At the request of the Government, the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York, is conducting a review of fluoridation.
The official website for the review, "Fluoridation of Drinking Water: a Systematic
Review of its Efficacy and Safety," is at
www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/fluorid.htm.
The review will investigate whether or not fluoridation is effective and may
additionally investigate the toxicity of artificial fluorides. The Centre is core funded
by the National Health Service's R & D division, and the fluoridation review is funded
by the R & D division of the Department of Health.
Naturally, those who follow the fluoridation debate will want to know whether this
review is really going to be unbiased.
In a recent letter to an enquirer, Dr. Kleijnen, the director of the Centre, stated:
The advisory committee is there to advise the review team, not to decide or veto. There will be no vote in the end, and as far as we are
concerned everyone can draw their own conclusions based on our review. The membership involves both proponents and opponents of
fluoridation as well as neutral people.
We will consider all relevant material, from all countries and all languages (I'm Dutch and can read Moolenburg's work). You rightly assume that
people can check reasons for rejection in our final report, and we are open to answer any queries.
On politics versus science I can say our Centre has quite a lot of experience, going as far as threatening to close the Centre if we could not
publish our findings. As you say, our reputation depends on it and, frankly, being independent is for many of us the very reason to be at a
university. We could earn considerably more money working either directly for the government or in industry.
Editor:
Do you expect the review to be unbiased?
Dr. Mansfield:
The Review itself is being conducted within the culture of the Cochrane Collaboration, a
group of scientists represented in many countries but originating in
England and strongest in Europe, who set out to establish medicine on the basis of
rigorous evidence. The terms "effectiveness", "efficiency" and
"evidence-based medicine" are just a few that originate in this culture. The UK Cochrane
Centre is publicly funded but jealous of its reputation for
independence. Jos Kleijnen, in charge of the York-based NHS Centre for Reviews and
Dissemination, is one of very few whose entire career has been spent
conducting independent reviews. He seems to me to be clear-headed, even-handed and
apolitical. So yes, I expect the actual review to be unbiased, which
will be a world first.
Editor:
Some people think it is bad faith of the Government to continue promoting fluoridation
while the review is in progress. Do you share that view?
Dr. Mansfield:
Of course, but they are in a very difficult position of their own making. They say that
no evidence has been brought to them that they judge strong enough in
itself to halt their fluoridation programme. They are expecting that their views will be
endorsed by this review, which is by no means certain. What has
happened, without official comment, is that new fluoridation schemes in England are
suspended pending the outcome of the review, because if it is
favourable to fluoridation the law will change to make it much easier to fluoridate
against the run of public opinion. Why waste effort now? It's not the same in
Scotland, where there seems to be political pressure on to fluoridate water in advance
of the review. My own opinion, of course, is that fluoridation should
have been stopped years ago, at least when the evidence on hip fracture came to light.
Government advisers have pressed the opposite view successfully
on at least three successive governments, until we starting arguing hard with them about
three years ago. This Review is their concession to the strength of
our case.
Editor:
Is there agreement between advisors such as yourself and the review committee on the
protocol for judging what weight should be given to the various items
of scientific evidence?
Dr. Mansfield:
Yes, totally. Evidence of toxicity faces less strict admission criteria for acceptance
to the review, and less rigorous quality criteria in judging its worth. Roughly
half the evidence being sent for (the current list on the website) is critical of
fluoridation, and most of the key critics are represented. The review team's
experience is that reviews work best and stand up longest if sharply focussed (in this
case water fluoridation alone, and primary human data alone), but that
the evidence from this narrow systematic review process must then be taken in the
context of systematic reviews of other necessary evidence (in this case
relating to other sources of fluoride exposure; fluoride toxicity in various organ
systems such as skeleton, thyroid, nervous system; fluoride
pharmacodynamics;hypersensitivity etc). The totality of that evidence is the "Evidence
on the Effects of Care" which has then to be weighed politically against
Needs, Resources and Priorities to reach a policy decision. There is concern that, once
the review reports, other necessary evidence will not be adequately
considered by politicians. It is also possible that insufficient evidence of benefit to
teeth will be found, in which event the toxicity evidence may not even be
considered. Both these concerns are, however, political and we have been pressing the
organisations with whom we are in touch to contend with the
government over them.
Jane Jones, the Campaign Director of NPWA, is less optimistic. In an e-mail to this
editor, she stated:
The section of the Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children website where you can find
a copy of these communications is at
www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/conversation_with_uk.htm.
Andreas Schuld has contacted members of the review committee to request that additional research papers be included. He is particularly concerned that the
review will be too narrow. He would like to include more evidence of the toxicity of
fluoride and include studies of the total amount of fluoride from all sources,
including diet.
Dr. Mansfield answered Andreas Schuld by e-mail, October 4, 1999:
Your evidence on tea is also one of the "other necessary evidence" categories I referred to before, that must be taken into account when
making use of the finished result of a precisely targetted review. Ensuring that this other evidence IS noted by the politicians is a political task,
not a scientific one. Our Health Ministers do need to be reminded of that and I'm sure you will add your voice to many others from within the UK.
