouthful of amalgam by high-school graduation.

Controversy? What Controversy?

In the late 1970s, as a young parent, I became aware of the National Fluoridation News, published in the still largely unknown town of Gravette, Arkansas (pop 2,200). For a very small donation, I received a boxful of back issues by return mail. In addition to this generosity, what surprised me about the NFNews was the high caliber of its content. Most of the non-editorial articles were well referenced and the work of well qualified scientists. This was something of a poser, for as a college biology major, I had been thoroughly schooled in the two Noble Truths of Fluoridation: 1) that fluoride in drinking water would reduce tooth decay by 60-65% and 2) that anyone who disagreed with this view was a fool. Yes, I had seen the movie Dr. Strangelove, and yes, I knew how to read an ADA endorsement on a toothpaste label.

Not long after this, my penchant for reading toothpaste labels paid off. There it was, printed right on the back of the tube:

"Children should only use a 'pea-sized' portion of fluoride toothpaste when they brush."

I had two toddlers, and this caught my interest. Looking into it, I learned that small children swallow a considerable quantity of toothpaste when they brush, perhaps most of it.

Anyone who has watched television at all could not have failed to see toothpaste ads. They always showed the brush loaded, with decorative overhang tips flared out on each end. When "AIM" brand toothpaste first came out, I distinctly remember toothpaste being displayed in two or even three layers on the brush. The number of children that used the product so generously, and swallowed half of it, will likely remain unknown. As for me, I immediately switched my family to toothpaste with no fluoride in it. As for toothpaste labels, they rather quickly were re-written. They now read:

"If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately."

But all children swallow more than is used for brushing. The only question is, how much? The US Centers for Disease Control states:

"Fluoride toothpaste contributes to the risk for enamel fluorosis because the swallowing reflex of children aged less than 6 years is not always well controlled, particularly among children aged less than 3 years. Children are also known to swallow toothpaste deliberately when they like its taste. A child-sized toothbrush covered with a full strip of toothpaste holds approximately 0.75-1.0 g of toothpaste, and each gram of fluoride toothpaste, as formulated in the United States, contains approximately 1.0 mg of fluoride. Children aged less than 6 years swallow a mean of 0.3 g of toothpaste per brushing and can inadvertently swallow as much as 0.8 g." [1, emphasis added]

For children age 6 and under, that is an average swallow of a third of the toothpaste they use, and a possibility of inadvertently swallowing 80% or more. There is about a milligram of fluoride in a single "serving" of toothpaste. I am calling it a "serving" because fluoride in toothpaste is regulated as if it were a food, not a drug. How is this true? Adding even less than one milligram of fluoride to a single serving of children's vitamins instantly makes them a prescription drug. It is truly odd that fluoride toothpaste remains an over-the-counter product.

Into the Schools

When my children were in grade school, the local dental college (the people who brought us the dispensary I went to as a young boy) interested our school district in a research project. Our town's public water was under local control and unfluoridated, unlike the city nearby. So the idea was to administer fluoride rinses to schoolchildren, during the school day, and then count caries. We were asked to sign a permission letter, which emphasized likely benefits and glossed over any hazards. Remembering what youngsters did with sweet toothpaste, I made a guess that they'd swallow a saccharin-laced rinse about as well. We chose to not sign. But I did check the box to receive results of the study. It ultimately came in the form of a letter, saying that the results were disappointingly inconclusive: no evidence that fluoride rinses helped our unfluoridated-water-drinking community. I am unaware that the study was published.

That is not especially surprising. Shutting out access to balanced scientific discussion of fluoridation is alive and well. . . and taxpayer supported. Negative fluoride studies and reviews are hardly abundant on PubMed/Medline. One does not need to be a conspiracy theorist to observe that the US National Library of Medicine refuses to index the journal Fluoride. [2] Censorship is conspicuously aberrant behavior for any public library.

No Discussion

About 15 years ago, our town's public water supply was annexed by the nearby metropolis. Aside from a rate increase, the only other, barely detectable change to our bill was a one-time typed legend at the bottom of it that fluoride has now been added to the water. There had been no vote, and there had not even been any discussion. Communities coast-to-coast know that this is not at all uncommon. Four glasses of fluoridated tap water contain about as much fluoride as a prescription dose does. Not only is fluoridated water nonprescription, it is even more certain to be swallowed than toothpaste. Being over 6 years of age means better control over swallowing reflexes, thus limiting ingestion of fluoride from toothpaste. There is no such accommodation for drinking water.

