A spokesman for the Mekorot Water Company, which supplies 75% of Israel's water, announced in August, 1998 that they are planning a nation wide fluoridation program. At present, only residents of the Greater Tel Aviv area and the Haifa area have been using fluoridated water. Communities with a population of 5,000 or more will be fluoridated. This plan is approved by the government of Israel. It will take two years to implement and will cost about 40 million skekels. Fluoridation is being represented as an "enrichment" of the water supply. This information came from the Arutz Sheva News Service.
The UPI news service reported on September 29, 1998 that a
new public and private partnership has been formed to promote fluoridation of drinking
water. Health and Welfare Secretary Sandra Smoley said today that
her agency has joined Delta Dental Plan of California and the California Dental
Association to raise private
donations and generate federal grants for California communities that want to fluoridate
their drinking water.
California enacted a statewide fluoridation law two years
ago but still ranks forty-seventh among the 50 states in delivering fluoridated water
to its
residents. The fluoridation law is an unfunded mandate. The State does not pay for the
cost of fluoridation. Less than one third of all
Californians receive fluoridated tap water compared to 60 per cent
nationwide. The mandate authorizes municipalities with more than 10,000 water service
connections to fluoridate their water if they can the raise money needed for
capital start-up costs. To help them
reach that goal, Delta Dental,
the state's largest dental plan, has pledged $100,000. California Dental
Association has pledged $30,000. Los Angeles announced plans in late September to fluoridate its
municipal
water supply. Sacramento, Yuba City, Port Hueneme and Pico Rivera have also announced
plans to fluoridate.
In a study just published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Research the
presence of low levels of fluoride in the drinking water of test animals,
equal to the amount of elemental fluorine found in fluoridated water,
caused
damage to the tissue of the brain that the authors identified as similar to
the pathological changes found in humans with Alzheimer's and other forms
of
dementia.
While the purpose of this study was to assess the factors that enhance or
inhibit the bioavailability of aluminum and its effects on the nervous
system, the study looked at the effects of aluminum-fluoride and
sodium-fluoride separately.
The authors report, "Histological evidence of glomerular distortion and
other signs of kidney disorder were found in animals in both the
aluminum-fluoride and sodium fluoride groups..."
"While the small amount of aluminum-fluoride in the drinking water of rats
required for neurotoxic effects is surprising, perhaps even more surprising
are the neurological results of the sodium-fluoride at the dose given in
the
present study (2.1 ppm). {the amount used to achieve 1 ppm of elemental
fluorine used in fluoridation}.
"Fluoride has diverse actions on a variety of cellular and physiological functions, including the inhibition of a variety of enzymes, a corrosive
action in acid mediums, hypocalcemia, hyperkalemia, and possibly cerebral
impairment."
The authors summarize, "Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride and
sodium-fluoride in the drinking water of rats resulted in distinct
morphological alterations of the brain, including the effects on neurons
and
cerebrovasculature."
While there are numerous studies linking fluoride to increased risk of hip
fracture, cancer, genetic damage, bone pathology, and dental fluorosis, as
identified in July 1997 by the union which consists of all of the
scientists
and other professionals at the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,
D.C., this study adds further definition to a series of recent studies that
have illuminated fluoride's adverse neurological impact and have
anticipated
the results from this research that focuses on the hippocampus region of
the
brain, and interaction with other neurotoxins.
A previous study by Mullenix, et al. in Neurotoxicology and Teratology,
1995, documents abnormal behavioral responses by animals exposed to
fluoride
at various stages of gestation, which resulted in the exposed animals
exhibiting either permanent hyperactivity if exposed prenatally, or what
layman refer to as "the rat version of couch potato" if exposed after
birth.
In "Psychopharmacology of Fluoride: A Review", 1994, the author A. Spittle
concludes, "There would appear to be some evidence that chronic exposure to
fluoride may be associated with cerebral impairment affecting particularly
the concentration and memory of some individuals. These symptoms are
reminiscent of those seen in the chronic fatigue syndrome."
In the "Effect of Fluoride on the Physiology of the Pineal Gland", 1994,
the
author, J. A. Luke suggests that fluoride also effects the gland in the
brain that produces melatonin, which has been established as critical to
those people suffering from sleep disorders.
The follow-up question should be obvious: In light of this scientific
evidence, is it in the best interest of our nation to continue a public
policy a public policy that has already been rejected by 98% of Europe
that forces each man, woman, and child to ingest a known cumulative
neurotoxin, which is added to our water supply with no control over total
intake from all sources, or variances in susceptibility?
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act requires that each chemical that appears
in
our drinking water be re-assessed with a new criteria for assuring the
safety of drinking water for the most susceptible segments of our
population. The coming days will reveal whether the agencies that have been
established to protect our health will act.
