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Table of Contents
Toxicity
of fluoride
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) toxicity
Those at risk to fluoride
Sources of fluoride
Lead and pipe corrosion
Food sources of fluoride
Hip fractures
Cancer
Blood F-
levels & brain damage
Toothpaste
Fluorosis
Lack of benefit from fluoride
Questionable Research
Quotable quotes
Definitions:
Caries: Cavities
Dentifrice: Toothpaste
Fluoride: any combination of elements which contain the fluorine (F-)
ion.
Fluorosis: a condition caused by an excessive intake of fluorides in
drinking water, characterized mainly by mottling of the enamel of the teeth, although the
skeletal bones are also affected.
Mottling: see fluorosis
Neurotoxin: Something toxic to nerves and nerve tissue (i.e. brain,
spinal nerves, peripheral nerves)
Poisons and Antidotes (Textbook)
For treatment of fluoride ingestion: Administer limewater (calcium carbonate), calcium
chloride solution or milk in order to bind as much fluoride ion as possible, followed by
gastric lavage with any of the above fluids.
For hydrofluoric skin burns, wash with cold water and administer magnesium oxide.
TOXICITY
OF FLUORIDE:
Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products 5th Ed.
- Fluosilicic Acid: Other concentrations are approved to fluoridate
municipal water supplies, harden cement, to preserve wood and for other industrial
purposes. Concentrated solutions are intensely corrosive on skin and mucous membranes but
less corrosive than (HF) hydrofluoric acid.
- Fluoride: Sodium fluoride and sodium fluosilicate were once employed
widely as insecticides (ant, roach and beetle powders) and occasionally as rodenticides.
- Fluoride is a "general protoplasmic poison," but it is not
possible yet to described in detail the mechanisms by which it produces death. At least
four major functional derangements are recognized: (1) enzyme inhibition, (2)
hypocalcemia, (3) cardiovascular collapse and (4) specific organ damage. Inhibition of one
or more of the enzymes controlling cellular respiration and glycolysis may result in
critical biochemical defects.
- In addition to cardiovascular, neuromuscular and gastrointestinal
derangements, acute fluoride poisoning causes major adverse effects on two other organ
systems, the brain and the kidneys. The more critical dysfunctions are those of the brain.
Toxic signs occasionally include headache, excessive salivation, nystagmus and dilated
pupils.
- …some victims of fluoride poisoning are anuric at death.
- If renal function is not seriously impaired, it [fluoride] is excreted in
urine.
US Dept. of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration
Hydrofluosilicic acid (fluosilicic acid) is classified as a corrosive
material.
…It is highly toxic and extremely corrosive by skin contact and inhalation.
Hazardous and Toxic Effects of Industrial Chemicals
In children, mottling of the dental enamel may occur from increased water
concentrations.
Clinical Toxicology
- One tenth milligram of fluorine per kilogram body weight per day is
probably sufficient to produce chronic poisoning.
- The use of fluoride-containing poisons against agricultural pests, and of
phosphate rock as fertilizer contaminates the top soil. Plants store the fluorine in their
tissues as a possible source of poisoning in man and animals. DeEds calculated that 90,000
tons of fluorine are added to the top soil of farm lands annually.
- In epidemics due to fluorine-containing water, the principal symptom is
mottling of the tooth enamel. This tooth lesion is characterized by various degrees of
brittleness or absence of the enamel, and it is found only in individuals who have been
exposed to poisoning before the elaboration of the enamel of the unerupted teeth. The
teeth are often dull white, they are pitted and eroded and the enamel-free regions are
discolored.
- …it is well established that various enzymes are inactivated or
inhibited by very small amounts of fluoride.
- Fluoride is excreted in the urine and to some extent in milk, so that
infants may be chronically poisoned by suckling from a chronically poisoned mother.
- In chronic poisoning, it is important to stop the continued ingestion of
fluorine compounds. …The teeth must receive special care.
Fluoride Toxicity and Muscular Manifestations: Histopathological
Effects in Rabbit (Fluoride, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1989)
The results of the present investigation indicate that fluoride can
cause extensive damage to the skeletal muscle in fluorotic rabbits which is directly
proportional to the dosage of fluoride administered. Furthermore, these experiments
provide a plausible explanation for the marked muscular weakness.
The Physiological and Toxicological Characteristics of Fluoride (J
Dent Res)
- The American Association of Poison Control Centers annually compiles data
supplied by participating centers which serve approximately 50% of the US population.
Based on these data, it can be estimated that the number of reports involving fluoride
made to poison control centers increased from 7700 in 1984 to 11,600 in 1986. Nearly 90%
of the reports involved children. …About 2% of the reports involved "adult
vitamin" products; 37% involved "pediatric vitamins"; 61% involved sources
of fluoride other than vitamins. Since they are the most widely available sources of large
quantities of fluoride, the latter group would be largely represented by dental products
for home use - products such as dentifrices, mouthrinses, and supplemental tablets. Thus,
it may be concluded that the over-ingestion of these products occurs on a frequent basis.
- …the quantities of fluoride contained in some dental products exceed
the PTD (probable toxic dose) for small children. For example, the PTD for a 2-year old
child of average body weight (11.3 Kg) is 57 mg. This quantity is contained in 57 g (2
ounces) of a 1000 ppm fluoride dentifrice, 38 g of a 1500 ppm dentifrice, 248 mL of a
0.05% sodium fluoride mouthrinse, 57 1.0-mg fluoride tablets, and only 4.6 mL of a 1.23%
APF gel.
- …of the fluoride which is introduced into the mouth with each use of
a dentifrice or mouthrinse, an average of about 25-30% is ingested; that the range of
ingested fluoride is from less than 10% to nearly 100%, and the fraction swallowed is
inversely proportional to age, so that younger children ingest more. In effect, therefore,
an unintended fluoride "supplement" is taken with each use of dentifrice,
mouthrinse, or any other product designed for topical application, regardless of the
fluoride concentrations of drinking water or other dietary components.
Beneficial Effects of Ascorbic Acid and Calcium on Reversal of
Fluoride Toxicity in Male Rats (Fluoride Vol. 26, No. 1, 45-56, 1993.) #16
(30
references)
- Fluoride is a cumulative poison under conditions of continuous exposure
to sub-acute doses. Thus the absorption of relatively small quantities of fluoride causes
chronic intoxication. Earlier work from this laboratory has revealed that administration
of low doses of sodium fluoride to mice and rats altered the structure and function of
some of their soft tissues and reproductive organs. Fluoride treated rabbits manifested
the same changes.
- The chronic fluoride intoxication seems to alter muscle function and to
damage muscle cells.