Evidence-based medicine requires evidence before medicating. Fluoridation of water is not evidence-based. It has not been tested in well-controlled studies. Fluoridation of public water is a default medication, since you have to deliberately avoid it if you do not want to take it. A person's daily intake of fluoride simply from drinking an average quantity of fluoridated tap water, fluoridated bottled water, and beverages produced or prepared with fluoridated water can easily exceed the threshold for what your druggist would rightly demand a prescription for. Fluoride in toothpaste and mouth rinses also is medication. It may be intended as topical, but the reality is different. No matter how it may be applied in their mouths, young children are going to swallow it. Indeed, most of the public and the dental profession already have.

References:

1. Fluoride Recommendations Work Group. Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the United States. CDC Recommendations and Reports 2001;50(RR14):1-42. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5014a1.htm

2. http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n05.shtml If you want access to what the US taxpayer-funded National Library of Medicine refuses to index, you may read over 40 years' of articles from the journal Fluoride, free of charge, at http://www.fluorideresearch.org/ Scroll down to "Archives and Indexes,1968-2011."

Comment by Albert W. Burgstahler, PhD: Support for these views and conclusions is found in a recent review in Critical Public Health (2011:1-19) titled "Slaying sacred cows: is it time to pull the plug on water fluoridation?" by Stephen Peckham of the Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In his article, Peckham concludes that evidence for the effectiveness and safety of water fluoridation is seriously defective and not in agreement with findings of a growing body of current and previously overlooked research. For an abstract of this report, scroll down at: http://www.fluorideresearch.org/444/files/FJ2011_v44_n4_p260-261_sfs.pdf

This revised article originally appeared in Fluoride 2011, 44(4)188-190. It is reprinted with kind permission of the International Society for Fluoride Research Inc. www.fluorideresearch.org or www.fluorideresearch.com. Editorial Office: 727 Brighton Road, Ocean View, Dunedin 9035, New Zealand.

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and contact person. Email: omns@orthomolecular.org Readers may write in with their comments and questions for consideration for publication and as topic suggestions. However, OMNS is unable to respond to individual emails.

Yet, Another Embarrassing Fluoridation Birthday

Sixty-eight years ago, on January 25, sodium fluoride was slowly poured into Grand Rapids, Michigan’s public water supply to prove that fluoridation reduces children’s tooth decay. Five years into the experiment, things weren’t going as expected. Cavities declined equally in the non-fluoridated control city of Muskegon, too. So to blur the truth or prove their expectation, Muskegon was fluoridated also.

So what’s happening today?

Grand Rapids children are showing high rates of tooth decay and dental fluorosis. According to the Grand Rapids Press, one pediatric dentist said in 2007 “…we see children under the age of 2 with active decay…Rather than just a few cavities, we're seeing a lot of cavities. It's not unusual to see a child with 8 to 10 cavities."

America’s children are fluoride-overdosed with almost half of all adolescents  afflicted with dental fluorosis, white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth.  Tooth decay has increased in toddlers, untreated tooth decay is epidemic, more dental schools are opening and more dental professionals have been created.  Emergency rooms are flooded with patients in dental pain because 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients and half of all Americans don’t have dental insurance.  Those that have insurance can’t afford the out-of-pocket expenses.  And Americans have died from the consequences of untreated tooth decay.

The US Department of Health and Human  Services and  the Centers for Disease Control and many other dental,  health and government agencies now recommend that infant formula NOT be mixed with fluoridated water to avoid dental fluorosis.  References:  http://www.FormulaFluoride.Webs.com.

The prestigious US National Research Council produced a fluoride report which reveals that fluoride, even at the low doses added to water supplies can be detrimental to the thyroid gland, kidney patients, people who drink high volumes of water and babies.  But it’s being ignored

. In 1990, the New York State Department of Health (DoH) published a study, “Fluoride: Benefits and Risks of Exposure,” alerting officials that fluoride can be harmful to  kidney 
patients, diabetics and those with fluoride hypersensitivity even at “optimal” levels.  But the advice went unheeded, research left undone and today’s claims of safety ring hollow. 


