Chinese fluoride is a homeland security matter

To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News

February 28, 2010 — The Pure Water Committee of Western Maryland Inc. was formed in 1960 as a grass roots network of citizens with a 50-year-old mission to educate the public of the complete fraud of the practice called water fluoridation. 

Recently, it has come to my attention in an engineering report for the city of Boulder, Colo., that they did an evaluation of fluoridation chemicals and sources and found that much of the fluoride chemicals used for water fluoridation are now coming out of China with arsenic and lead levels of 50 and 40 milligrams respectively per bag and non-existent regulatory monitoring of the salt or acid compounds from these imports.

This type of trade from a country with a track record of lead paint on toys to antifreeze in cough syrup medicine is completely unacceptable.

After visiting the Frostburg Water Filtration Plant on Feb. 23, it has come to my attention that Frostburg has sodium fluoride bags with no source or import information on them.

Only after I asked for the certificate of analysis from Solvay fluorides through Univar USA, which is the chemical supplier for the Frostburg Water Plant, did I receive the certificate of analysis from Shanghai Mintchem Development Co., LTD., the Chinese manufacture of the sodium fluoride.

The material safety data sheets from Solvay fluorides shows that a teaspoon amount of 5 grams of sodium fluoride can be fatal to an average size man of 70kg.

In toxicological information section, chronic toxicity by oral route may cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, thyroid, testes, kidney, liver, ambiguous carcinogenic and mutagenic effects, fetotoxic and fertility effects.

I have asked now for two years for the Frostburg Mayor and Council to put in the water bill for area residence the ADA warning to not to use fluoridated water when making infant formula, but to no avail.

I have showed them the 2003 sixth edition PDR special warning section for Luride (sodium fluoride in pill form) that children under the age of six should not be taking the same equivalent dose that municipalities add to the drinking water.

I asked them why they would continue this practice when the PDR states that not even a dentist or doctor should be administering this equivalent dose to a child under the age of 6.

I have explained to them that the warning label on fluoride toothpaste states, that if you swallow more than a pea size amount of paste or .25 milligrams of fluoride, which is the equivalent dose of 8 ounces of fluoridated water, you should contact the poison control center immediately.

 We can no longer trust our local governments to do the right thing for its citizens. I find it so ironic that the same federal government that is demanding small communities under the clean water act, like Mount Savage to join to the Frostburg Regional water supply, because of an overt concern over possible ground water contamination, then allows this toxic waste byproduct from China to enter this country and be added to this same regional water supply.

Are we insane?

 Instead of the city of Frostburg being honest with me over this imported chemical use and stopping this harmful practice, they seem more concerned over my visit to the water plant to obtain this information.

This is a serious homeland security matter for Frostburg and many other fluoridated communities, including Cumberland. Please contact both Frostburg and Cumberland elected officials and ask for this practice to be halted immediately.

Bernard W. Miltenberger

Frostburg