OT: City Removes Flouride From Water

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City Removes Flouride From Waterhttp://www.delrionewsherald.com/stor...647e86863c2eabBy Karen GleasonDel Rio News-HeraldPublished September 13, 2006Fluoride will no longer be added to Del Rio’s drinking water.The Del Rio City Council made that decision Tuesday night after apresentation by John Morony, a retired college biology professor, whocharacterized fluoride as a poison and showed the council numerous researchreferences that link fluoride to higher rates of cancer and other healthhazards.Following Morony’s presentation and a brief discussion by the council,Councilman Pat Cole said, “I make the motion that we cease immediatelyadding fluoride to our beautiful San Felipe Springs water.â€In his letter to the city requesting time to address the council, Moronyrecommended “that Del Rio cease fluoridating its water supply.â€Morony in his letter noted that in the U.S.,

more than 70 communities havestopped adding fluoride to their water.He also pointed out that most European countries, Japan and China do not addfluoride to their water supplies.“Why? Basically for two reasons: fluoridated water cannot be shown tosignificantly reduce dental caries (tooth decay) and it has proved to be farmore toxic than previously thought,†Morony wrote.Morony during Tuesday night’s meeting also presented the council with apaper titled “Scientific Facts on the Biological Effects of Fluorides.â€The paper listed research references linking fluoride to a variety ofmedical problems, including the development of bone cancer and prematureaging.The paper stated, “Fluoride consumption by human beings increases thegeneral cancer death rate.â€Morony noted that although some fluoride occurs naturally in all water, thefluoride being added to the city’s water supply “is a

waste product of thephosphate fertilizer industry.â€â€œI’m just trying to get the fluoride out of our water,†Morony told thecouncil.At the end of Morony’s presentation, Cole asked him, “So let me clarify: ifwe continue adding fluoride, we are putting in our water a byproduct of thefertilizer industry?â€â€œThat’s right,†Morony said.Councilman Mike Wrob asked, “At what point did we start putting fluoride inour water?â€City administrators asked Mitch Lomas, manager of the city’s water treatmentplant, to answer Wrob’s question.“We started fluoridating in 1990 as a result of a decision by the citycouncil,†Lomas replied.“At the time we did not have all the information about fluoride that we donow,†he added.Wrob then asked Lomas to give the council his opinion of adding fluoride tothe city’s drinking water, a question Lomas did not answer

directly.Mayor Efrain Valdez noted that the city spends about $20,000 a year buyingthe fluoride to add to the city water.Cole asked Lomas, “How do employees at the water plant feel about handlingfluoride?â€â€œIt’s a very corrosive chemical. It eats through concrete and metal. Whenthey handle it, they have to wear respirators and chemical-proof suits,â€Lomas said.“But how do they feel about handling it?†Cole asked.“They really would rather not handle it,†Lomas replied.Cole then made her motion to cease fluoridation of the city’s water, withWrob giving the second.After the council had voted unanimously to approve Cole’s motion, Moronytold the News-Herald as he had left the council chambers, “The council’sdecision is very gratifying. Now we can go back to drinking Del Rio water.â€****************************************snips from

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/toxicche...a/flouride.htmFluoride and Fluoridated Water's Link to Thyroid DiseaseThis common additive to your water supply, and ingredient in the toothpasteyou and your children use may be contributing to the increased rates ofhypothyroidism -- and other health concerns -- in the U.S. . . withoutimproving dental healthWhat is Fluoride?Fluoride is an element from the halogen group, as are iodide and chloride.It is commonly added to the water supply as hydrofluosilicic acid,silicofluoride or sodium fluoride. Fluoride is also found as an additive intoothpastes and some mouthwashes, as a tooth decay preventive ingredient.Why is Fluoride Used?Fluoride is used to fight tooth decay in children. The key initial studiespurporting to demonstrate its effectiveness as an anti-cavity fightingcompound were performed back in the 1940s.Those studies, conducted in Grand

Rapids, MI in 1945, in Newburgh, NY in1945, in Brantford, Ontario in 1945, and in Evanston, IL in 1947, are nowbeing called into question. According to Dr. Philip Sutton, author of "TheGreatest Fraud: Fluoridation" *A Factual Book, Lorne, Australia, 1996),these studies are actually of dubious scientific quality.More recently, other studies attempting to document the effectiveness offluoride have been conducted. Dr. John Yiamouyiannis examined the raw datafrom a large study that was conducted by the National Institute for DentalResearch (NIDR). He concluded that fluoride did not appear to have any decaypreventing success, as there was little difference in the DMFT values (themean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth) for approximately 40,000children. It did not matter whether they grew up in fluoridated,non-fluoridated or partially fluoridated communities. (Yiamouyiannis, J.A."Water Fluoridation and Tooth Decay:

Results from the 1986-87 NationalSurvey of U.S. Schoolchildren", Fluoride, 23, 55-67, 1990).A larger study has been conducted in New Zealand. There, the New ZealandNational Health Service plan examines the teeth of every child in key ag, and have found that the teeth of children in non-fluoridated citieswere slightly better than those in the fluoridated cities. (Colquhoun, J."Child Dental Health Differences in New Zealand", Community HealthyServices, XI 85-90, 1987).Although children's teeth have improved steadily from the 1930s to the1990s, this improvement appears to be independent of the addition offluoride to the water. A study has yet to be conducted that specificallyaddresses whether the addition of fluoride affects the quality of teeth,while controlling and accounting for other factors and other sources offluoride.Despite growing questions about the effectiveness of using fluoride to

fighttooth decay - and increasing concerns of the safety of this practice -- over60 percent of the United States' water supply is fluoridated. Most of thosecities are in the eastern part of the U.S.What are the Concerns Associated with the Addition of Fluoride to the WaterSupply?The most recognized problem with the ingestion of too much fluoride isdental fluorosis. This condition is characterized by the failure of toothenamel to crystallize properly in permanent teeth. The effects range fromchalky, opaque blotching of teeth to severe, rust-colored stains, surfacepitting and tooth brittleness.This condition, though worrisome, may not be the key concern , at leastaccording to some researchers. Dr. Phyllis Mullenix believes, based on herresearch, that fluoride acts in a way that lowers the I.Q. of children("Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride in Rats", Mullenix, P. Neurotoxicologyand Teratology, 17 (2),

1995).Dr. William Marcus, believes that a study conducted by Battelle for theNational Toxicology Program on the toxicology of fluoride shows that therewere dose-related increases in bone cancer in male rats. Dr. Marcus alsoquestions the removal by peer reviewers of cancers at other sites in therats as well. Especially worrisome to Dr. Marcus is the fact that thatlevels of fluoride that caused the cancers in the rats were lower than thoseseen in humans who ingested lower amounts, but for a longer period. Theselevels are generated because fluoride is accumulated in the body and is notsecreted.Dr. Marcus was formerly the chief toxicologist for the EPA's Office ofDrinking Water, but was fired in 1991 after insisting that an unbiasedevaluation of fluoride's cancer potential be conducted. Marcus fought hisdismissal, and was able to be reinstated after demonstrating in court thatit was politically

motivated.An article in the Irish Times of Dublin on August 16, 1999, reports that Dr.Hans Moolenburgh's research in Holland found that up to 4 percent of peopleusing fluoridated water experienced health problems. These problems rangedfrom gastrointestinal disorders to mouth sores to rashes to headaches toforms of arthritis to more serious concerns such as cancers and neurologicalcomplaints.Studies dating back to the 1950s have shown links between Down's Syndromeand natural fluoridation. Ionel Rapaport also showed how the age of womenbearing Down's Syndrome children decreased in direct relation to theincrease of fluoride in the water supply. The more fluoride that was in thewater, the younger the age of the women bearing Down's Syndrome children.Even those who aren't convinced of the toxicity of fluoride should beconcerned about the level of fluoride added to the water supply. The optimumlevel was set in

the 1940s at approximately 1 ppm (equal to 1 mg/l). Thiswas based on assumptions that the total intake of fluoride would be 1mg/day, assuming 4 glasses of water were drunk per day. However, currentintake of fluoride comes not just from the water supply. A study conductedby researchers at the University of Iowa and reported in the November issueof the Journal of American Dental Association found that 71% of more than300 soft drinks contained 0.60 ppm fluoride.Toothpaste, beverages, processed food, fresh fruits and vegetables, vitaminsand mineral supplements all contribute to the intake of fluoride. It is nowestimated that the total amount of fluoride ingested per day is 8 mg/day,eight times the optimum levels.An additional and less well studied concern is the interaction of thefluoride compounds added to water with other water additives. Most studiesexamining the addition of fluoride to water have used sodium

fluoride,however, most communities use the less expensive forms such assilicofluoride, hydrofluosilicic acid or sodium silicofluoride. A 1999 studyof 280,000 Massachusetts children shows that levels of lead in blood weresignificantly higher in communities using these cheaper compounds than intowns where sodium fluoride was used or where the water was not treated atall. ("Children's Health and the Environment", 17th InternationalNeurotoxicology Conference, Little Rock, Arkansas, October 17-20, 1999).Aluminum compounds are frequently added to the water supply as clarifyingagents. On its own, aluminum is not readily absorbed by the body, however,when fluoride is present, the two form aluminum-fluoride, which is easilyabsorbed. A long term study published in 1988 found that even low levels ofaluminum-fluoride in drinking water delivered more aluminum to the brainthan concentrated aluminum fluoride. The same study found

