Fluoridation: The Overdosing of America

Fluoridation:
The Overdosing of America

Overview

"Fluoridation" of the municipal water system was introduced by the federal government as a "cavity fighting" strategy in the 1940's. During that period, the US government set the "fluoride intake" standard for "optimal" benefit for teeth, between 0.7-1.2 mg/L (milligrams per liter), for an average of 1 mg/day. At that time fluoride was not generally available from other sources. The uncontrolled use of fluoride during the past 50 years has created a very serious national health problem. Now the American Dental Association and American Academy of General Dentistry are warning dentists of "... an increase in the prevalence of enamel fluorosis (irreversible mottling, staining and pitting of the teeth due to over-exposure to fluoride) in both optimally fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities."

The Facts

"The 'optimal' level of fluoride intake has NEVER been determined scientifically." J. American Dental Association, Vol. 126, p.1625, Dec. 1995.
The FDA has classified fluoride as an unapproved new drug. After 52 years of fluoride's use in municipal water, the FDA does not have one study on file showing fluoride's safety or effectiveness.
In 1986, the EPA raised the level of fluoride allowed in municipal water from 1 ppm to 4 ppm (parts per million). The EPA's union of professional employees (scientists, engineers and attorneys), who are responsible for setting standards, attempted to file suit in federal court to overturn the new standard. They charged that the EPA had ignored scientific evidence of adverse health effects.
Today, less than 2% of Europe is fluoridated where as over 50% of U.S. drinking water is fluoridated. Fluoride is in the food, water, beverages and dental products as well as fluoride-based pharmaceuticals, work place exposure and air emissions.
In 1993, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services stated in its Toxicological Profile on fluoride, "Existing data indicates 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."

Below is a summary and analysis of a table from the U.S. Dept. of health and Human Services report, Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks (1991) that demonstrates exposure levels to fluoride from food, beverages, and dental products, This table does not include all sources of fluoride exposure, such as fluoride-based medications, work place exposure, or air emissions. The more one uses products containing fluoride, the level of exposure to one's body increases. Please note the multiplier effect that use of fluoridated water has on fluoride intake:

Fluoride concentration in drinking water	Fluoride Intake	% over 1 mg optimal dose
Unfluoridated communities < 0.3 mg/L	0.88 - 2.2 mg/day	as much as 120%
Fluoridated communities 0.7-1.2 mg/L	1.58 - 6.60 mg/day	as much as 560%
Fluoridated communities > 2.0 mg/L	2.10 -> 7.05 mg/day	could be > 605%

According to the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, residents living in an unfluoridated community are already getting the so called "optimal" dose!

The FDA in FDA Consumer (Jan.-Feb. 1992) report, "As Dr. Edward Ohanian of the human and environmental criteria division in EPA's Office of Water explains, the agency has established two "maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)" for fluoride: 2 ppm and 4 ppm. The first MCL is considered the point above which cosmetic effects, in the form of a degree of dental fluorosis, can occur and is intended to ensure public awareness of that possibility. Although EPA cannot compel the states to hold fluorides to this level, the 4 ppm MCL is legally enforceable, since it is based on the possibility of adverse health effects above that level." The presence of dental fluorosis clinically signifies a chronic fluoride intoxication!

According to the above HHS table and FDA Consumer, "optimally" fluoridated communities are currently exposed to the risk of adverse health effects, while unfluoridated communities are exposed to the risk of fluorosis! The adverse health affects include: increase rates of cancer, increased hip fractures in the elderly, increase in osteoporosis, increased rates of infertility, chronic fatigue, headaches, bone and joint pain, behavioral problems, calcification of the brain, increase rates of stress fractures and Crohn's Disease (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
The FDA's claim that fluorosis is only a cosmetic effect is unsubstantiated. It is symptomatic of chronic intoxification (over-exposure) to fluoride. The FDA's claim that 2 ppm will "ensure public awareness" is unfounded.
The University of Iowa published two articles, Risk of Fluorosis in a Fluoridated Population and Infant Fluoride Ingestion from Water, Supplementation and Dentifrice (JADA, Dec. 1995). Researchers have reported that fluorosis has increased in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities at an alarming rate. Their data shows (p.1630) that babies 9 months and younger are over-exposed to fluoride.
In December 1996, The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) issued a press release warning parents to limit their children's intake of fruit juice, due to over-exposure to fluoride. The study was conducted by the University of Iowa and was reported in JADA (July 1996). The study found that 62% of the ready-to drink juices contain 0.6 - 1.0 ppm of fluoride, which is above the AGD recommended limit of 0.6 ppm. The Iowa study states that due to "the widespread use of fluoridated water, fluoride dentifrice and dietary fluoride supplements and other forms of fluoride ...(there is) an increased prevalence of dental fluorosis , ranging from about 15 to 65 percent in fluoridated areas and 5 to 40 percent in non-fluoridated areas in North America."
Fluoride has never passed the controlled studies necessary for "FDA Approval" as either a supplement or an additive to municipal water.