- Fluoride, even at low concentrations, inhibits a number of important
enzymes and biochemical processes including the activity of adenosine triphosphatase
(ATPase).
Hip Fractures and Fluoridation in Utah’s Elderly Population
(JAMA, Vol. 268, No. 6, 8/12/92)
Fluoridation of water supplies was initiated prior to long-term studies
on its effect on bone density. Recent studies suggest that fluoride accumulates with age
and may reach toxic bone levels in a person’s lifetime (at a water content of 0.97
ppm of fluoride).
Letter from John Remington Graham - Attorney, to Evangeline Winkler
(4/25/95)
Judge Anthony Farris presided over the trial in the case of Safe Water
Foundation v. City of Houston, District Court of Texas, 151st Judicial
District, No. 80-52271. On May 24, 1982, Judge Farris entered his findings of fact on the
record of the case. His main findings were as follows:
"That the artificial fluoridation of public water supplies, such as
is contemplated by [Houston] City Ordinance No. 80-2530, may cause or may contribute to
the cause of cancer, genetic damage, intolerant reactions, and chronic toxicity, including
dental mottling, in man; that the said artificial fluoridation may aggravate malnutrition
and existing illnesses in man; and that the value of said artificial fluoridation is in
some doubt as to the reduction of tooth decay in man."
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HYDROFLUORIC
ACID (HF) TOXICITY:
Acute Fluoride Poisoning from a Public Water System (New Eng J of
Med, 330(2) 1994)
Fluoride and hydrogen ions combine in the stomach to form hydrofluoric
acid, which causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Fluoride has a direct
toxic effect on intracellular metabolism that includes the inhibition of glycolytic
enzymes and cholinesterases.
Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products 5th Ed.
- Hydrofluoric acid warrants consideration because it is a very hazardous
form of fluoride. Some commercially available rust removers contain dangerous quantities
of hydrofluoric acid in solution.
- …fluoride is readily absorbed from the alimentary tract, but even 2%
solutions of NaF kill mucosal cells and may result in severe corrosive gastroenteritis. In
part this corrosiveness is due to a toxic action on mucosal capillaries and is seen even
after parenteral administration. Most of the mucosal erosion, however, occurs in the
stomach, where gastric acid converts ionic fluoride to hydrofluoric acid (HF).
- Because ingested NaF is converted to HF in the stomach, the vomitus is
generally irritating and sometimes corrosive; it can injure the esophagus, mouth, lips and
eyes. In one case the vomitus was shown to be capable of etching glass.
- The ingestion of an estimated 1.5 gm of HF produced sudden death without
gross pathologic damage. On the other hand, the repeated ingestion of small amounts of HF
has resulted in moderately advanced fluoride osteosclerosis in man. Thus, HF is capable of
inducing the systemic manifestations of both acute and chronic fluoride poisoning. It
possesses an additional hazard, however, because of its intense corrosiveness.
- (with tissue contact) Healing is delayed, and necrotic changes may
continue to occur beneath a layer of tough coagulated skin to produce deep penetrating
ulcers.
Studies of Human Gastric Mucosa After Application of 0.42% Fluoride
Gel #5; (J Dent Res 69(2):426-429, 2/90)
- Petechiae and erosions were found in the mucosa in seven of the ten
patients. The histopathological evaluation revealed changes in nine of ten patients, with
the surface epithelium as the most affected component of the mucosa. The present study
clearly shows that a treatment with a F gel of rather low F concentration may result in
injuries to the gastric mucosa.
- In some cases, the mucus-containing intercellular vacuoles were reduced
in size, and focal hemorrhages within the epithelium occurred.
- In the acidic environment of the stomach, more than 90% of the ingested F
will be in the form of HF (hydrofluoric acid), because of the low pH of the gastric juice.
The formation of HF is probably the reason for the mucosal injuries observed.
Hazardous and Toxic Effects of Industrial Chemicals, 1979
- …hydrofluoric acid, and its salts are used in production of organic
and inorganic fluorine compounds such as fluorides and plastics; as a catalyst,
particularly in paraffin alkylation in the petroleum industry; as an insecticide; and to
arrest the fermentation in brewing. It is utilized in the fluorination processes,
especially in the aluminum industry, in separating uranium isotopes, in cleaning cast
iron, copper, and brass, in removing efflorescence from brick and stone, in removing sand
from metallic castings, in frosting and etching glass and enamel, in polishing crystal, in
decomposing cellulose, in enameling and galvanizing iron, in working silk, in dye and
analytical chemistry, and to increase the porosity of ceramics.
- Fluorides are used as an electrolyte in aluminum manufacture, a flux in
smelting nickel, copper gold, and silver, as a catalyst for organic reactions, a wood
preservative, fluoridation agent for drinking water, a bleaching agent for cane seats, in
pesticides, rodenticides, and as a fermentation inhibitor. They are utilized in the
manufacture of steel, iron, glass, ceramics, pottery, enamels, in the coagulation of
latex, in coatings for welding rods, and in cleaning graphite, metals, windows and
glassware.
Clinical Toxicology
Hydrofluoric acid, used in glass-etching and other industrial processes
is sometimes spilled upon the skin, with resulting slowly healing ulcers.
Contact of hydrofluoric acid with the skin causes deep, undermined,
slowly healing ulcers.
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THOSE
AT RISK TO FLUORIDE:
Fluoride Blamed in Dialysis Death (Chicago Tribune, 7/31/93)
- Three women died and six other kidney patients suffered an allergic
reaction after they underwent dialysis July 16th at the U. of Chicago dialysis
center.
- The excess fluoride caused heart failure in the three who died because it
interfered with the body’s electrical system which makes the heart beat, said Susan
Phillips, hospital vice president.
The Case Against Fluoridation (Illinois Issues, 1/90)
- No one can dispute the fact that fluoride is a poison.
- People at special risk are pregnant women, infants on formula, the
undernourished, and those with kidney impairment, excessive thirst or an allergy or
intolerance to fluoride.
- In recent decades there has been a great increase in fluoride
contamination due to airborne industrial emissions, the occult fluoride in many
medications and the use of fluoride-containing fertilizers, pesticides and dentifrices. It
is irresponsible to increase this environmental burden by deliberately adding fluoride to
water systems throughout the country.
Toxicological Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluorine, and Fluorine
(F) - prepared for: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry - USPHS (4/93)
- Existing data indicate that subsets of the population may be unusually
susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride and its compounds. These populations include
the elderly, people with deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, and/or vitamin C, and people
with cardiovascular and kidney problems.
