Facts About Fluoridation You Did Not Know

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> Facts About Fluoridation You Did Not Know

> By Fluoride Action Network

> http://www.mercola.com/2002/jan/30/fluoridation_facts.htm

>

> 98% Of Western Europe Has Rejected Water Fluoridation. This includes

> Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg,

> Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. The predominant reason for Europe's

> rejection is the belief that public drinking water is NOT the appropriate

> vehicle with which to deliver medication to a population.

>

> Fluoride Is Not An Essential Nutrient, which means that no human disease

> (including dental decay) has ever been linked to a fluoride deficiency.

(1)

>

> The fluoride used to fluoridate water is an industrial waste product from

> the phosphate fertilizer industry. It is an unprocessed hazardous waste,

> contaminated with a number of toxins, particularly arsenic.

>

> Fluoridation adds between 0.1 and 1.6 parts per billion (ppb) Arsenic to

> drinking water, and therefore violates the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level

> Goal for arsenic - which is 0 ppb. (2)

>

> Hydrofluosilicic acid & sodium silicofluoride, which are the chemicals

used

> to fluoridate 91% of fluoridated water in the US, have Never Been Tested

for

> safety and effectiveness.

>

> According to a November 16, 2000 letter from the EPA, " to answer your

> question on whether we have in our possession empirical scientific data on

> the effects of fluosilicic acid or sodium silicofluoride on health and

> behavior, the answer is no. "

>

> Most dental authorities are now conceding that there is little, if any,

> benefit from swallowing fluoride, and that fluoride's benefits (whatever

> they are) come from topical application.

>

> When water fluoridation began 50 years ago, it was believed that fluoride

> needed to be ingested in order to be effective. This is NO longer the view

> of the dental establishment, which now generally concedes that fluoride's

> benefits are derived primarily from topical application. (3)

>

> According, for instance, to the US Centers for Disease Control,

" Laboratory

> and epidemiologic research suggests that fluoride prevents dental caries

> predominately after eruption of the tooth into the mouth, and its actions

> primarily are topical for both adults and children. "

>

> All fluoride products designed to be ingested (e.g. fluoride supplements)

> are available by prescription only. No fluoride products designed for

> ingestion have ever been approved as safe or effective by the US Food &

Drug

> Administration. (4)

>

> By Logical Extension Fluoridated Water Can Appropriately Be Classified As

An

> Unapproved Prescription Drug.

>

> The dental community concedes that fluoride is ineffective at preventing

the

> most common type of dental decay - pit & fissures. Pit & fissure decay -

> which is the decay found in the crevices of the chewing surfaces -

accounts

> for upwards of 85% of dental decay now experienced in the US. (5)

>

> New evidence suggests that fluoridation is either unnecessary or doesn't

> work. Cavities have declined at similarly impressive rates throughout the

> entire western, industrialized world over the past half century.

>

> This decline has occurred irrespective of a country's fluoridation status.

> Western Europe, which is 98% unfluoridated, has experienced the SAME

decline

> in cavities as the heavily fluoridated US, and today enjoys the SAME low

> level of tooth decay. (6)

>

> The largest dental survey ever conducted in the US found virtually no

> difference in dental decay between children living in fluoridated vs.

> unfluoridated areas.

>

> The study, which was conducted by the National Institute Of Dental

Research

> (NIDR), found that the average difference in tooth decay (0.6 tooth

> surfaces) between children living in fluoridated vs unfluoridated areas

> amounted to LESS than 0.5% of the 128 total tooth surfaces in a child's

> mouth. (7)

>

> Five peer-reviewed studies published in the last 2 years have found that

> dental decay DOES NOT increase when communities stop fluoridation. (8)

>

> The rhetoric supporting fluoridation is increasingly centered around the

> notion that fluoridation benefits the neediest in society the most. This

> claim flies in the face of the experience of most US inner cities over the

> past 50 years.

>

> Despite the fact that nearly all large US cities have been fluoridated for

> decades, dental decay is currently rampant in virtually all poor urban

> areas.

