FLUORIDATION FLAWS

07.16.2003 Boca News

By Naomi Flack

William Gralnick’s opinion column ( above July 14th ) shows ignorance of current scientific issues in the fluoridation debate, typical of those who have fallen for the relentless 55-year fluoridation promotion which has always consisted of unsubstantiated guarantees of safety and efficacy, meaningless endorsements, and systematic denigration of all opposition. Today, however, anyone can easily access the truth by going to any Internet search engine and typing the words, "Fluoridation Health Effects." One click and you will get to those facts that have been too long hidden from the general public.

New York City’s drinking water is no longer the "sweetest and purest" described by Gralnick. In January, 2003, the NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection suspended fluoridation for at least four months while "critical system repairs" were being done. Hydrofluosilic acid, the main chemical used for fluoridation, has a highly corrosive effect on water supply pipes and equipment and it has taken its toll in New York City.

More than 50 years after the start of artificial fluoridation, we are all overdosed on fluoride, a cumulative poison (read your toothpaste label) rated more toxic than lead and slightly less toxic than arsenic. Fluoride reaches us from water, toothpaste, dental treatments, fluoride air pollution, fluorinated medications and food and beverages containing fluoride pesticide residues and/or processed with fluoridated water.

The Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Summer, l997 reported that 66 percent of children in fluoridated areas have dental fluorosis (permanently spotted or discolored teeth) and over 30 percent of children in non-fluoridated areas also show this visible sign of fluoride overexposure. The American Academy of Pediatrics lowered dosages for fluoride supplementation for all children in 1995 and pediatricians should no longer prescribe fluoride supplements for infants from birth to age 6 months, even in totally non-fluoridated areas. Consequently, infants drinking formula prepared with fluoridated water are overmedicated and are at high risk for dental fluorosis. Government reports state that African-American children are afflicted by dental fluorosis at twice the rates of white American children.

A Congressional Investigation by the House Committee on Science in 2000 revealed there are no federal safety standards for fluoridated water and the silicofluoride chemicals used for 91 percent of fluoridation have never been approved for safety or efficacy by any government agency. Further, the U.S. EPA admitted to the Committee that there are no safety studies at all for ingestion of the silicofluoride chemicals For Congressional Documents See: http://www.keepers-of-the-well.org

Silicofluorides are industrial grade waste products that come directly from the chimney scrubbers of the phosphate fertilizer plants in central Florida. They are contaminated with arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium and radioactive elements, all of which end up in our drinking water and add to the health risks of fluoridation. Recently published peer-reviewed studies report that children drinking silicofluoride treated water have significantly higher blood lead levels than children in non-fluoridated areas. This alone is reason to end water fluoridation immediately.

In July, 2000, the cornerstone of the fluoridation program was decimated by the lead story in the Journal of the American Dental Association which revealed that there is virtually no benefit from incorporating fluoride into tooth enamel during the early childhood years and that any alleged benefits from fluoride are primarily from topical exposure after the teeth have erupted. This has been confirmed by U.S. Public Health Service publications and by evidence from Western Europe where tooth decay rates have declined as much as in the U.S. even though less than 2 percent of the population there is fluoridated. In order to salvage the fluoridation program, promoters created a new theory which claims that fluoride’s benefits come from continuous "bathing of the teeth" in fluoridated water.

Common sense tells us that brushing the teeth with fluoridated toothpaste, which contains 1,000 or more parts per million of fluoride, is far more effective than "teeth bathing" with fluoridated water that contains one part per million or less. Clearly, there is no longer any rationale for fluoridating drinking water supplies. Please visit http://www.fluoridealert.org for an understanding of the economic motives behind fluoridation as well as documentation of its many harmful effects on human health.

Naomi Flack is a Founding Member, People Against Cancer, Co-founder, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation For more information:

New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof http://tinyurl.com/ad9k

Fluoride Action Network http://www.fluoridealert.org

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