- Because fluoride is excreted through the kidney, people with renal
insufficiency would have impaired renal clearance of fluoride. Fluoride retention on a
low-protein, low-calcium, and low-phosphorus diet was 65% in patients with chronic renal
failure, compared with 20% in normal subjects.
- People on kidney dialysis are particularly susceptible to the use of
fluoridated water in the dialysis machine.
- Impaired renal clearance of fluoride has also been found in people with
diabetes mellitus and cardiac insufficiency. People over the age of 50 often have
decreased renal fluoride clearance. …This decreased clearance of fluoride may
indicate that elderly people are more susceptible to fluoride toxicity.
- Poor nutrition increases the incidence and severity of dental fluorosis
and skeletal fluorosis. …Calcium deficiency was found to increase bone fluoride
levels in a two-week study in rats.
New Evidence on Water Fluoride and Bone Fragility (Fluoride Vol. 25,
No. 1, 1992)
Children excrete fluoride less efficiently than adults, so retain even
more in their bones. Fluoridation since the 1950’s has increased the fluoride intake
of millions of today’s old people for up to half their adult lives. An unanswered
question is: what will have been the effect on the bones of today’s children by the
time they reach old age?
Stress Fractures of the Lower Limbs in Osteoporotic Patients Treated
with Fluoride (J Bone Min Res, Vol. 5, Suppl. 1, 1990)
- True osteomalacia existed in only two patients with mild impairment of
renal function. This points out the harmful effect of even mild renal failure in
fluoride-treated patients.
- …Fluoride therapy for osteoporosis should be cautiously managed and
must be avoided in patients with impaired renal function.
Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products 5th Ed.
If renal function is not seriously impaired, it [fluoride] is excreted
in urine.
Stress Fractures of the Lower Limbs in Osteoporotic Patients Treated
with Fluoride (J Bone Min Res, Vol. 5, Suppl. 1, 1990)
True osteomalacia existed in only two patients with mild impairment of
renal function. This points out the effect of even mild renal failure in fluoride-treated
patients.
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SOURCES
OF FLUORIDE:
Tacoma Public Utilities; Letter from Bob Myrick - Water Quality
Coordinator (5/22/92)
For 1992: Sodium fluoride for our well’s supply is imported from
Japan. Sodium silicofluoride for our river supply is imported from Belgium.
Fluoride Chemical is ‘Hazardous Waste’ - Makers say acid
should not be in environment (The Derry Journal [Derry, Ireland] (Friday, 11/1/96)
- The acid which will be added to Derry’s water supplies as part of
the fluoridation process is so dangerous that European producers say it should never be
released into the environment. Safety data sheets, forwarded by the Belgian chemical
company Rhone Poulenc to Derry pure water campaigners show that fluosilicic acid should
only be disposed of as "hazardous waste."
- …In the event of spillage, the Accidental Release Measures state:
"DO NOT let this chemical enter the environment. DO NOT breath gas.
- "Prevent any contact with food products. Prevent any contact with
hot surfaces."
- "Mark out the contaminated area with signs and prevent access to
unauthorized personnel. Warn of danger."
- "Shelter from vapors by keeping upwind. Stop the leak and if
possible, any contact with skin and clothing."
- "Food or food packaging which has been in contact with the product
must be destroyed."
- The warning about not letting the chemical into the environment is
repeated in the regulations concerning the disposal of the product.
- "Dispose of this product as hazardous waste," it states.
- Rhone Poulenc’s safety regulations about the chemical run to a total
of 11 pages.
- Company spokesperson C. Smalle said, however, that the company had never
exported the product either to Britain or Ireland.
- …According to pure water experts, Europeans refer to its use in
water supplies as "Mad Anglo-Saxon Disease."
- In a recent overview of the implications of fluoridation for the Derry
area, the Pure Water Association warn that serious spills and leaks of fluosilicic acid do
occur.
- Spokesperson T.J. Moore said: "The main risk factors appear to be
the high corrosivity of fluosilicic acid, failure of the storage tank and sometimes also
of the containment area (usually made of concrete), and human error. There is also the
risk of tank failure and of road accident while the chemical is being transported by road
tanker to the water treatment works."
- "There have been over 50 reported spills of this chemical in the USA
alone. How many have gone unreported?"
Byproduct from a Byproduct (Pennsylvania Tribune Review, Sun.,
9/29/96)
(With regard to fluoride) …It’s now imported from nations
where its use is illegal. The critics contend that the original motivation for promoting
fluoridation was two fold: (1) Industry’s need to rid itself of an unfortunate
byproduct from making of aluminum, (2) Some very optimistic and marginal research.
Toothpaste Dangers - Fluoridated toothpaste’s contain extremely
high concentrations of fluoride (Newspaper; unsure which city)
If the brush is covered with a "ribbon" of paste, up to 0.5 mg
of fluoride can be absorbed in one brushing. If eaten all at once, a tube of toothpaste
will kill a small child.
In Sweden, fluoridated toothpaste is labeled: "Not for use by
children under six." When fluoride is swallowed in small amounts on a daily basis,
whether it’s in water, food or toothpaste, it accumulates in the body in the same way
as lead, causing damage to soft tissue and bone.
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LEAD
AND PIPE CORROSION:
Letter from William L. Marcus, Ph.D., D.A.B.T. - Board Certified
Toxicologist (4/19/94)
…Lead poisoning for unknown reasons has a racial component.
Children who are black or Hispanic given the same exposures as white children absorb
significantly more lead. …This means that the level set by the EPA is marginally safe
for white adults, but unsafe for African American or Hispanic children. Children absorb
proportionately more lead than do adults. From birth to 3 months when the central nervous
system is most vulnerable, babies absorb 4-8 times the amount of lead as adults, and
consider that they drink 8 times as much water, is a disaster in the making.
Allied Chemical - General Chemical Division (Stat. Sheet)
Fluosilicic acid (hydrofluosilicic acid): Water Chemicals Codex: Purity
requirements - Analyses of available grades of fluosilicic acid show the presence of
arsenic and lead.
Sodium Fluoride: Water Chemicals Codex: Purity requirements - Analyses
of available grades of fluosilicic acid show the presence of arsenic and lead.
Fredrick Post (Fredrick, Maryland; Thurs. 2/3/94)
Lead levels in town water have decreased significantly since town
officials stopped adding fluoride, commissioners reported at Wednesday’s meeting.
They also voted to officially ban the use of fluoride.