(www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/conversation_with_uk.htm)
In an e-mail to Andreas Schuld, October 1, 1999, Dr. Mansfield stated:
This really is a new situation - the first systematic, quasi-judicial review of the science world-wide. The protocol restrictions have worked for the
opponents more than against us - the initial list of papers was overwhelming "pro",
and now is 50-50. Matthew and Jos are wide open to
discussion and well aware of their responsibilities. I see no sign of political
fear or favour in their process.
All of us are aware, of course, that their work can be politically abused. In the first place, by over-rigid admission criteria, and in the second place
by taking the report on its own, without reference to relevant evidence surrounding the subject (such as yours). WE NEED ASSISTANCE FROM
ALL POLITICAL PRESSURE GROUPS TO ENSURE THESE TWO ADJUSTMENTS ARE MADE. I urge you to reinforce my own pleas to all our
friends to redirect their attention to the politics, and trust the review process a
little more.
(www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/conversation_with_uk.htm)
If all goes as planned, the scientific review will be unbiased, but we do not know how
readily the political powers that be will accept the results.
Fluoridation is on the agenda for Clark County, but Governor Kenney Guinn hasn't said
when. Mary Stern has kept the Governor informed about probable
consequences of fluoridation. She shows in her latest letter that there is uncertainty
over when fluoridation will actually start. Her letter to Governor Guinn is
reprinted below.
One way of knowing for sure if water is fluoridated is to hire a chemistry lab to test a
sample from your water tap. A typical cost is $20.
Another way to find out if a glass of water is good for you is to do muscle testing.
Books by John Diamond, M.D. explain how to do this. His most famous book
is Your Body Doesn't Lie. The subject is also known as biokinesiology. Muscle
testing is non-specific. Silicofluorides are only some of the chemicals that can
get into water and do you harm.
October 18, 1999
Governor Kenny Guinn
Dear Gov. Guinn:
AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLUORIDE IN CLARK COUNTY WATER IS NOW
IN ORDER.
On September 7 of this year an employee from the Henderson water plant phoned me with the information that they were going to start the fluoride feed on
the first of January, 2000, ten months prior to a note of the people on the issue scheduled for the November, 2000 election.
I then sat down and wrote you my third or fourth letter (I have lost count) on the dangers of starting the fluoride dumping to coincide with the Y2K computer
rollover and its possible consequences.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the main treatment plant at Lake Mead, services Las Vegas, N. Las Vegas, Boulder City, the Green Valley section of
Henderson and the unincorporated areas of Clark County.
The Henderson water treatment plant services most of the remaining sections of the City of Henderson.
On September 24, I called both water plants to find out what they were doing at the time and learned they had instead decided to implement the fluoride
around the last of the month of October, 1999. In fact, the employee at the Henderson water plant said they were beginning to tear up the floorboards over
there getting ready for the fluoride equipment.
So that I could be prepared here at home with my new water distillation unit in order to strain out the rat poison, I again called both water plants on October
14 for the current status and found TO MY SURPRISE that the FLUORIDE FEED HAS BEEN
CALLED OFF UNTIL MARCH 1 OF THE YEAR 2000.
I asked them at the main water plant why the fluoridation would not be implemented until 3/1/2000 and was told that the State was slow in getting the rules
and regulations to them aat this time. THEN WHY WERE THE FLOORBOARDS BEING TORN UP IN SEPTEMBER, 1999? THIS WHOLE FLUORIDE MESS
HAS A PECULIAR ODOR OF CRAWFISHING.
My opinion is that YOU finally woke up to the danger of the possible Y2K computer problem and sent WORD to call off the "fluoride dogs" until 3/1/2000.
NOW, WHY DON'T YOU CALL A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE NEVADA STATE LEGISLATURE AND REQUEST
THE LEGISLATORS TO RESCIND THIS
UNHOLY, SATANIC FLUORIDE BILL!?
I HAVE WRITTEN A TREATISE ON THE FLUORIDE ENEMY IN WHICH I HAVE ADVOCATED THAT IN PLACE OF HAVING A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE, THAT
THE NEVADA LEGISLATURE JUST, WITH A STROKE OF THE PEN, GET RID OF THE FLUORIDE LEGISLATION ALTOGETHER.
WHY ARE YOU AND THE LEGISLATORS "PLAYING AROUND" WITH THIS EVIL, DEADLY RAT POISON? THE PITFALLS OF HELL ARE AWAITING ALL WHO
ACT AS THE INSTRUMENT OF THE POISONING OF THE WATER OF THEIR FELLOWMAN.
IT IS THE MOST ROTTEN THING EVER DONE TO THE
PEOPLE BY THEIR LEGISLATORS!!!