that low levels ofaluminum fluoride and sodium fluoride found in "optimally" fluoridated watercause severe kidney damage and lesions to the brain similar to those foundin Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Dr. Robert Isaacson, StateUniversity of New York, found that when aluminum fluoride is added to thefood of rats, the rats developed short-term memory problems, smell sensoryloss and other characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. (Isaacson, R. "Ratstudies link brain cell damage with aluminum and fluoride in water" StateUniv. of New York, Binghampton, NY, Wall Street Journal article by MarilynChase; Oct. 28, 1992, p. B-6).What are the Thyroid-Specific Concerns?Is fluoride in part the reason for near epidemic levels of hypothyroidism inthe United States? Some experts and researchers believe this is the case.Fluoride had been used for decades as an effective anti-thyroid medicationto treat

hyperthyroidism and was frequently used at levels below the current"optimal" intake of 1 mg/day. This is due to the ability of fluoride tomimic the action of thyrotropin (TSH). It makes sense, then that out of theover 150 symptoms and associations of hypothyroidism, almost all are alsosymptoms of fluoride poisoning.Researcher and advocate Andreas Schuld has also found that excess offluoride correlates with other thyroid-related issues such as iodinedeficiency. Fluoride and iodine, both being members of the halogens group ofatoms, have an antagonistic relationship. When there is excess of fluoridein the body it can interfere with the function of the thyroid gland. It ispossible that iodine deficiency, which is the most common cause of braindamage and mental disability in the world, could be lessened by simplycutting back on the use of fluoride.The Future of FluorideSome advocates believe that the truth

about fluoride does not reach thepublic easily because fluoride, produced as a toxic waste byproduct of manytypes of heavy industry - such as aluminum, steel, fertilizer, glass, cementand other industries -- must be disposed of somewhere. If it's not used asan additive to water, manufacturers would have to pay millions of dollars todispose of it properly, so the pressure to keep fluoride listed as a healthyadditive to water-and not as an environmental toxin that requires costlydisposal - is great and political pressures to keep fluoride in the drinkingwater is strong.And the U.S. government has been one of the key supporters for fluoridation.Despite the questions regarding fluoride's effectiveness and safety, theadministration's stated federal health objective is to increase the numberof Americans with fluoridated tap water from previous levels of 62 percentto 75 percent in 2000.Given half a century of support

for fluoridation, it's also not likely thatthe American Dental Association will backtrack on its support forfluoridation.Some cities are taking action, and making the decision to stop fluoridatingtheir water supply - or not to fluoridate in the first place. For example,the City Council of Santa Barbara, California voted in late November of 1999in favor of a resolution that "disagrees with and rejects the State'srecommendation to fluoridate the city's public water system." With thisaction Santa Barbara joined the California cities of Santa Cruz, El Cajon,La Mesa, Escondido and Helix, Riverview, and Lakeside water districts thathave each passed protective resolutions or ordinances in 1999. The cities ofSan Diego and Sunnyvale have ordinances prohibiting fluoridation thatpre-date the State's law. The city officials of Santa Barbara indicated thatadding a chemical to the water supply to medicate everyone was not the

rightapproach and requested that the City's staff look into other programs tohelp children obtain fluoride for dental health.The only admission that you're likely to see is the 1997 addition ofwarnings on toothpaste tubes, that now say: "Don’t Swallow—Use only apea-sized amount for children under six." and "Children under six should besupervised while brushing with any toothpaste to prevent swallowing." Inareas where the drinking water already contains fluoride, brushing more thanonce daily with more than a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste cancause fluorosis, the discoloration and spotting of the teeth that affects anestimated 20% of children.What Can You Do?Besides learning more about the effects of fluoride and getting involved inyour community's decisions regarding water fluoridation, you can buy anunfluoridated, natural toothpaste, such as Tom's of Maine, particularly foryoung

children.You can also pay attention to the water you drink, and use filtered orbottled waters. Some water filters can remove fluoride from the water, butcarbon-based filters such as the Brita filter do not, so be sure to find theright type of filter for fluoride.Many bottled waters contain no additional fluoride. You can find out thefluoride and other mineral content of your favorite bottled waters atBottled Water Web's Bottlers listing. Evian, and Perrier, for example,contain no measurable fluoride, but Calistoga brand has 0.9 parts permillion."Get off your ass and take your government back." ~Rocky Ward

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