Why are Medical Researchers Ignoring the Probable Cause of
Alzheimer’s and Concentrating on a Cure Instead? (Richard G. Matthew)
Gene Mesco, a graduate student at the University of California Berkeley,
found that when fluoride combines with aluminum, it forms aluminum fluoride, a bioactive
substance that tends to mimic certain phosphate groups which the blood-brain-barrier
allows into the brain. Tests done at two universities and a lab in Wisconsin have shown
that fluoridated water, when boiled in an aluminum utensil, concentrates up to 600 times
as much aluminum in the water as unfluoridated water boiled in the same utensil. The
British medical journal Lancet reported that people face a 50% greater risk of getting
Alzheimer’s when the level of alum in the water is over 0.11 ppm. Apparently nobody
has connected these studies. It’s sad that there is so much knowledge out there and
the bits and pieces don’t always come together.
Third Study Links Fluoride Ingestion to Brain Damage (Sarasota Eco
Report; 12/95)
- It was stated in the study published in Neurotoxicology and Teratology,
1995, that: "Hyperactivity and cognitive deficits are generally linked with
hippocampal damage, and in fact, the hippocampus is considered to be the central processor
which integrates inputs from the environment, memory, and motivational stimuli to produce
behavioral decisions and modify memory." Isaacson’s studies also found that low
levels of aluminum fluoride created irrecoverable memory loss in rats similar to
Alzheimer’s Disease which is also associated with the hippocampal region of the
brain.
- Factors like heavy-metal fluoride complexes such as known
neurotoxin’s: lead-fluoride and mercury-fluoride that are found in water fluoridation
agents were not addressed.
- …It is known that fluorides introduced into water supplies cause
leaching of lead, copper and iron from water pipes increasing the volume and potentiating
the adverse neurotoxic effects of these pollutants.
- When a fluoride ion combines with another element, the total toxicity of
the two can become greater than the sum of the individual components. This means that if a
child is exposed to what is considered a safe level of lead, a much lower exposure of
lead-fluoride could cause the child to exhibit lead poisoning symptoms.
- …Plasma fluoride levels of as low as 0.026 ppm were the cause of
brain damage in rats.
- …No research has been commissioned by the USEPA with the actual
products used to fluoridate the water (fluosilicic acid or sodium fluorosilicate) or, more
importantly, the combinations of exotic fluorides created from the addition of water
treatment chemicals.
The EPA, Lead, and Your Drinking Water (Tacoma Public Utilities)
FOOD
SOURCES OF FLUORIDE:
How to Avoid Fluoride (Tacoma Fluoride Alert)
- Concern among infant formula manufacturers led to their voluntary
agreement (in 1980) to remove fluoride from the water used to manufacture infant formulas.
- …Some tea leaves are notoriously high in fluoride, and even tea made
in distilled water can result in a beverage containing 1-2 ppm of fluoride or more.
- Ready to eat cereals such as corn flakes and grape nuts are notoriously
high in fluoride.
- It has been found that the use of cheap, fluorine-containing fertilizers
can result in a 6 to 12 fold increase in dietary fluoride.
Fluoride in Food (newspaper article; unsure of which paper) #26
- In commercial food processing, fluoridated water is used directly from
the public water supply, without removing the fluoride.
- …A 15 oz. can of chicken and noodles was found to have over 4 mg of
fluoride. Twelve ounces of carbonated soda may contain 1 mg of fluoride. A ready-to-feed
infant formula tested at 3.9 mg fluoride per liter, or 0.9 mg per 8 oz. feeding.
- …In 1991, the USPHS reported that individuals can be exposed to 5 mg
per day [fluoride] and more where water supplies are fluoridated.
Anglesey Fluoridation Trials Re-examined (Fluoride, Vol. 22, No. 2,
4/89)
Careful consideration of all available data indicates that the amount of
fluoride ingested daily in foods and beverages by adult humans living in fluoridated
communities currently ranges between 3.5 and 5.5 mg.
Cytogenetic Effects of Gaseous Fluorides on Grain Crops (Fluoride,
Vol. 26, No. 1, 23-32, 1993)
Atmospheric pollution of fluoride from a non-ferrous industrial plant
has been studied for its effect on the frequency of chromosome aberrations in root tips
and shoot tips of wheat and barely. …The percentage of mutations in the meristematic
cells of plants growing in polluted areas was 2-6 times higher than in the control and the
spectrum of chromosome aberrations showed changes. The testing of hydrogen fluoride for
its mutagenic activity by fumigation of barley seedlings showed that the mutation rate was
linear with dose. It was found that the cytogenic effects of gaseous fluoride on grain
crops was correlated with the fluoride content in plant tissue.
Interaction of Fluoride Ions with Milk Proteins Studied by Gel
Filtration (Fluoride, Vol. 25, No. 4, 171-174, 1992)
In this study, the authors concluded that fluoride is bound in milk by
calcium, not protein.
Clinical Toxicology
Fluoride is excreted in the urine and to some extent in milk, so that
infants may be chronically poisoned by suckling from a chronically poisoned mother.
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HIP FRACTURES:
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
The current annual cost to the US health care system for acute and
convalescent care for patients with hip fractures is more than $9.8 billion. That’s
an average of $35,000 per patient.
New Evidence on Water Fluoride and Bone Fragility (Fluoride, Vol. 25,
No. 1, 1992)
Clearly the evidence now strongly suggests that low fluoride doses over
long periods as well as high doses for short periods can damage bones, making them more
liable to fracture. Our belief that the amount accumulated from fluoridated water would be
insignificant is now discounted by the new evidence. The situation may well worsen as
people reach old age after spending greater proportions of their lives ingesting low
fluoride doses.
Hip Fractures and Fluoridation in Utah’s Elderly Population
(JAMA, Vol. 268, No. 6, 8/12/92)
We found an increased rate of hip fracture in men and women who wee
exposed to fluoride in the drinking water at 1ppm for approximately 20 years in Utah.
Water Fluoridation and Hip Fracture (JAMA, Vol. 266, No. 4)
…we recently reported the ecological association of discharge rates
for hip fracture and water fluoride levels in 39 county districts in England. …We
found a significant positive correlation between fluoride levels and discharge rates for
hip fracture. This relationship persisted for both women and men.
Regional Variation in the Incidence of Hip Fracture - US White Women
Aged 65 Years and Older (JAMA, Vol. 264, No. 4, 7/25/90)
There is a weak positive association between the percent of county
residents who receive fluoridated water and hip fracture incidence in the unadjusted
analysis that is strengthened after adjustment. …The results from the ecological
regression analysis suggest that soft and fluoridated water, poverty, reduced sunlight
exposure, and rural location all increase the risk of hip fracture.