THE OVER 100-PAGE PAPER I HAVE WRITTEN AND AM PREPARING TO DISTRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE OF CLARK COUNTY IS ENTITLED:
I have spent months and months in research and saved every news-clipping on this dastardly legislation. In my paper, I show step by step what happened in
the Nevada State Legislature, who voted for the fluoride, who voted against it, what was said and when.
THIS PAPER CONTAINS THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE FLUORIDATION OF WATER IN AMERICA, WHEN IT STARTED, WHO IS BEHIND IT AND WHO IS
MAKING THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION INTO THE WATER SYSTEMS OF THE PEOPLE.
LET ME ALSO STATE THE FACT THAT THIS WATER FLUORIDATION IN CLARK COUNTY IS GOING TO HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS
CONCERNING LAS VEGAS WASH.
HERE YOU HAVE OUR ONLY SEWAGE TREATMENT INTO WHICH THE DEADLY FLUORIDE WILL FLOW, POISONING THE ENTIRE ECO-SYSTEM OF
THAT AREA. AS WE ALL KNOW, LAS VEGAS WASH IS ALREADY A DISASTER WITH ITS MANY OTHER POLLUTANTS AND EROSION PROBLEMS, NOW
YOU ALL ARE GOING TO ADD RAT POISON TO IT.
Although the Voters have approved a plan to build wetlands in Las Vegas Wash which is supposed to aid in its clean up --- according to biologist Larry
Paulson, we still have the same volatile situation in which "all of that (sewage) water
enters Lake Mead just six miles upstream of the Southern Nevada Water
Authority's drinking water intakes at Saddle Island."
Lake Mead is Southern Nevada's primary drinking water supply, so we are drinking our
own sewage. It appears to me then that the people of Clark County
will be drinking the same fluoridated water over and over and over again.
Why will the employees in their goggles and toxic-protective suits there at the water plants be adding more fluoride at each so-called specified interval, when
the water will already be full of the fluoride, as well as all of the other impurities
that are already in the water? It doesn't make sense to me. WHAT A WAY TO
GO! I THINK THE STATE OFFICIALS IN CARSON CITY NEED TO HAVE THEIR HEADS EXAMINED.
Mary L. Stern
STOP
Fluoridation USA http://www.rvi.net/~fluoride is the web site born of the spirit of
Philip M. Heggen, who passed away recently ... suddenly ... and in all
meaningful respects; in his prime at 70. As those who knew him will attest, Phil had the
curiosity of a child, the wisdom and tolerance of a saint, the strength
and stamina of a 25-year old construction worker. He was absolutely committed to the
fight to STOP fluoridation. He will be sorely missed. Phil's web site is
currently being paid for by a volunteer who chooses to remain anonymous. The total cost
is $19.95 per month, payable to the ISP. http://www.rvi.net/ The fee
has been paid to the end of November, 1999. Volunteers are invited to help move that
date forward. Inquiries may be directed to Darlene Sherrell,
darlene@caribsurf.com.
Her web site is at
www.ia4u.net/~sherrell/
A study published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Studies, and led by Roger Masters, an emeritus professor of government at Dartmouth, describes how silicofluorides which are added to public water systems cause leaching of heavy metals from old metal water pipes. Although building codes have changed, there are still many older homes with plumbing that contains impurities of lead, cadmium and manganese.
The dangers of lead poisoning have been known for years, but substantial numbers of children continue to suffer from blood lead above the danger level of 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood (10µg/dL).
Excessive manganese can cause loss of impulse control and violent behavior like lead does.
Analyzing a survey of over 280,000 Massachusetts children, the investigators found that silicofluorides - chemicals widely used in treating public water supplies - are associated with an increase in children's absorption of lead. The research team included Myron J. Coplan, retired Vice President of Albany International and principal of Intellequity, Natick, Mass., and Brian T. Hone, research associate at Dartmouth College. In their analysis, the investigators found that levels of lead in children's blood was significantly higher in Massachusetts communities using the silicofluorides fluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride than in towns where water is treated with sodium fluoride or not fluoridated at all. Compared to a matched group of 30 towns that do not use silicofluorides, children in 30 communities that use these chemicals were over twice as likely to have over 10µg/dL of blood lead.
"Silicofluorides are largely untested," said Professor Masters, who pointed out that over 90 percent of America's fluoridated drinking water supplies are treated with silicofluorides. In contrast to sodium fluoride, the silicofluorides are acids. Because they dissociate slowly, they continue to make water more acidic after they have left the monitoring station at the water treatment plant.
"Virtually all research on fluoridation safety has focused on sodium fluoride, even though the studies in the 1930s showed important biological differences between these chemicals. The correlation with blood levels is especially serious because lead poisoning is associated with higher rates of learning disabilities, hyperactivity, substance abuse and crime."
Since completing the Massachusetts study, the investigators have analyzed data from rural counties in six additional states as well as in the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES III). The results find a correlation between silicofluorides and blood lead levels, as well as higher rates of violent crime and substance abuse.