>

> One of the major dental health problems experienced in poor communities is

a

> debilitating condition known as " baby bottle tooth decay " which is also

> referred to as " early childhood caries. "

>

> This condition, which results from excessive consumption of sweetened

> liquids at a young age, is not prevented by water fluoridation. (9)

> According to a study in Pediatric Nursing " Data from Head Start surveys

show

> the prevalence of baby bottle tooth decay is about three times the

national

> average among poor urban children, even in communities with a fluoridated

> water supply. "

>

> Fluoride Is A Very Toxic Substance, which is why it is the active

ingredient

> in a number of pesticides. Just 2 grams of fluoride is enough to kill an

> adult, and just 500 mg is enough to kill a child. (11) In the US, people

> have died, and many have become sick, when faltering fluoridation

equipment

> has pumped excess fluoride into the water.

> Poor nutrition exacerbates the toxic effects of fluoride exposure, which

is

> a further reason why it's wrong to target poor communities with

fluoridation

> (as poor nutrition is more prevalent in low income communities).

>

> According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,

" Existing

> data indicate that subsets of the population may be unusually susceptible

to

> the toxic effects of fluoride and its compounds. These populations include

> the elderly, people with deficiencies of calcium, magnesium and/or vitamin

> C, and people with cardiovascular and kidney problems. " (12)

>

> Contaminated Food Chain - Many of the processed beverages and foods sold

in

> the US contain elevated levels of fluoride due to the use of fluoridated

> water during manufacturing, and the presence of fluoride pesticides.

>

> Total fluoride exposure has increased substantially since the early days

of

> fluoridation. (13) When fluoridation first began, exposure to fluoride

from

> sources other than fluoridated water, was minimal.

>

> Today that is not the case.

>

> People now receive fluoride from a whole host of sources, including

> pesticide residues, fluoridated dental products, mechanically deboned

meat,

> fluoride air pollution, and processed foods & beverages prepared with

> fluoridated water (e.g. soda, juice, beer, cereal, etc).

>

> It has now reached the point where most people receive the " optimal " 1

> mg/day of fluoride (which fluoridated water was designed to deliver)

without

> ever drinking a glass of fluoridated water.

>

> Despite the increase in total fluoride exposure, the concentration of

> fluoride added to drinking water (0.7-1.2 mg/L) as prescribed by the US

> Government, is still the same as it was back in the 1940s.

>

> Due to the increase in total fluoride exposure, there has been a major

> increase in the rate of dental fluorosis found among American children.

> According to the US Government, approximately 1 in 3 children living in

> fluoridated areas have dental fluorosis on at least 2 teeth. (14)

>

> Dental fluorosis is the first visible sign that fluoride has poisoned

> enzymes in the body.

>

> Approximately half of the fluoride we ingest each day accumulates in our

> bodies, primarily in the bones, but also in soft tissues. (15)

>

> High levels of naturally occurring fluoride causes a crippling bone

disease

> known as skeletal fluorosis. According to UNICEF, skeletal fluorosis is

> endemic " in at least 25 countries across the globe " (16) with the problem

> particularly acute in India, China and other developing countries.

>

> Skeletal fluorosis comes in varying degrees of severity depending on the

> level of exposure. The earliest symptoms are characterized by joint pain

> that is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from arthritis.

>

> According to a review on fluoridation by Chemical & Engineering News:

> " Because some of the clinical symptoms mimic arthritis, the first two

> clinical phases of skeletal fluorosis could be easily misdiagnosed [as

> arthritis]. " The World Health Organization states that " early cases [of

> skeletal fluorosis] may be misdiagnosed as rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. "

> (17)

>

> It is estimated that approximately 40 million Americans suffer from

> arthritis, the most common type being osteoarthritis.

>

> Fluoride stimulates abnormal bone development. Clinical trials published

in

> the New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of Bone and Mineral

Research

> (18) report that high dose fluoride treatment increases bone mass but that

> the newly formed bone is " structurally unsound " (19). Thus, instead of

> reducing hip fracture, the studies found that high doses of fluoride

> increase hip fracture.

>

> There is concern that " low " doses of fluoride, taken over long periods of

> time (e.g. fluoridated water), may also increase the rate of hip fracture.

> Approximately 20 recent studies have investigated the relationship between

> fluoridated water and hip fracture, with approximately half of the studies

> finding an association. (20)

>

> A 1995 study in the journal Neurtoxicology and Teratology, found that

> fluoride accumulated in the brain of rats and produced age-specific

> behavioral deficits typical of most neurotoxic agents. (21)

>

> In the study, fluoride induced damage to the hippocampal region of the

> brain. Damage to the hippocampal region has been linked to hyperactivity

and

> cognitive deficits. Based on the results, the lead author of the study,

Dr.