Fluorine Concentration in Drinking Water and Fractures in the Elderly
(JAMA, Vol. 273, No. 10, 3/8/95)
The risk of hip fracture was significantly higher when water fluorine
concentration was higher than 0.11 mg/L (ppm). …Thus, adjusting for major individual
risk factors, this study suggests a deleterious effect of fluorine in drinking water on
the risk of hip fractures, even for moderate concentrations of fluorine, and no effect on
other kinds of fractures.
Spontaneous Hip Fractures in Fluoride-Treated Patients: Potential
Causative Factors (J Bone Min Res, Vol. 5, Suppl. 1, 1990)
Since our earlier report of spontaneous femoral fractures affecting 5/16
postmenopausal osteoporotics treated with NaF and Ca, there have been similar reports from
five countries. …Thus although bilateral hip fractures may occur in severe untreated
osteoporosis, the high prevalence of bilaterality of NaF-induced fractures, in this and
other series, the association in time between the bilateral fractures, and their
association with an early increase in bone turnover, suggest a metabolic, i.e.
NaF-induced, cause.
Stress Fractures of the Lower Limbs in Osteoporotic Patients Treated
with Fluoride (J Bone Min Res, Vol. 5, Suppl. 1, 1990)
The clinical course was favorable in all patients who stopped fluoride,
although 5 patients who continued the treatment had either completion of femoral neck
stress fractures to hip fractures, or recurrent stress fractures, or both. Fluoride
appears to be a key factor in the pathogenesis of stress fractures, and may be associated
with increased trabecular resorption in some treated patients.
Increased Incidence of Hip Fracture in Osteoporotic Women Treated
with Sodium Fluoride (J Bone Min Res, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1989)
…the observed number of hip fractures in the fluoride-treated group
was 10 times higher than that expected in unselected women of the same age, as calculated
from the Rochester hip fracture incidence data or compared to the other tow treated
osteoporotic groups. In a previous report, on the incidence of hip fractures in 418
fluoride-treated osteoporotic women, the incidence rate was 3.4 times higher than expected
in women of the same age in Rochester, Minnesota.
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CANCER:
Fluoridation and Cancer - The biology and epidemiology of bone and
oral cancer related to fluoridation (Fluoride, Vol. 26, No. 2, 83-96, 1993)
backed
by 87 references
- Numerous studies have shown that fluoride causes genetic damage (28
references), at levels as low as 0.5 ppm in cell cultures and at exposures as low as 1.0
ppm in the drinking water. It is generally agreed that substances which cause genetic
damage are also likely to cause cancer. Since the level of fluoride used to fluoridate
public drinking water is 0.7-1.2 ppm, individuals living in fluoridated areas may suffer
an increased risk of genetic damage and cancer.
- More recently researchers have shown that increasing levels of fluoride
increased the incidence of melanotic tumors in fruit flies. In patients receiving fluoride
to treat their osteoporosis, fluoride was shown to transform white blood cells into cells
"suggestive of retculoendothelial malignancy." Others have since found that
fluoride transforms normal cells into cancer cells, and that it promotes and enhances the
carcinogenicity of other cancer-causing chemicals.
- Studies by Proctor and Gamble scientists showed that the incidence of
precancerous growths in oral tissues increased as exposure to fluoride increased. They
also concluded: "There is clearly a compound [fluoride]-related increase in osteomas
in both male and female mice." In addition, they tabulated bone cancers and tumors in
rats fed fluoride, but not in untreated rats.
- …it can be seen that as exposure to fluoridation increased, so did
the incidence rate of the oral cancer. These data, which show a 30-50% increase in the
cancer incidence rate of the oral cavity and pharynx in fluoridated areas, are far more
serious than the bone cancer data. Nationally, they translate into 6000-9000 additional
cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer per year in the USA as a result of fluoridation.
Additionally, the laboratory data supporting fluoride-induced oral tumors and cancers are
far more convincing than the data on bone cancer.
- …The New Jersey Health Department, out of concern that fluoridation
might be linked to increased rates of osteosarcoma, studied osteosarcoma rates in New
Jersey and found male osteosarcoma rates 3-8 times higher in fluoridated areas. It is
interesting to note that they changed the title of their report from "A Brief Report
on the Association of Drinking Water Fluoridation and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma among
Young Males" to "An Epidemiologic Report on Drinking Water and
Fluoridation" within a month after its publication.
- …Newburgh, New York, was one of the first cities in the US to be
fluoridated. In 1956, eleven years after fluoridation was instituted, Caffey, a professor
of clinical pediatrics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University,
noted cortical defects in the bone X-rays of 13.5% of the children living in fluoridated
Newburgh, compared to only 7.5% in the neighboring nonfluoridated town of Kingston. The
difference was statistically significant and substantive. Dr. Caffey had already noted
that these bone defects were strikingly similar to those of osteogenic sarcoma, otherwise
known as osteosarcoma.
- …Since fluoride induces the transformation of fibroblasts into
fibrosarcomas, one might also expect it to induce the transformation of osteoblasts into
osteosarcomas. Biologically, it is reasonable that fluoride, while causing bone cancer in
males, might not cause bone cancer in females. Fluoride-linked bone cancer is noted in
males at a period of time in their lives when they are shutting off bone growth by a
process (the production of testosterone) that takes longer than the way in which females
shut off bone growth (estrogen’s). By taking advantage of these differences, fluoride
could easily induce osteosarcomas in males and not in females. In fact, studies show that
1 ppm fluoride depresses testosterone synthesis in vitro.
- …An increase of 10.3 fluoridation-linked cancer deaths per 100,000
population per year over the period 1953-1968 is observed.
Conclusions
From the analyses presented in this report, we conclude that:
- The preponderance of evidence shows that fluoridation is causing an
increase in bone cancer and deaths from bone cancer in human populations among males under
age 20.
- The increase in bone cancer attributable to fluoridation may
all be due to an increase in osteosarcoma caused by fluoride.
- The preponderance of evidence shows that fluoridation is
causing an increase in oral cancer among human populations.
- Since fluoride has been linked to bone and oral cancers in
animals and humans, its biochemistry and its ability to inhibit the DNA repair enzyme
system, to accelerate tumor growth rate, to inhibit the immune system, to cause genetic
damage in a number of different cell lines, and to induce melanotic tumors, fibrosarcomas,
hepatocholangiocarcinomas, and other tumors and cancers, strongly indicate that fluoride
would have a generalized effect on increasing cancers overall.
- According to our estimates, over 10,000 cancer deaths are
caused each year in the US by fluoridation; this supports the conclusion that fluoridation
is causing other types of cancer in humans.
