FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK: some of the highlights from 2008

[Guest guest]

FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK

_http://www.FluorideAlert.org _ (http://www.fluoridealert.org/)

 

FAN Bulletin 1012: The Great Annual Fundraiser begins.

 

December 9, 2008

 

 

Here are some of the highlights from 2008:

• Nearly 1000 new professionals signed the Professionals' Statement that

calls for an end to fluoridation worldwide. The total is now 1,994. Italian

and French translations of the Statement are online thanks to Stefano Montanari

of Modena, Italy, and Jimmy Siles of Quebec City.

 

• Over 10,000 signers to _Online Petition to Congress_

(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2477/t/2782/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2196\

0) - for a total

of over 16,700.

 

• 74 communities said no to fluoridation in 2008. 53 of these communities

voted in referendums held on _November 4th_

(http://fluoridealert.org/11-4-08.html) .

 

• 4 FAN videos in the new series Professional Perspectives (approx length

4-5 minutes each). Interviews with

-- _Bill Osmunson DDS, MPH_ (

) :

Over 87,000 people have watched this powerful 5 minute video.

-- _Dr. Vyvyan Howard_ (

) ,

President, International Society of Doctors for the Environment, addresses

fluoride's adverse effect on the brain.

-- _Brent Foster_ (

) , JD,

Conservation Chair for the Oregon Sierra Club, on fluoride's effect on salmon.

-- Risks to kidney patients with Kathy Thiessen, Phyllis Mullenix, and Paul

Connett

 

• An exciting video compilation of statements from over a dozen

professionals will be released at the end of December (see A special thank you

gift

below).

 

• FAN paid for the translation of 19 Chinese published studies on fluoride's

effect on the brain and IQ. 11 of these studies have been published in the

journal Fluoride (April-June 2008 issue), with more in the works. There are

now 23 studies from 4 countries which indicate an association between high

fluoride intake and lowering of IQ in children. Note: there is no adequate

margin of safety to protect all children in a fluoridated community.

 

• FAN provided information to reporters, local officials, researchers, and

the groups and individuals fighting fluoridation in Australia, Canada,

Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, UK, and the US.

 

• In August, FAN held its third Citizens' Conference on Fluoride in Toronto.

It was an enormous success and generated a great deal of attention in the

Canadian national media. By linking our conference with that of the

International Society for Fluoride Research we armed our activists from several

countries with some of the best science on this issue available.

 

• Following in the wake of the Toronto presentations on fluoride and the

brain by Dr. Vyvyan Howard, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the

Environment produced a _statement opposing fluoridation_

(http://fluoridealert.org/cape.html) in September. In 2009 we hope to get more

national organizations

to do likewise.

 

• FAN has worked this year to get a US Congressional hearing. It is too soon

to give any details at this point.

 

• FAN continues to fight EPA's outrageously unscientific and illegitimate

approval of DOW's use of sulfuryl fluoride as a food fumigant in mills,

warehouses and processing plants (this will greatly increase fluoride

exposure). We

agreed to a mediation effort and have had two meetings with EPA officials.

Our efforts (along with the Environmental Working Group and Beyond Pesticides)

have been greatly assisted by the availability of a pro bono lawyer. We

might well be in court on this in 2009.

But we do need your financial help to keep ALL our battles raging. Compared

to the giants we are fighting, who have multi-million dollar budgets of

taxpayers' money at their disposal, our budget requirements are relatively

modest.

Our estimated expenditures for 2008 to date are approximately $76,000. This

is so low because we only offer token salaries and we receive a great deal

of pro bono support from many of our supporters.

 

 

Donations are tax-deductible. FAN is a project of the American Environmental

Health Studies Project, which has 501©(3) non-profit status, so your

donations are tax deductible. Make sure FAN gets some of your hard earned money

not Uncle Sam! If you can't help us financially this year, we know many of you

are helping us in many other ways in your local communities and we are

grateful for all that you are doing for this important cause.

 

 

A special thank you gift. A brand new 28 minute DVD, consisting of a

compilation of comments by over a dozen distinguished professionals explaining

why

they oppose fluoridation, has been produced by Kevin Hurley and edited by

Michael Connett. We believe that this video will be a tremendous help in

convincing academics, doctors and local officials that fluoridation must be

halted.

According to Michael, this will be FAN's best video yet. The DVD will be

ready at the end of December and we will be sending it as a thank you gift to

all those who donate over $100 to our 2009 fundraising campaign.

 

 

As we report back on the progress of this fundraising effort over the next

few weeks we will attempt to summarize our many achievements and efforts in

2008 and reveal some of our plans for 2009.

 

Paul Connett