Dr. Masters summarized these findings in a plenary lecture at a meeting of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences in Atlanta, Georgia in September, 1999. He stated,
"Environmental pollution and dangerous water treatment procedures are human activities whose results are both economically costly and morally unjust. Innocent children should not be poisoned by public water supplies."
The research was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training and by the Earhart Foundation, which integrates scientific discoveries in neuroscience, environmental chemistry, and human behavior.
Ken Calvert, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment of the House Committee on Science, requested answers from EPA Administrator, Carol Browner. The EPA written response maintained that there is no conclusive evidence that silicofluorides are unsafe.
The EPA union of professionals disagrees with the conclusions of the top EPA administrators. EPA scientists have examined the scientific evidence and found that
fluoridation is an unsafe practice. News of EPA union activity is online at ZeroWasteAmerica, www.zerowasteamerica.org/Fluoride.htm#EPAunion.
The EPA evades acknowledgement of the fact that various government agencies have dragged their feet for years on financing the necessary scientific research that would clarify how safe or how dangerous the silicofluorides are. The EPA relies upon incompetent evidence of presumed safety and suggests that more research is necessary before silicofluorides can be recognized as harmful to human health.
We read about sensational mass murders. People clamor for stricter laws and more vigilant security in high schools. Analysis of hair samples shows that the accumulation of heavy metals typically leads to violent rage.
Roger D. Masters is Nelson D. Rockefeller Professor Emeritus in the Dartmouth College Department of Government. He heads the Dartmouth Foundation for Neuroscience and Society. For several decades he has researched the causes of violence and other dysfunctional human behavior such as ADD, ADHD and drug abuse. His viewpoint, which has been published widely, is that toxins in the environment have subtle effects on brain and neural functions which are, ultimately, manifested in behaviors which many social scientists and politicians attribute to social dynamics.
Myron J. Coplan is retired Vice President of Albany International Corp., a registered Professional Chemical Engineer and a private consultant in chemical engineering at Intellequity. His fields include water chemistry and the treatment of water and wastewater via membranes. He has consulted to the phosphate fertilizer industry and has first-hand knowledge of processes bearing on the production of fluoridating agents.
A packet of information is available. Contact Dr. Masters' secretary at: Suzanne.Saxton@Dartmouth.edu. Dr. Masters can be reached at 603/646-1029 or Roger.D.Masters@Dartmouth.edu. The packet includes reprints of:
The 1999 Nevada Legislature passed a bill that would require Clark County,
which includes Las Vegas, to
fluoridate their water. Governor Kenny Guinn said he would not sign the bill unless
it allowed the people to vote on fluoridation at the next election. The new law does
not specify when fluoridation would start. According to Governor Guinn's press
secretary, the Governor would rather let local government make this kind of decision.
Mary Stern gives the details:
Before the passage and signature of AB 284, I had written letters to all 63 members of
the State Legislature, both Assemblypersons and State Senators and also to the Governor
outlining the dangers of the fluoridation of water.
Other opponents had personally appeared at hearings that were held in Carson City
(State Capitol) before the bill was voted on, but the majority of the members of the
State Legislature in both houses went ahead and passed the mandatory measure.
What the Governor had evidently originally planned after he signed the bill was that the
fluoride would already be in the water system by the time that the general election in
November, 2000 would be held, hence the news reports that we would be allowed to vote
whether or not to continue fluoridation.
Well, after the legislation became law, but before they had time to implement it, I
began to contemplate the very extreme danger we would all be in here if the fluoride was
being placed in the water system before the Y2K rollover on January 1, 2000.
So, I wrote another letter to the Governor and sent copies to the leaders in the Assembly
and State Senate and also to the two leading newspaper editors here in Nevada, the Las
Vegas Review-Journal and the Reno Gazette-Journal.
I again outlined the dangers of the fluoridation, but this time asked them if they planned
to "poison us a little at a time or all at once on 1/1/2000 in case the computers
malfunctioned."
That letter of mine must have hit a nerve (maybe other people wrote to them too, I don't
know). Anyway, about a week later, the Governor issued an ultimatum stating that the
people would be allowed to vote on the fluoridation issue in the general election in
November, 2000 before the fluoride was added to the water system.
At the same time that this news story broke on June 21, 1999, a reporter from the Las
Vegas Review-Journal interviewed a Bob Hall of the Nevada Environmental Coalition who
said he plans to file a lawsuit to block fluoridation altogether. Said he: "There's
no question we are going to move to prevent this from happening."
Still unresolved is whether fluoridation equipment should be purchased and regulations
written before the November voting. In a letter to the Governor,
June 27, 1999, Mary Stern stated,
". . . it seems to me that any fluoridation equipment purchase could also be foolhardy
and result in a huge waste of taxpayer money."
Information for this article is from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 21, 1999 and
Mary Stern, letter to the editor, July 5, 1999.