Effects of Fluoride on Immune System Function (Complimentary Med Res
Vol. 6, No. 3, 10/92)
- Fluoride is one of the most toxic inorganic chemicals in the Earth’s
crust, but it is believed that at a concentration of 1ppm, or 1m g/mL in public water supplies, and at the
concentrations used in dental preparations, it is both safe and beneficial to teeth.
However, with increasing experience, doubts about both safety and efficacy have arisen.
While there is evidence of harm to the stomach, kidneys, thyroid, bones and teeth at
higher concentrations, evidence for harm at concentrations around 1m g/mL is controversial. A possible link between
fluoridation of public water supplies and an increase in the cancer death rate has been
debated for over 20 years and there is now no doubt that fluoride can cause genetic
damage.
- …concentrations of fluoride of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 20.0 ppm
significantly inhibit the ability of leukocytes to migrate after incubation for 3 hours at
37° C.
- The immune system is our first line of defense against attack whether
from the outside from bacteria, viruses and other parasites, or from within, from the
spontaneous generation of potentially cancerous cells. Any agent which affects the ability
of the immune system to function efficiently either by a direct toxic effect or by
interfering with the release of cytokines will tend to reduce the resistance of the
population to infection as well as increasing the susceptibility to cancer and immune
depressed states such as the post-viral fatigue syndrome and AIDS. The effect on
individuals already suffering from such immune-depressed conditions is likely to be
serious.
- All recent large-scale surveys have shown minimal benefits to teeth from
fluoridation programs. On the other hand, chronic exposure to fluoride at 1ppm could have
a long-term detrimental effect on the general health of the population. Over the past 20
to 30 years there has been a substantial and unexplained rise in a number of conditions
such as allergy, auto-immune diseases and the post viral fatigue syndrome. The common
factor in these conditions is an alteration in the efficiency of the immune system.
Inhibition of Migration of Human Autogenous and Allogenic Leukocytes
by Extracts of Patients’ Cancers (Cancer Res, Vol. 31, 798-802, 6/71)
Tumor production of cytotoxic substances may prevent interaction between
tumor cells and immunologically competent leukocytes. This has been clearly demonstrated in
vitro, and such an occurrence in the cancer patient would impair the body’s
defenses against the tumor. (Note: fluoride is a cytotoxin)
Fluoridation and Bone Cancer (Fluoride Vol. 26, No.2, 1993)
The NTP (National Toxicology Program) fluoride/cancer study of rats and
mice found a statistically significant dose-related increase of osteosarcoma incidence in
male rats and, in addition, found fluoride correlations with thyroid follicular cell
adenomas, oral and nasal squamous dysplasia, a rare type of liver cancer
(hepatocholangiocarcinoma), and, as might have been expected, extensive osteosclerosis.
Time Trends for Bone and Joint Cancers and Osteosarcomas in the
Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program National Cancer Institute
(Fluoride, Vol. 26, No. 1, 1993)
When restricted to persons under age 20, the rates for bone and joint
cancers in both sexes rose 47% from 1973-80 to 1981-87 in the fluoridated areas of Seattle
and Iowa and declined 34% in the non-fluoridated areas. For osteosarcomas in males under
20, the rates increased 79% in the fluoridated areas and decreased 4% in the
non-fluoridated areas.
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BLOOD
F- LEVELS/ BRAIN DAMAGE see also "Lead
And Pipe Corrosion"
Summary of Statement to the Health and Welfare Committee - The Kansas
State Senate - 2/28/96, Concerning Proposed Legislation to Mandate Further Fluoridation
(by Albert W. Burgstahler, Ph.D.)
In agreement with recent (1995) neurotoxicological studies in rats,
Chinese scientists have found lower IQ levels in children from long-term exposure to
fluoride water, especially if they exhibit dental fluorosis.
Studies on Alterations in Brain Lipid Metabolism Following
Experimental Fluorosis (Fluoride, Vol. 25, No. 2, 1992)
In this study on rabbits, there are appreciable changes in the brain
lipid metabolism induced by fluoride. They are similar to the disorders known as
"lipid storage diseases." Lipidosis is a disorder of lipid metabolism leading to
abnormal fat accumulation in body tissues particularly in the liver and brain.
…Hyperlipidemia may occur due to enzymatic defect, the inability of brain to degrade
the lipid in the body.
Fluoride inhibits many enzymes involved in lipid metabolism - e.g.
lipases, phospholipases which are capable of hydrolyzing the fatty acids from
phospholipids.
Interaction of Fluoride Ions with Milk Proteins Studied by Gel
Filtration (Fluoride, Vol. 25, No. 4, 171-174, 1992)
In light of the above studies, the results established by Duff seem to
bear out the idea that fluoride is bound in milk by calcium rather than by proteins.
Fluoride Concentrations in the Human Placenta and Maternal and Cord
Blood (Am J Obstet Gynecol, Vol. 119, No. 2, 5/15/74)
…fluoride diffuses passively across the placenta. …Gedailia
found fluoride concentrations in maternal blood and fetal bone to be higher in communities
in which the drinking water contained greater concentrations of fluoride. …According
to the results of this study, maternal and cord fluoride concentrations show a direct
relationship.
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TOOTHPASTE:
Poisons and Antidotes
…new research suggests that children under age 2 should brush
without toothpaste; those between ages two and five should be given toothpaste no larger
than a pea and required to rinse their mouths thoroughly after brushing.
Hazards Lurk in Toothpaste Tube - Enumclaw sisters’ illness
traced at last to chemicals (The News Tribune, 4/5/94)
- Doctors worked for weeks to find the source of 5-year old Crystal
Mustonen’s nightly bouts of nausea and vomiting. They gave the Enumclaw girl a
complete series of gastrointestinal tests. She likewise endured a barium enema.
- Then Crystal’s 3-year old sister Samantha started throwing up too.
- […The children’s father linked the vomiting to the children
brushing their teeth. The girls used Bubble Gum flavored Crest Sparkle]
- The specific toothpaste is likely not to blame, said Terri
Bonck, a Mary
Bridge Children’s Hospital pharmacist and poison control specialist. Rather, the
culprit s fluoride. "If the kids are sucking on the tube, that’s enough to make
them vomit," she said. "It’s the fluoride itself - it’s very
irritating to the stomach." Probably just an ounce or so of toothpaste swallowed
would be enough to make a 2- or 3-year-old vomit, she said.
- "This is pretty common, unfortunately, because of the amount of
fluoride in the toothpaste, Bonck said. "In poison centers across the US, it’s a
pretty common call."
- Jim Schwartz, spokesman for Cincinnati-based Proctor & Gamble, which
makes Crest, stated, "They [toothpastes] do cause stomach upset and will lead to
vomiting if it’s consumed; it’s an effect of these ingredients." "An
important safety message to parents is to urge them to supervise their children when they
brush," he said. "It’s something all parents should do when using
over-the-counter-medicine, like toothpaste."