Is It Safe?

"Fluorine is the most reactive and dangerous of all the halogen family of elements..." Albert W. Laubengayer, Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry Cornell University.

"In point of fact, fluorine causes more human cancer death, and causes it faster, than any other chemical." Dean Burk, Chief Chemist Emeritus at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Warning against swallowing fluoridated toothpaste, John Renshaw, spokesman for the British Dental Association said, " A child swallowing toothpaste on a regular basis would certainly run the risk of overdosing with fluoride, which can lead to very unsightly mottling of the teeth." British Dental Association.

The instructions on the back of the box of fluoridated toothpaste has an ominous warning: if a child six years or younger swallows a pea-sized amount of toothpaste you should call a physician or the poison control for help.

"Fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons, with the capacity to modify the metabolism of cells by inhibiting certain enzymes. Sources of fluorine intoxication include drinking water containing 1 ppm or more of fluorine." AMA September 18, 1943.

"Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances. In light of our present knowledge of the subject, the potentialities for harm outweigh those for good." Journal of the American Dental Association October 1, 1944.

Academy of General Dentistry's Press Release on the University of Iowa Study (December 1996): 62% of 532 ready-to-drink fruit juices (frozen-concentrate and juice flavored drinks) surveyed had fluoride levels greater than 0.6 ppm. This amount is already above the recommended dose of supplemental fluoride which is between 0.3 and 0.6 parts per million.

"...there has been an increase in the prevalence of enamel fluorosis (irreversible mottling, staining and pitting) in both optimally fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities." J. American Dental Association, Vol. 126, p.1617, Dec. 1995.

There are now at least eight studies that showed an increase of hip fracture incidence in fluoridated compared to unfluoridated communities. Estimated that 350,000 hip fractures occur annually (and increasing) and at a cost of $9 billion dollars/yr. "A Brief Account of the Fluoridation and Hip Fracture Problem" by John R. Lee, M.D. June 30, 1995.

Danielson C, Lyon JL, Egger M, Goodenough GK, Hip fractures and fluoridation in Utah's elderly population, J. American Medical Association Vol. 268, pp.746-748, 1992.

Riggs BL, Hodgson SF, O'Fallon WM et al.:Effect of fluoride treatment on the fracture rate in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 322, pp.802-809, 1990.

Fluoride causes poisoning of the central nervous system especially the hippocampus causing neuropathology and behaviorial deficits. Phyllis Mullenix, Ph.D. international authority on toxicology.

Fluoride has been associated with increased hip fractures, bone cancers, nerve damage, lower I.Q.'s, and Alzheimer's disease.

How Does
it Damage?

When fluoride reaches the cells which make the enamel, it destroys them. The enamel laid down is irregular, mottled, porous and thin. As the poisoning worsens, the enamel may even be absent. J.A. Albright, "The Effect of Fluoride on the Mechanical Properties of Bone," Transactions of the Annual Meeting of the Orthopedics Research Society, pp. 3,98, 1978.

"Once the fluoride ion is deposited in the apatite (tooth matrix) as fluorapatite, it becomes firmly fixed and the reaction is irreversible." Jenkins, G.N.: The mechanism of action of fluoride in reducing caries incidence. Int. Dent. J. 17:552, 1967.

Fluoride has a strong affinity for magnesium, calcium, and manganese and inactivates cellular function by making these minerals unavailable. "...evidence for the absence of a systemic anticaries effect of fluoride is now recognized by leading dental researchers." J. Dental Research 69, Special Issue, 1990.

"Any tooth decay reducing effect attributable to fluoride occurs by topical mechanisms involving action on tooth surfaces and on oral bacteria that promote dental caries. ... there is negligible anticaries benefit from ingested fluoride that does not have actual contact with the surfaces of the teeth." Fluoride in Dentistry, 2nd Edition, Edited by O.Fejerskov, J. Ekstrand, and B.A. Burt. Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 1996.

Alleged
Benefits

"...the consumption of water containing fluorides has a delaying action on the onset of caries (decay) rather than a lasting preventive effect." Albert W. Laubengayer, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University (First National Symposium on Fluoridation).