Mary and Alan Stern live at 56 Megan Drive, Henderson, NV 89014
The Federal Register, August 5, 1999, reports that ALCOA was fined $1,000,000 for not
reporting exports of sodium fluoride and potassium fluoride. The exports were made to
Suriname and Jamaica. Fluoride can be used in making chemical weapons such as the nerve
gas, sarin. Anhydrous hydrogen fluoride is used for purifying uranium
238 for making atomic bombs. The leftover uranium hexafluoride is also known as spent
uranium. Extra heavy artillery shells for piercing tanks and other armored military
vehicles are made with spent uranium.
The U.S. controls the export of fluoride compounds which
could be used for making
chemical or nuclear weapons. Last year, the U.S. pressured China to give up plans to
sell anhydrous hydrogen fluoride to Iran. (The Oregonian, March 13, 1998, p. A1).
In this case, the unreported exports of fluoride to Suriname and Jamaica
were not used for making weapons, but
the Government was deprived of information about it.
Below is the complete text of the decision against ALCOA published in the Federal Register.
[Federal Register: August 5, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 150)]
[Notices] [Page 42641-42651] >From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr05au99-47] ALCOA has been fined $1,000,000 for committing
100 violations of the Export Administration Regulations
(``EAR'') between 1991 and 1995.
Dr. Mullenix was chair of the toxicology department at Forsyth Dental Research Institute
for 11 years. Then she discovered that fluoride is neurotoxic. She
was dismissed because she published her research.
The citation is, Mullenix PJ; Denbesten PK; Schunior A; Kernan WJ,
"Neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats," Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 1995
March-April, 17(2):169-177. The abstract is
online.
Dr. Mullenix is a well qualified expert in the field of toxicology:1
Dr. Mullenix was not an anti-fluoridationist. She says:
Dr. Mullenix developed an innovative computer pattern recognition system for
accurately observing
rat behavior:
Her results show that flouride given to
pregnant rats causes the rat
version of
attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity in the offspring. Furthermore, it was the fluoride component
of the leukemia drug, dexamethasone, which causes its neurotoxic side effects.
When it became known that her research proved that fluoride is neurotoxic, she was
ordered to present her findings at the National Institute of Dental Research
(NIDR). "That's when
the 'fun' started," she said, "I had no idea what I was getting into. I walked into the
main corridors there and all over the walls was 'The Miracle of Fluoride'.3
The administrators at Forsyth were afraid that they would loose their research funding
from NIDR if she published her results, but she refused to promise not to publish them.
"Subsequently, she was continually hounded by both Forsyth and the NIH as to the identity
of the journal in which her research was to be published. She told
The WINDS that she refused to disclose that information because she knew the purpose of
this continual interrogation was so that they could attempt to
quash its publication." 3
In 1994, Dr. Mullenix was dismissed from Forsyth after she announced that her research
paper was accepted for publication in
Neurotoxicology and Teratology.
"Following her dismissal, the scientist's equipment and computers, designed specifically
for the studies, were mysteriously damaged and destroyed by water
leakage before she could remove them from Forsyth. Coincidence?"3
An April 4 article in the Boston Globe, "Are we brushing aside fluoride's
dangers?"4
explored some of the recent warnings about fluoride and fluoridation:
fluoride causes dental fluorosis and bone cancer, fluoride is neurotoxic and can cause
several kinds of brain impairment, the FDA requires a warning on
tubes of toothpaste stating, ". . . in case of accidental ingestion, contact a Poison
Control Center immediately," and that NFFE Local 2050, the EPA
headquarters professional's union, has filed a grievance requesting bottled water
because the tap water at the EPA offices is fluoridated.
In a May 17 letter to the editor of the Boston Globe5, four administrators from dental schools
complained that concerns about fluoride were unfounded and stated,
"These extensive studies have been
reviewed and approved by prestigious organizations," says Donald Hay, the immediate
supervisor who fired
Dr. Mullenix.5
Donald Hay said, "My concern was that Dr. Mullenix, who had no published record in
fluoride research, was reaching conclusions that seemed to differ from a
large body of research reported over the last 50 years."5
One might entertain the idea that scientists are supposed to discover something new.
All those research papers
sponsored by prestigious organizations for the
last 50 years failed to discover what Dr. Mullenix discovered because
they did not have the technology she had.
The prestigious National Academy of Sciences held a workshop on dietary reference
intakes on September 23, 1997.
The workshop was an attempt to gain credibility for the idea that
fluoride is a "beneficial element," if not a nutrient. When the NAS panel at the workshop was confronted by a group of scientists about why scientific evidence
of fluoride toxicity was omitted. they "became defensive and were unwilling or unable to
explain why such findings had been excluded . . . "6
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) studied fluoride for 13 years and found evidence
that
fluoride causes bone cancer in lab rats.
A prestigious senior official from the US Public Health Service, experienced in the
prestigious art of
writing scientific reviews, rewrote the NTP report to make it appear that the
evidence that fluoride is carcinogenic is equivocal instead of definitive.5
William Marcus, Ph.D. senior toxicologist in the EPA Office of Drinking Water, blew the
whistle on this cover up.
