Fluoridation Opposition: Scientific, Respectable & Growing Politically Popular

[Guest guest]

New York -- May 2009 -- Over 2,470 professionals urge the US Congress to stop

water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted, citing scientific

evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective

and has serious health risks. See statement:

http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html.

 

Also, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions representing over

7000 environmental and public health professionals called for a moratorium on

drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA

management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in

people. (1a)

 

Last election day, 53 US cities rejected fluoridation joining a growing list of

communities saying " No, " to fluoridation. (1)

 

Since the professionals' statement was first issued (Aug 2007), the following

occurred:

 

-- The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada's

leading voice on environmental health issues, released a statement opposing

fluoridation. (2)

 

-- The National Kidney Foundation dropped its fluoridation support replacing it

with this caution: " Individuals with CKD [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be

notified of the potential risk of fluoride exposure. " (3)

 

-- Researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate

that fluoridation never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (4)

 

-- " A qualitative review of ...studies found a consistent and strong

association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ, " concluded Tang el

al., in " Fluoride and Children's Intelligence: A Meta-analysis " in Biological

Trace Element Research (5)

 

-- Scientific American editors wrote in January 2008, " Some recent studies

suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders

affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland "

 

-- Dr. A. K. Susheela, a leading fluoride expert, explains in a video why US

physicians overlook fluoride as a possible cause of diseases commonly caused by

fluoride. http://tinyurl.com/Susheela

 

-- A study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry reveals that

cavity-free teeth have little to do with fluoride intake. Researchers report,

" The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical…while fluorosis is clearly more

dependent on fluoride intake. "

 

-- Research published in Biological Trace Element Research (April 2009).

indicates that blood fluoride levels were significantly higher in patients with

osteosarcoma than in control groups. (13) Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer,

occurs mostly in children and young adults

 

A Tennessee State legislator who is also an MD is urging all Tennessee Water

Districts to stop fluoridation, reported a Tennessee newspaper on 11/29/08. At

least 30 Tennessee water districts have already complied with his request.(6)

 

On 1/5/09, the Burlington Board of Health recommended that Burlington cease

fluoridation because fluoridation can harm some people. (7)

 

On 1/6/09, a Canadian town, Drayton, stopped fluoridation, not to save money,

but because it was in the best interests of residents, said the Mayor. (8)

 

On 2/10/2009 Skagit County, WA officials reversed their 2007 fluoridation

decision. (9)

 

On 3/3/2009, Plainfield, Vermont bans fluoridation. (10)

 

The Arkansas Oral Health Director is accused of giving eight " false or

misleading statements " on fluoridation to an Arkansas legislative Committee.

(12)

 

Signers to the FAN statement include:

 

-- Dr. Arvid Carlsson,winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine

-- Vyvyan Howard, MD, PhD, President, International Society of Doctors for

the Environment

-- Ken Cook and Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group

-- Lois Gibbs, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

-- Joseph Mercola, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, who runs the #1 most

visited natural health website

-- Theo Colborn, PhD, co-author, " Our Stolen Future "

-- Sam Epstein, MD, Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition

-- The current and six past Presidents of the International Academy of Oral

Medicine and Toxicology

-- Board of Directors (2007), American Academy of Environmental Medicine

-- FIVE Goldman Prize winners - given for excellence in protecting the

environment

-- Three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC)

panel that reported on fluoride's toxicology

-- Three officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters

-- Hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific and environmental

professionals, worldwide.

 

Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Arvid Carlsson, says, " Fluoridation is against all

principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete. "

 

An Online Action Petition to Congress in support of the Professionals' Statement

is available on FAN's web site, http://congress.fluorideaction.net

 

Fluoride jeopardizes health - even at low levels deliberately added to public

water supplies, according to data presented in a 2006 National Academy of

Sciences' (NAS) National Research Council (NRC) report. Fluoride poses risks to

the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others

and can severely damage children's teeth. (11) At least three panel members

advise avoiding fluoridated water.

 

" The NRC fluoride report dramatically changed scientific understanding of

fluoride's health risks, " says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride

Action Network. " Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must

testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in

the NRC report, " he added.

 

The Professionals' Statement also references:

 

-- The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be

prepared with fluoridated water.

 

-- The CDC's concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not

systemic.

 

-- CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now

impacts one third of American children.

 

-- Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between

fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.

 

-- A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone

cancer.

 

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard

professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG

President Ken Cook states, " It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation

has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other

environmental issues, it's as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water

plant. "

 

Adverse health effects of fluoride: http://www.FluorideAction.Net/health

 

References:

 

(1a) http://www.nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/Press%20Release.%20Fluoride.htm

 

(1) http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm

 

(2) http://www.fluoridealert.org/cape.html

 

(3) National Kidney Foundation, " Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease, "

April 15, 2008

 

http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

 

(4) " Adding fluoride to water supplies, " British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain

Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007

 

(5)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18695947?ordinalpos=2 & itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn\

trez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

 

(6) http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2840202

 

(7) http://www.swabvt.org/node/300

 

(8) http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1373584

 

(9)

http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/commissioners_vote_to_halt_fluoride_program\

/

 

(10)

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090303/NEWS0301/90303100/1009/NEWS0\

1

 

(11) National Research Council (2003-2006): Fluoride in Drinking Water: A

Scientific Review of EPA's Standards

http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/epa/nrc/

 

(12) " State oral health director challenged over comments about fluoridation, "

March 10, 2009,by Kathryn Lucariello, Carroll County News

http://www.carrollconews.com/story/1509198.html

 

(13) Biological Trace Element Research, " Serum Fluoride and Sialic Acid Levels

in Osteosarcoma, " by Sandhu R, Lal H, Kundu ZS, Kharb S, Apr 24, 2009 [Epub

ahead of print]

 

SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net