The formation of enamel on the permanent teeth is completed by age 7. Why medicate anyone beyond the alleged period of benefit?

The FDA classifies fluoride as a non essential nutrient. To allege that anyone is deficient in fluoride is therefore a fallacy.

A New Zealand study which reviewed statistics of 60,000 school children revealed that fluoridation has no significant effect on the decay of permanent teeth. Colquhoun, J . Community Dentistry and Epidemiology 13:37-41, 1985.

The largest United States study on fluoridation and tooth decay conducted by the U. S. Public Health Service reviewed dental records of over 39,000 school children. This study showed that the decay rate of permanent teeth was virtually the same for fluoridated and nonfluoridated areas. Marcus, W. Chemical and Engineering News, 1990.

1992 study in Tucson, Arizona of 26,000 elementary school children found that the more fluoride a child consumes, the more cavities appear in the teeth. Study conducted by University of Arizona headed by professor emeritus Cornelius Steelink.

Children living in a fluoridated community had 11 times more risk of fluorosis. Study conducted by University of Arizona headed by professor emeritus Cornelius Steelink.

Contradictions:
The ADA's
Own
Literature

The American Dental Association states in its own literature that the average individual consuming "optimally" fluoridated water (0.7-1.2 mg/L) will ingest 1.9 mg of fluoride daily. Also stated in their literature is the statement that levels of 2 mg per day will cause dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis as defined by Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary results from chronic fluoride intoxication or pathological change. Dental fluorosis is more than just a "cosmetic" defect!

There is only a 5% margin of safety if one drinks the average amount of water (one liter per day). Unfortunately fluoride is so ubiquitous in our environment that the 2 mg per day level is easily passed. As examples, drinking an 8 oz. glass of ready-to- drink fruit juice that contains 0.6 mg fluoride provides .15 mg and brushing with a pea-size amount of fluoridated toothpaste provides .33 mg of fluoride. In reality, there is no margin of safety with fluoride.

The ADA's answer, in their own literature, to whether or not ingestion of optimally fluoridated water causes defects in the enamel was NO; however in the same literature in which this statement was made it also stated, "It has also been noted that when drinking water is the only source of fluoride, at the concentration recommended for protection against dental decay, mild degrees of dental fluorosis may occur in 10-15 percent of children who consume fluoridated water from birth."

Discontinuation of Mass Water Fluoridation:
1996: Water Authority of Western Nassau County voted 8 to 1 to discontinue their water fluoridation after 23 years.

1996: City of Worchester, Massachusetts discontinues fluoridation.

1997: Yardley Borough, Bucks County Pennsylvania. Fluoridation issue was defeated! See the slide presentation that helped defeat the opposition.

Seventy-five percent of municipalities vote down the issue of fluoridation of their water supply when it is brought up for a vote.

Litigation Compensation:
November 24, 1996: "Colgate (United Kingdom) paid out the first compensation claim for teeth ruined by fluoride. This represents the first settlement of its kind any where in the world. An additional 230 parents are already attempting claims for damages.

Freedom of Choice:
No one is denying anyone the right to use fluoride. In a democracy, the individual has the right to choose if he or she wants to be medicated. Fluoridating the public water takes away one's right of informed consent and is tantamount to mass medication!

Economics:
It is more cost effective to allow the individual to choose and pay for whatever medication they wish to have. No one has the right to force this on everyone! Even if a portion of the children in one's community cannot afford its cost it still would be cheaper for municipalities to pay for these prescriptions than the total cost of fluoridating the water. Ironically the very children who are claimed to be the greatest "beneficiaries" of fluoridation, the under-nourished, the economically deprived are much more susceptible to fluoride poisoning than those with adequate diets. (A.L. Russel, "Dental Fluorosis in Grand Rapids During the Seventeenth Year of Fluoridation". Journal American Dental Association November 1962, pp.608-612.)

Today, 60% of the water supply in the U.S. is fluoridated, even though not one well-done study (double-blind and controlled) exists that shows a benefit from this poisonous substance. In spite of all this, the American Dental Association is still reasurring everyone that fluoride is absolutely safe and "vital for strong decay-resistant teeth." While they are reasurring the public they are simultaneously warning dentists in their journal articles of the increased incidence of dental fluorosis (intoxication due to excess fluoride).

The best way to avoid fluoride poisoning is by drinking distilled water, use of reverse osmosis or steam distillation water purifiers or home delivery of fluoride free water. Also avoid fluoridated toothpastes and mouthwashes, say NO to fluoride treatments at your dentist's office, and do not let your grandchildren take fluoride supplements.

Fluoride drops and tablets are NOT approved by the FDA!