When he examined
the original data of the experiment, Dr. Marcus found that there was clear evidence
that fluoride causes cancer and that the results had been deliberately
downgraded by the reviewer.
Marcus publicly stated that there could be more than 10,000
avoidable fluoride-related deaths
per year.7
For this, Dr. Marcus was fired in 1990.
Dr Marcus sued. In 1992, the EPA was ordered by the court to rehire him and pay
back pay, legal expenses and
$50,000 in damages. "EPA appealed, but the appeal was turned down in 1994 by Secretary of
Labor, Robert B. Reich who accused EPA of firing Dr. Marcus
in retaliation for speaking his mind in public. Reich found among other things that EPA
had shredded important evidence that would have supported Dr.
Marcus in court. The original trial proceedings also show that EPA employees who wanted
to testify on behalf of Dr. Marcus were threatened by their own
management. EPA officials also forged some of his time cards, and then accused him of
misusing his official time."8
Centuries ago, prestigious organizations resisted the acceptance of scientific evidence
that the
earth is round and revolves around the sun. In a recent editorial, "Authoritarianism versus scientific evidence," Albert W.
Burgstahler, Ph.D., suggests that the authority of prestigious organizations
is once again being abused to obstruct the
progress of science.9
Dr. Hardy Limeback is a professor of dentistry at the University of Toronto.
He is a recognized authority on fluoridation. Those who promote fluoridation have often
cited his work. In interviews for the Toronto Star, Dr. Limeback said that water
fluoridation is not necessary. Although he still believes
that fluoride toothpaste is effective in preventing tooth decay, he is concerned about
the harm to bones and teeth which can result from the accumulation of fluoride.
In the first Toronto Star article, "A crack appears in the fluoride front," April 25,
1999, there is a horizontal line across column three on the second page. This line was
supposed to indicate that the material in the following paragraphs is
a general review by the news staff writer about
about diseases attributable to fluorides or
fluoridation.
In a second interview, Dr. Limeback reaffirmed that ". . . parents should keep fluoride
away from children under three." The Ontario Dental Association has nevertheless
reaffirmed its support for fluoridation.
-- Michael Downey, "Few answers to support fluoride
use," Toronto Star,
May 2, 1999.
Two days later, the Toronto Globe and Mail carried an article in the health section
suggesting that filtered water is an alternative to the fluoridated tap water in Toronto.
"Drinking bottled water or using a reverse osmosis filtration device on household taps
is an option, but that may be too costly for some. It's also important to
make sure you and your children ingest as little of fluoridated toothpaste as possible
after brushing your teeth. You might not want to use fluoridated
toothpaste at all with children under 6." -- Krista Foss, Health Reporter, "Are we
getting too much fluoride?", the Toronto Globe and Mail, May 4, 1999.
http://www.nofluoride.com/globe%26mail.htm
A list of companies selling water filters for removing fluoride is in the
Water Filters
directory of Fluoride Issues.
Dr. Limeback's views on fluoridation are published at
www.interlog.com/~hardyl/fluoride/fluoride.html.
His home page is at
www.interlog.com/~hardyl/home.html.
HB 939 was sponsored by Thomas Tigue, D-Luzerne, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Arthur Hershey, R-Cochranville, is chairman of the House Environmental Resources and
Energy Comittee. He will not let the bill out of his committee. Hershey was quoted by
the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying, "Even if it does retard tooth decay, what if you've
overtreated your water? What else could it do to your body? I'm worried about human
error." For details, see Mandatory Pennsylvania
Fluoridation
Alert and the PEN
Fluoridation Leadership Team website.
Copyright © 2002 Daniel A. Montgomery
UK Government review of fluoridation goes online amid controversy
November 5, 1999
However, our Centre is part of the University of York, it is a scientific unit, which works independently. We never bow for any pressure towards
certain conclusions, because inevitably that will ruin the Centre's prestige, which is high both nationally and internationally. Our output is based
on scientifically valid systematic reviews. Nobody in our Centre has been involved in the fluoridation debate / issue before. Other members from
the review group (in Wales) have been involved in fluoridation issues, however, they are involved to support the York team in terms of quality
control, and they make no unique contributions to the review. You can get information about our team, advisory board, progress and minutes
from the advisory board meetings from our Web pages: www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/fluorid.htm
The National Pure Water Association (NWPA) opposes fluoridation in the UK. Peter
Mansfield, M.D., President of NWPA, is on the advisory committee of the
fluoridation review. He answered my questions about the review by e-mail:
Dr Mansfield is giving his own opinions in this reply. Although he is the President
of the NPWA he does not have a mandate to represent the
Association - he is there as himself. Along with many of our members, I do not share his optimism. The individuals to whom Peter copied his
response are Jos Kleijnen, the director of the NHSCRD at York and Trevor Sheldon,
the Chairman of the review. Dan, please access the website
of Andreas Schuld, (Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children) who engaged the York
review - and each member of the advisory and the review
panels - in a series of very pertinent emails. All are posted on Andreas' site.