Kaminsky et. al report: "The available data suggest that some 
individuals may experience hypersensitivity to fluoride-containing 
agents” and " …individuals with renal insufficiency who consume large 
quantities of fluoridated water are at an increased risk of developing 
skeletal fluorosis.”  Research in these two areas were advised but 
never conducted. 

Further, dental fluorosis was reported in diabetics who consume large 
volumes of water containing 0.5 to 1.0 mg fluoride/liter, the latter 
equal to NYS’s fluoridated water supplies. 

Malfunctioning kidneys may not adequately filter fluoride from the 
blood allowing toxic fluoride levels to build up in and damage bones. 
Symptoms of skeletal fluorosis include bone pain, tenderness and 
fractures, according to the EPA. 

The American Dental Association admits in its Fluoridation Facts 
booklet "decreased fluoride removal may occur among persons with 
severely impaired kidney function who may not be on kidney dialysis." 

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) withdrew its fluoridation 
endorsement in 2007, with advice that “individuals with CKD [Chronic 
Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk of fluoride 
exposure.”

The landmark 2006 National Research Council fluoride report stated, 
“Early water fluoridation studies did not carefully assess changes in 
renal [kidney] function...Several investigators have shown that 
patients with impaired renal function, or on hemodialysis, tend to 
accumulate fluoride much more quickly than normal." 

Bone changes in advanced kidney patients are similar to bone changes 
found in individuals with skeletal fluorosis, according to the 
Fluoride Action Network. This raises the possibility that some 
individuals with kidney disease are suffering from undiagnosed 
skeletal fluorosis. 

Seven New York City Council Members are sponsoring legislation to stop 
fluoridation in New York City NYC residents can lighten their 
toxic fluoride exposure by contacting Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Speaker 
Christine Quinn and their own Council Member to make sure they vote to 
stop the addition of fluoride chemicals into NYC’s water supply

Many more citizens and legislators are not buying into the false fluoridation information and ending this outdated,ineffective, health-robbing, money-wasting concept.  Many communities have stopped fluoridation and many more are considering despite the false information presented by the dental lobby.

We urge you to join them and demand that water fluoridation stop where you live. Educate your neighbors and then your legislators.  Informed people do not want fluoride in their water.

for more info http://www.FluorideAction.Net

http://www.Fluoridation.Webs.com

http://tinyurl.com/NewsReleases

.

Is Fluoride Unsafe? Only When Swallowed.

“What really determines whether fluoride is safe, is the amount that is swallowed,” says Amid I. Ismail, BDS, MPH, MBA, DrPH, and Dean, Temple University, School of Dentistry in Dear Doctor Magazine. (1)

 

Dr. Ismail says, “Fluoride occurs naturally in soil, fresh and seawater varying dramatically in levels from as low as 0.01 to 8ppm or more....In actuality the “optimal” (most desirable or satisfactory) level is virtually impossible to calculate because of variations in fluoride levels in all sorts of foods and beverages. 

 

'For example, people living in temperate climates drink less than those in tropical climates. However, it cannot even be assumed that because a person lives in a community with non-fluoridated water, they are receiving low levels of fluoride. Fluoride ingestion can also result from drinking substantial amounts of soft drinks or juices. Most bottled waters contain less than 0.3 ppm; however, some contain close to or more than 1 ppm.”

 

"Breast milk and cow's milk are very low in fluoride,” says Ismail. Manufacturers voluntarily lowered fluoride levels in infant formula. But when concentrated infant formula is mixed with fluoridated water, infant formula fluoride levels are higher, says Dr. Ismail. Federal agencies, health departments and organized dentistry advise using non-fluoridated water to make infant formula to avoid damaging babies' teeth. References: http://www.FormulaFluoride.webs.com.

“Also, soy-based formulas are consistently higher in fluoride content than milk-based products. Other foods that have high fluoride content are teas, dry infant cereals and processed chicken, fish and seafood products,” says Ismail.

“It should also be emphasized that “topical” fluorides such as toothpaste can also have a systemic effect if inadvertently swallowed by young children,” cautions Dr. Ismail. Fluoride also gets absorbed into the bloodstream even when not swallowed.

"Tooth mottling should be monitored in communities to assess fluoride intake and recommendations made accordingly,” writes Ismail. 