- Schwartz speaks from experience: One of his 3-year-old twin daughters
recently suffered the same experience as Crystal Mustonen. "Our own kid swallowed
some toothpaste and threw up," he said.
- Many parents might not know toothpaste can make children sick to their
stomachaches, said Chris Martin, spokesman for the ADA in Chicago. "It’s like
anything, dosage is important," Martin said. "…You’ve got to make sure
these products are treated carefully, locked away and kept out of the reach of kids."
"It’s just not treated as you’d treat kitchen cleanser, but we wish parents
would treat it like that."
J Dent Res, February, 1990, pg. 546
…we know that by the age of 18 months, approximately 75% of
children brush or have their teeth brushed with a fluoride dentifrice; that the average
quantity of dentifrice or mouthrinse involved per use contains 1.0 mg of fluoride,
although the range is from 0.1 to over 3.0 mg; that, of the fluoride which is introduced
into the mouth with each use of a dentifrice or mouthrinse, an average of about 25-30% is
ingested; that the range of ingested fluoride is from less than ten percent to nearly
100%, and the fraction swallowed is inversely proportional to age, so that younger
children ingest more. In effect, therefore, an unintended fluoride "supplement"
is taken with each use of dentifrice, mouthrinse, or any other product designed for
topical application, regardless of the fluoride concentrations of drinking water or other
dietary components.
Afraid to Drink the Water? (letter from Frances Frech, 11/15/96,
Population Renewal Office, Kansas City, MO)
- A recent report from ABC News stated that people are becoming more and
more afraid of the public water supply and are turning to the bottle kind. The report said
that last year (1995) sixty-four million Americans got sick from tap water.
- …About 2/3 of the nation’s water supplies are treated with
fluoride products, described by the U.S. Public Health Service as insecticides,
rodenticides, and fungicides. In addition, fluoridated toothpastes and mouth rinses are
spit into bathroom sinks all over the country to end up in the waste water.
- Before this water can be discharged into rivers and lakes, it must be
treated to remove raw sewage and solid wastes. The fluoride, however, is not removed. Some
of it, at least, will go into the aquatic environment where it can kill the fungi which
would have destroyed pathogens, such as Cryptosporidium.
The Physiological and Toxicological Characteristics of Fluoride (J
Dent Res)
…of the fluoride which is introduced into the mouth with each use
of a dentifrice or mouthrinse, an average of about 25-30% is ingested; that the range of
ingested fluoride is from less than 10% to nearly 100%, and the fraction swallowed is
inversely proportional to age, so that younger children ingest more. In effect, therefore,
an unintended fluoride "supplement" is taken with each use of dentifrice,
mouthrinse, or any other product designed for topical application, regardless of the
fluoride concentrations of drinking water or other dietary components.
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FLUOROSIS:
The Physiological and Toxicological Characteristics of Fluoride (J
Dent Res, Vol. 69, 2/90))
- There is a growing body of evidence which indicates that the prevalence
and, in some cases, the severity of dental fluorosis is increasing in both fluoridated and
non-fluoridated regions in the U.S.
- …This trend is undesirable for several reasons: (1) It increases the
risk of esthetically objectionable enamel defects; (2) in more severe cases, it increases
the risk of harmful effects to dental function; (3) it places dental professionals at an
increased risk of litigation; and (4) it jeopardizes the perception of the safety and,
therefore, the public acceptance of the use of fluorides.
Letter from George Glasser to John Zapp - Exec. Director of the ADA
(4/16/96)
- It was established in 1942 that as little as 1ppm of fluorides would
cause from 10-20% dental fluorosis (a permanent condition indicative of fluoride toxicity)
in the exposed population. Today, the incidence of dental fluorosis ranges from 40% to 84%
of the children in fluoridated areas. While the USPHS and USCDC are aware of these
figures, they have failed to adequately warn the public. And while those US
government agencies and the ADA classify the condition (dental fluorosis) as a cosmetic
effect, it is an adverse side-effect caused by fluorides for which there is a duty
to warn.
- …With regards to duty to warn the public of adverse effects,
dereliction of these duties by the ADA could be construed as criminal negligence since
there is foreseeability and knowledge of injury from the intake of low levels of
fluorides via drinking water.
Study Suggests Too Much Toothpaste Causes Fluorosis (Am Dent Assoc,
1995)
"Fluorosis is a sign that fluoride is working." Said Dr. Heber
Simmons, Jr., a pediatric dentist in Jackson, Miss., and an ADA consumer advisor.
"And while it can be treated, we’d like to help parents prevent it as much as
possible."
A Photographic Study of Enamel Defects Among South Australian School
Children (Australian Dent J, 34(5):470-3, 1989) #35
In 1982, a study involving 854 South Australian primary school children
in fluoridated areas suggested that children with lifelong exposure to water-borne
fluoride at a level of 1 ppm showed an increased prevalence of enamel defects.
Disfiguring, or "White and Strong?" (Fluoride 23(3) 1990)
- In 1983, when Principle Dental Officer in Auckland, I stated in a letter
to the Director-General of Health: "The evidence now suggests that the provision of
fluoride to children is out of control, with many children suffering the effects of toxic
levels of intake." I suggested that water fluoridation be discontinued. The evidence
was later published. Dental fluorosis, the diffuse, symmetrically arranged tooth mottling
which is a manifestation of fluoride intoxication, affected 25% of children in fluoridated
central Auckland. Visible fluorosis of front teeth affected 10%, and 3.6% had discolored
or pitted fluorosed enamel. It was suggested that either of the last two categories of the
condition could be described as "disfiguring." In the non-fluoridated areas only
5% of the children had the condition - very mildly except for the few who had been given
fluoride tablets.
- …According to fluoridation proponents, this sign of fluoride
intoxication is only a "cosmetic defect," not a health hazard.
- …Officially collected School Dental Service data from the six main,
largely urban, population areas showed that in non-fluoridated Christchurch children has
dental health comparable to that in the five other main population centers, which are
fluoridated, in fact, slightly more children were free of dental decay in Christchurch,
and the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth differed by only a small fraction of a
tooth.
- …When fluoridation was introduced it was predicted that only 10 to
12 percent of children would have dental fluorosis, so mild it would be "detectable
only on close expert examination." Could not other adverse effects have been
similarly underestimated? Concern should center on degree of toxicity rather than on
amount of "cosmetic impairment." The claim that only tooth-forming cells are
damaged by fluoride is extremely implausible, contrary to common sense, and can be
disputed on scientific grounds. There is evidence of more general harm.