The fact that the protocol for this review has been further narrowed
as a result of his submissions is deeply worrying.
I can see that a review has to be as precisely targeted as possible, to ever get finished. I too presented evidence that has been excluded from
the present criteria, but is waiting in the wings, like yours, in case sufficient evidence of dental fluoride effect is found to proceed to toxicity
considerations. This is not a foregone conclusion.
Jane Jones, in another e-mail to this editor, affirms that the majority of the NPWA
executive committee share her pessimism. Noting that the NPWA has to pay
for its own campaigns against fluoridation, she states,
". . . the government has funded the British Fluoridation Society (dentists!) to promote it. I take a hard line on this. One does not go to bed with
the enemy. We have no reason to trust them - quite the reverse - and their dirty dealings are equally as bad as those everywhere else. . . . We
are extremely grateful to Andreas Schuld for his excellent contribution to the battle of York and his success in getting them to admit that the
protocol has been further narrowed. I am trying every means to get the media to take this up so that the thing can be exposed before they are
due to report - in February.
There has, not surprisingly, been considerable anxiety over this review amongst
opponents of fluoridation. I was as anxious as any - until I met
Jos and his team, saw how they are working and took their track record on board.
Update on fluoridation in Clark County, Nevada
October 20, 1999
Office of the Governor
State of Nevada
Carson City, NV 89701-4747
Passage of Disastrous Fluoride Bill (Rat Poison)
By Nevada State Legislature
and Signature by Governor
UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF FLUORIDE LEGISLATION
How to Protect Yourself Against
Poisoned water in Clark County
56 Megan Drive
Henderson, NV 89014
Philip Heggen, webmaster of Stop Fluoridation USA, dies
October 18, 1999Fluorosilicates increase the incidence of heavy metal crimes
October 16, 1999
Nevada will vote on fluoridation in November, 2000
September 10, 1999
The Governor signed AB 284, the fluoridation mandate, with the stipulation that the matter
would go to a vote of the people in the 2000 general election for them to decide if they
wished to continue fluoridation.
ALCOA fined $1,000,000 for not reporting fluoride exports
September 9, 1999
CHARGES 1-50: On 50 separate occasions between June 14, 1991, and December 7, 1995, ALCOA exported potassium
fluoride and sodium fluoride from the United States to Jamaica and Suriniam, without obtaining from BXA the validated export licenses required by Section
772.1(b) of the former regulations. By exporting U.S.--origin commodities to any person or to any destination in violation of or contrary to the provisions of the
Act or any regulation, order, or license issued thereunder, ALCOA violated Section 7878.6 of the former Regulations on 50 separate occasions, for a total of
50 violations. CHARGES 51-100: In connection with the exports described in Charges 1-50 above, on 50 separate occasions between June 14, 1991, and
December 7, 1995, ALCOA used Shipper's Export Declarations, as defined in Section 770.2
of the former regulations, on which it represented, potassium
fluoride and sodium fluoride, qualified for exports from the United States to Jamaica and Surinam under general license G-DEST. These chemicals required a
validated license for export from the United States to both of those destinations. During the review period, the water treatment facility in Suriname used
sodium fluoride to treat drinking water. Suralco's water treatment facility was located in the powerhouse which supplied electricity to and was located at
Suralco's bauxite mine in Moengo, Suriname. In March 1994, Suralco sold its Moengo powerhouse and water treatment facility to Energie Bedrijven Suriname
(EBS), a utility company owned by the government of Suriname. In conjunction with the
sale of the powerhouse and water treatment facility, Suralco agreed
to continue operating the water treatment facility for one year. Consequently, Suralco personnel were on-site at the water treatment facility at all times when
ALCOA's Export Supply Division shipped sodium fluoride to Suralco. Also as part of the powerhouse sale agreement, Suralco agreed to provide the
chemicals used in the water treatment facility for a period of two years following the sale. Excerpts from the ruling: " Of all the aggravating factors in this case,
one is particularly damming--that the Respondent, over a period of four and one-half (4.5) years, made 50 separate exports of potassium fluoride and/or
sodium fluoride in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (emphasis added). Importantly, ALCOA is not a new or small company that doesn't
understand the foreign export regulatory process. Quite to the contrary, the Respondent is a large multinational corporation which had a separate division
(Export Supply Division) specifically dedicated to receiving requisitions, locating suppliers, purchasing products, and shipping the requested items in
accordance with applicable export licensing requirements. Thus, ALCOA's conduct, under this backdrop, was flatly inexcusable and the fact that the
violations were not intentional or willful is only relevant to the fact that a federal criminal indictment was not handed down. Respondent's failure to
comprehend the change in the Federal Register Notice, given the existence of its Export Supply Division, is also particularly troubling. Moreover, the fact that
the unlawful shipments consisted of precursors for chemical weapons, regardless of the lack of any potential diversion in these instances, is not something
that should be viewed as a technical oversight and is clearly an aggravating factor...." " The Respondent also argues that all of the precursor chemicals were
entirely consumed at the refineries of the Respondent's subsidiary companies in Jamaica
and Suriname. Once again, ALCOA misses the point. The crucial
point here is that the government was deprived of possible vital information in its
fight to control terrorism. In other words, if the world-wide export of
chemicals/ biological agents were a puzzle being put together by a U.S. Department of
Commerce security team, this information constituted 50 pieces of that
puzzle that the government did not have. While it turned out that there was no problem,
the fact remains that the government did not have the whole picture.