However, few communities follow Dr. Ismail's advice and fluoridate the water without considering residents’ total fluoride intake from other sources. In fact, a Connersville, Indiana, study indicated children already ingested too much fluoride; but dentists lobbied successfully for fluoridation anyway. To our knowledge, no dental fluorosis studies have ever been published on this population.

Dr. Ismail questions whether mild fluorosis is acceptable any more with esthetics becoming more important in this day and age. He says, “decisions concerning this tradeoff could warrant reconsideration. Fluorosis varies in appearance from small white striations to stained pitting and severe brown mottling of enamel,” he writes.

“The main documented risk factors for fluorosis (in no particular order) are fluoride in water, infant formula reconstituted with fluoridated water, supplements and dentifrices,” he writes.

Dr. Ismail reports that “Commissioned by the EPA, a 2006 National Research Council (NRC) study has sparked the latest controversy. In addition to unsightly enamel fluorosis at 4 ppm and above, it claims: a possible increased risk of bone fracture in certain conditions; skeletal fluorosis; and potential to cause bone cancer...”

“Fluoride is incorporated into bone...after a point though it can make bone more brittle and at higher levels can cause “skeletal” fluorosis, which has a greater potential for painful joints and even fractures,” reports Ismail.

“The over use of fluoride during the first six to eight years of life represents the important period of tooth development when enamel fluorosis can occur. It is critical for parents to monitor fluoride sources to reduce the occurrence of white spots from fluorosis,” he writes.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that over 41% of adolescents now suffer with dental fluorosis – 3% of it is moderate or severe. At the same time tooth decay rates are increasing in toddlers and untreated tooth decay has become epidemic.

In Kentucky, despite a 1977 fluoridation state-wide mandate, preschoolers cavity rates went from 28% in 1987 to 47% in 2001, according to the July/August 2003 journal, Pediatric Dentistry,

According to an 11/27/2011 news article, “In recent years, Northern Kentucky health officials have encountered more children with cavities in a state known for some of the worst teeth in the nation. Kentucky has the second highest rate of toothlessness in the U.S. The national average is 20.5 percent, while 38 percent of Kentuckians have lost their teeth.”(2) 

 

The article quotes Linda Poynter, the Northern Kentucky Health Department's oral health program manager. "I've seen too many 5-year-olds with rampant decay who are going to have a body full of abscesses, if (their dental problems) aren't taken care of," Poynter said.

 

The article continues, “In recent years, pupils in the Northern Kentucky schools that the local health department visits are experiencing more tooth decay. The percentage of students with tooth decay was 45 percent in 2009. That rose to 47 percent in 2010, and so far this school year, 49 percent of the children screened have tooth decay.”

It’s not just Kentucky, tooth decay went up after fluoridation began in San Antonio, Texas, also.

Last week, KENS 5 – TV reported “After 9 years and $3 million of adding fluoride, research shows tooth decay hasn’t dropped among the poorest of Bexar County’s children. It has only increased—up 13% in 2010, the latest date that data was available.
One out of two children in the Head Start program who were checked for cavities had some decay last year.”

Actually tooth decay crises are occurring in all fluoridated cities, states and countries. See: http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com

Fluoride Supplements Just as Useless

Dr. Ismail reported "There is weak and inconsistent evidence that the use of fluoride supplements prevents dental caries [cavities] in primary teeth," according to a systematic review of fluoride supplement research published in the November 2008 Journal of the American Dental Association. Dr. Ismail is also an organizer of the American Dental Association Clinical Recommendation Panels on Fluoride Supplement.


“This review confirmed that, in non-fluoridated communities, the use of fluoride supplements during the first 6 years of life is associated with a significant increase in the risk of developing dental fluorosis, write researchers Ismail & Bandekar and first published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, February 1999 and to the ADA's website July 2007 but then taken down.

References:

1) Dear Doctor Magazine, “Fluoride & Fluoridation in Dentistry”

2) “

N.Ky. kids' teeth at risk,” NKY.com

http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20111127/NEWS0103/111270308/-N-Ky-kids-teeth-risk?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

 

3)

“Added to our drinking water: A chemical 'more toxic than lead'? “ by Joe Conger

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/More-toxic-than-lead--134366538.html

 

Evidence that fluoridation fails to reduce tooth decay in New York State and fails to level out decay between haves and have nots