> Phyllis Mullenix, has come out and advised against water fluoridation.

>

> Five recent peer reviewed studies from China have found an association

> between elevated fluoride exposure and decreased IQs in children - an

effect

> that would be expected based on Mullenix's research. (22)

>

> In the late 1990s, a British scientist discovered that fluoride

accumulates

> to very high levels (avg = 9000 ppm) in the crystallized tissue of the

human

> pineal gland.

>

> A subsequent animal study found that fluoride interferes with the pineal

> gland's production of melatonin, a hormone which helps regulate the onset

of

> PUBERTY. In the study, animals dosed with fluoride had reduced levels of

> melatonin metabolites in their urine and had earlier onsets of puberty

than

> the controls. (23)

>

> Up until the 1950s, European doctors used fluoride to reduce the activity

of

> the thyroid gland for people suffering from overactive thyroid

> (hyperthyroidism). (24) The daily dose of fluoride which people are now

> receiving in fluoridated communities (1.6 to 6.6 mg/day) (25) actually

> exceeds the dose of fluoride which was found to depress the thyroid gland

> (2.3 to 4.5 mg/day). (26)

>

> Hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid) is currently one of the most common

> medical problems in the United States. Synthroid, the drug doctors

prescribe

> to treat hypothyroidism, was the fourth most prescribed drug in the US in

> the year 2000. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include depression, fatigue,

> weight gain, muscle and joint pains, increased cholesterol levels, and

heart

> disease.

>

> A recent study published in the journal Brain Research found that 1 PPM

> fluoride in water facilitated the uptake of aluminum into the brain of

rats,

> producing the type of brain tangles (amyloid deposits) that are associated

> with Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia. (27)

>

> An epidemiological study published in the December 2000 issue of the

journal

> Neurotoxicology, found that fluoridated water was associated with elevated

> levels of lead in children's blood. (28)

>

> The study's findings parallel the findings of an earlier study published

in

> the September 1999 issue of the International Journal of Environmental

> Studies. (29) Lead in the blood is associated with a variety of

neurological

> problems, including reduced intelligence, aggression and hyperactivity.

>

> Dozens of laboratory studies have found that fluoride is a mutagen - a

> classification which frequently indicates that a substance is carcinogenic

> (i.e. that it causes cancer). (30) A cancer bioassay conducted by the

> National Toxicology Program found that rats dosed with fluoride had a

> statistically significant increase in bone tumors (osteosarcomas), which

> were not found among the controls.

>

> The initial review of the study also reported that the fluoride-dosed rats

> had tumors of the thyroid, oral cavity and rare tumors of the liver;

however

> these tumors were later downgraded under conspicuous and controversial

> circumstances. According to Dr. William Marcus, the Chief Toxicologist at

> the EPA's Office of Drinking Water, the downgrading of the tumors was

> politically motivated and not scientifically defensible. (31)

>

> A recent epidemiological study conducted by a scientist from the US Public

> Health Service found that female infertility was associated with elevated

> levels of fluoride ( >3ppm) in drinking water. The study concluded that

more

> emphasis needs to be given to the effects on health from total fluoride

> exposure - not just exposure to fluoridated drinking water. (32)

>

> In light of the recent research indicating health risks from low level

> fluoride exposure, the Union of Scientists and professionals at EPA

> headquarters has voted to oppose fluoridation (33) and has called upon

> Congress to issue a " national moratorium " on the fifty year old policy.

> According to the Vice President of the Union, Dr. J. William Hirzy,

>

> " In summary, we hold that fluoridation is an unreasonable risk. That is,

the

> toxicity of fluoride is so great and the purported benefits associated

with

> it are so small - if there are any at all - that requiring every man,

woman

> and child in America to ingest it borders on criminal behavior on the part

> of governments. "

>

> After years of overlooking the problems with fluoride & fluoridation, the

> environmental community is finally beginning to address the issue. In

> September of 2001, the Sierra Club announced that:

>

> There are now valid concerns regarding the potential adverse impact of

> fluoridation on the environment, wildlife, and human health. The Sierra

Club

> therefore supports giving communities the option of rejecting mandatory

> fluoridation of their water supplies.

>

> To protect sensitive populations, and because safer strategies and methods

> for preventing tooth decay are now available, we recommend that these

safer

> alternatives be made available and promoted. "

>

> Fluoride Action Network January 2002

>

> References