Without the whole picture, or in this case, all of the information about precursor chemical exports, catastrophic errors in preventative decision- making could
have occurred." " Importantly, the government voluntarily lowered the sanction bar all the way down to the level of an administrative civil penalty in this case.
That having been done, the Respondent argues that the government is being harsh and should lower the bar further. In effect, the Respondent is attempting
to have the government negotiate with itself. This is wrong. Based upon the detailed discussion set forth above, I find the appropriate sanction for each of
these unlawful shipments is $10,000. The Respondent is a huge multi-national corporation. As such, a $10,000 penalty per violation is minuscule for ALCOA
who describes itself as ``one of the world's leading producers of aluminum.* * *''. At no time during this proceeding, did ALCOA's counsel raise financial
hardships for mitigating any civil penalty. At some point, ALCOA has to stand up and take responsibility for it's gross and long-standing breach of legal duty.
Conversely, the United States government must set its civil penalties at a high enough level to insure that large multi- national corporations don't ignore the
law and if they get caught, merely consider the fine as a cost of doing business. Accordingly, it is ordered that Aluminum Company of America, having been
found by preponderant evidence to have one hundred violations of the Export
Administration Regulations, pay a civil penalty in the amount of $10,000 per
violation for a total of $1,000,000."
PART 1: Archive-Name: gov/us/fed/nara/fed-register/1999/aug/05/64FR42641A/part1
Posting-number: Volume 64, Issue
150, Page 42641A. Phyllis Mullenix, Ph.D. in the news
July 18, 1999
DR. PHYLLIS J. MULLENIX, Ph.D. is a pharmacologist and toxicologist by training. She graduated from the Truman State University (Zoology -- magna cum
laude). Her Postdoctoral Training was as a Research Fellow, Environmental Medicine, The John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore. In
the 1980s, Dr. Mullenix was Head of the Toxicology Department at the Forsyth Dental Center, a world renowned dental research institution affiliated with the
Harvard Medical School. She was invited to start Forsyth's Toxicology Department because of her expertise in neurotoxicology. She is presently a Research
Associate in Psychiatry at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Mullenix's academic appointments, professional positions held, teaching
experience, awards, honors and many published scientific research articles to her name
are numerous.
Initially, the fluoride study sparked little interest, and in fact we were quite anxious to move on to something academically more exciting. Using an animal
model developed for the study of dental fluorosis, we expected rats drinking fluoride-treated water would behave the same as matching controls. They did
not. The scientific literature led us to believe that rats would easily tolerate 175 ppm fluoride in their drinking water. They did not. Reports in the literature
indicated that fluoride would not cross the blood brain barrier. But it did. Prenatal exposure to fluoride was not supposed to permanently alter behavioral
outcome. It did. Like walking into quicksand, our confidence that brain function was
impervious to fluoride was sinking.2
I wasn't too excited about studying fluoride," Mullenix told this reporter, "because, quite frankly, it was 'good for your teeth' and all that, and I thought the
studies would be basically just another control and I had no interest in fluoride." However, because it was part of what she was hired to do, she said, and
because she had just astounded the institute by achieving the unattainable--securing a grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the neurotoxicity of
the treatments used for childhood leukemia--she decided to incorporate the fluoride studies into that research milieu. In fact, Mullenix claimed, "I was in the
top four per cent in the country" for such funding. "The institute was tickled pink, but I really had no idea what a quagmire I was getting into." 3
Five years lapsed before our investigations of fluoride began. The delay was due to
time spent on technological improvements, specifically development of a
computer pattern recognition system for the objective quantification of behavior in an
animal model. In early June of 1986, the Forsyth Dental Center was
noted for this achievement in the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Herald, and
applications of our research grew. The new technology enabled us to study
the clinically recognized neurotoxicity associated with the treatment for childhood
leukemia. Simultaneously, we started investigations of fluoride, the "safe
and effective" treatment for dental caries.2
Readers should know that two of the world's most esteemed scientific bodies conducted
reviews of the health effects of ingested fluoride. In 1991, the US
Public Health Service concluded that fluoride does not pose a health risk to the public
and that fluoride continues to demonstrate effectiveness against tooth
decay. In 1993, the National Research Council, a component of the National Academy of
Sciences, conducted a similar review of the health effects of fluoride
and had a similar positive conclusion regarding fluoride's safety.
References
Hardy Limeback, DDS in the news
July 13, 1999HB 939 stalls in Pennsylvania Legislature
July 3, 1999