Prevalence of Dental Mottling in School-aged Lifetime Residents of 16
Texas Communities (Am J Pub Health, 75(1) 1985)
The prevalence of moderate mottling is increased with fluoride level in
the community drinking water.
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LACK
OF BENEFIT FROM FLUORIDE:
Is There a Dental Benefit from Water Fluoridation (Condensed from -
Fluoride, 27(1) 13-22, 1994)
- A study of the dental health of 26,000 elementary school children in
Tucson, Arizona, concluded that there is no obvious relationship between fluoride levels
in drinking water and tooth decay. This startling conclusion was made in a study
commissioned by the mayor and town council, who were considering switching from
groundwater to Colorado River water to supply the city of 600,000. A new treatment plant
would have to be built and the health department wanted the water fluoridated.
- …The study showed how overly simplistic it is to look at fluoride
levels and tooth decay, but not at other variables affecting dental health. When fluoride
levels were compared with rates of tooth decay, the committee found that tooth decay
increased significantly with increasing concentration of fluoride. About 10% of children
in the school with 0.1 ppm fluoride in the water had tooth decay. Over 45% of the children
in some schools with 0.8 ppm had tooth decay.
Fluorides and the Decline in Tooth Decay in New Zealand (Fluoride,
26(2) 1993)
National data collected in New Zealand over a 50-year period indicate
that the decline in tooth decay in that country commenced before and independently of the
introduction of fluoridation and other uses of fluoride.
Water Fluoridation and Tooth Decay: Results from the 1986-1987
National Survey of US School Children (Fluoride, 23(2) 1990)
It has become widely accepted among dental and public health
professionals that fluoridation reduces tooth decay by ½ to 2/3. However, recent studies
by public health dentists in New Zealand, Canada and the US have reported similar of lower
tooth decay rates in nonfluoridated areas as compared to fluoridated areas. Moreover
findings in the US and worldwide show that, over the last 25 years, reductions in tooth
decay rates in nonfluoridated areas are comparable to those in fluoridated areas.
Anglesey Fluoridation Trials Re-examined (Fluoride, Vol. 22, No. 2,
4/89)
Recent evidence suggests that the benefits from fluoridation in reducing
dental caries may have been overestimated; consequently, there is a need for scientific
evaluation of the experimental design of previous fluoridation trials.
Child Dental Health Differences in New Zealand (Fluoride, 22(1) 1989)
When considering the socioeconomic variable, child dental health appears
to be better in the nonfluoridated area.
…there was more decay, not less, among fluoridated-area upper class 7-year olds.
New York Oral Health Center tackles Dental Health of Minorities in
Harlem (ADA News, 10/7/96)
"The kids’ mouths tell the story of poverty and lack of access
to dental care. There’s more dental decay among these kids, and we see the beginning
of inflamed gingivitis in their mouths. A lot of these children haven’t received any
fluoride treatments," says Dr. Bailey. "In addition, about 99 percent of them
haven’t gotten dental sealants." (Note: Harlem is fluoridated)
Council sees need for more Staff at Indian Dental Health Facilities
(ADA News, 10/17/96)
"Native American children have a much higher incidence of dental
caries and other oral health problems than children in the U.S. population as a
whole." (Note: All Indian Reservations are fluoridated by government
mandate).
North Slope Dental Health called worst in U.S. (Ketchikan Daily News,
12/17/90)
Examiners reported finding active cavities among Native children aged 3
through 5 at three times the national average. Nearly three-fourths of the 62 Native
elders aged 65 or older had no teeth at all. …Examiners said 40% of elementary
students had cavities, and 70% had cavities by the time they reached high school. (Note:
North Slope is fluoridated)
Demand Taxes Clinics serving the Poor - A Crisis in Dental Care (The
Morning News Tribune, 3.30.92)
Questionable
Research:
Fluoridation: ‘Fraud & Cover-up’ (Can Health Nutr Bus
J, Issue 4, 1992)
Dr. Bob Carton, vice-president of the Union which represents 1,100
scientists, lawyers, and engineers responsible for providing the scientific basis for
regulations of the EPA in the US, says about fluoride: (1) Critical information was
falsified by the US Department of Health and the EPA; (2) Credentials were used to give
appearance of scientific credibility; (3) There was ethical misconduct by EPA management
related to fluoride; (4) Evidence was ignored by EPA, and concerns deleted; (5) EPA
scientists were attacked and threatened with dismissal for revealing unpleasant facts
about fluoride.
Is There a Dental Benefit from Water Fluoridation (Condensed from -
Fluoride, 27(1) 13-22, 1994)
One can conclude, from recent evidence on tooth decay prevalences, that
(1) the claimed benefits of fluoridation are, at best, greatly exaggerated; (2) they are
possibly the reverse of what is claimed, that is, by weakening tooth structure,
fluoridation actually makes teeth, in the long term, more prone to decay.
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QUOTABLE
QUOTES:
Fluoridation Invades Our Private Freedoms (The News Review, Roseburg
OR, 2/16/90)
"Whatever may be said for fluoridation as a matter of public
health, the program is a patent invasion of private rights - specifically, the right of
each individual to control the medicine he takes."
Fluoridation and Bone Cancer (Fluoride Vol. 26, No.2, 1993)
"Therefore, given that osteosarcoma is potentially fatal and caries
is not, and that other document studies show fluoride-related increases in hip fractures,
dental fluorosis, and other health damaging effects, it would be wise to cease all
artificial fluoridation. Anyone who chooses to give their children additional fluoride in
spite of all these risks would still be free to do so. I can think of no other agent with
this degree of risk which is mandated by the PHS to be added to our food or water. The
decision to use the agent should be left to the individual and his/her health
advisor."
A Statement on Fluoridation (by Jonathan Forman, BA, MD,
FACA, FIICP)
Any chemical substance, when used to prevent or cure disease, is a
medicine by any and all dictionary definitions. So that is a medicine distributed on a
mass basis in such a manner that its consumption is for all practical purposes compulsory.
This is medication from a public health point of view which always
ignores the individual and thinks in terms of good for the state (majority). For the first
time we are determining the dose by the strength of the medicine in the bottle and the
thirst of the patient. Nothing could possibly be more unscientific! On this basis alone
fluoridation should not be considered and attention given to the medication of the
individual.
Robert C. Atkins, MD
"Our government has spent forty years telling us fluoridation is
safe and actively promoting what is, in effect, forced medication, and now it’s
paralyzed by the enormity of its error."
"The truth may be avoided,
but never denied."
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