Lynn Landes, Director of Zero Waste America, says, "The Cancer Society has come under increasing criticism for focusing
on cures and not on pollutants, which appear to be the major cause of most
cancers. It looks like the Alzheimer's Association has adopted a similar
strategy. As usual, the money to be made is in the prescription, not
prevention.
Fluoride page: www.zerowasteamerica.org/Fluoride.htm
References
Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride or sodium-fluoride to rats in
the drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity,
Julie A. Verner, Karl F. Jensen, William Horvath, Robert L. Isaacson, Brain
Research, vol. 784, pp. 284-298, 1998.
Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride in Rats, Mullenix et al., Neurotoxicology
and Teratology, Vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 169-177, 1995
Effect of Fluoride on the Physiology of the Pineal Gland, J. A Luke, Caries
Research, Vol. 28, p204, 1994.
Psychopharmacology of Fluoride: A Review, A. Spittle, International
Clinical
Psychopharmacology, Vol. 9, 1994.
The International Society for Fluoride Research (ISFR) was founded in 1966 to further needed
research and to share knowledge pertaining to the effects of fluoride on animal, plant
and human life.
ISFR holds a conference once every two years. The twenty-second conference was held in
Bellingham, Washington from August 24 to 27, 1998. Abstracts of papers presented at the
conference are on the new web site at
www.fluoride-journal.com.
ISFR publishes quarterly reports in Fluoride on the biological, chemical,
ecological, industrial, toxicological and clinical aspects of inorganic and organic
fluoride compounds. Fluoride provides a forum for differing scientific
points of view. Back issues of Fluoride are being published on the new web site.
The twenty-second conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research was held
in Bellingham, Washington from August 24 to 27, 1998. Several papers presented at the
conference described how vitamins can be used to reverse the damage that fluoride causes.
We usually think of fluorosis as a permanent damage to bones or teeth. Fluoride can also
damage other parts of the body. Damage to the soft tissues, such as liver, kidneys,
and reproductive organs is reversible with vitamins.
In laboratory experiments with mice, fluoride damaged the tissues and cellular structures
of ovaries and uterus. The scientists showed a series of microphotographs of the tissues
they studied. The sequence of photographs showed the tissues being progressively damaged
as the mice became intoxicated with fluoride. When the mice were given vitamin C and
calcium supplements and fluoride was not put in their water anymore, the tissues became
repaired almost to the original state of good health.
Fluoride impairs the production of free radical scavengers such as glutathione. Fluoride
impairs the function of enzymes which prevent lipid peroxidation. These enzymes include
glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase. Fluoride accumulates in ovaries.
Fluoride interferes with male fertility as well. In an experiment with male mice, a
larger proportion of the sperm became abnormal because of fluoride ingestion. The sperm
lost their motility or died. When the mice were given vitamin C and calcium and no
fluoride, they significantly recovered.
In another experiment with mice, Vitamins E and D repaired the damage which fluoride did
to liver and kidneys.
Fluoride caused the glomeruli, those tiny blood vessels in the kidneys for removing
waste, to atrophy. In the liver, fluoride caused fatty deposition and the death of cells.
Vitamin E was beneficial because it is an anti-oxidant. Vitamin D
promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus so that their optimal concentrations
will be maintained in the blood. This optimal concentration supports the metabolic
activity of various tissues. Vitamins E and D were effective after fluoride was removed
from their diet.
In an experiment with rats, fluoride impaired the growth rate, but the rats which were
given beta-carotene and superoxide dismutase supplements had a faster growth rate.
Fluoride causes lipid peroxidation which is counteracted by beta-carotene and
superoxide dismutase.
The twenty-second conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research was held
in Bellingham, Washington from August 24 to 27, 1998. Dr. Lennart Krook presented his
findings that the official safe levels for fluoride in dairy cattle are toxic. He is a
veterinarian at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Fluoride is toxic to bone
resorbing cells and causes a decline in milk production which can bankrupt farmers in
areas where there is fluoride air pollution. Fluoride accumulates in offspring. Fluoride
causes smaller teeth and receding gums. In the article,
Fluoride: Commie Plot or
Capitalist Ploy?" in Covert Action Quarterly, Fall, 1992, Joel Griffiths describes
a case of fluoride air pollution. Fluoride from aluminum smelters in upstate New York
settled on the farm lands of Indian reservations in New York and Canada. The cows were
crippled with skeletal fluorosis. Their teeth crumbled to the nerves and they starved.
Some gave birth to stunted calves and then died.
Agencies such as the EPA and the NAS are responsible for setting effective standards for
air pollution abatement. The limit for fluoride air pollution in New York is four times
higher in New York than the limit in Canada. The cows in New York are just as susceptible
to fluorosis as the cows in Canada. Dr. Krook suggests that there is a technology
conspiracy. Polluter industries place their people on the standards setting committees for agencies which are responsible for protecting the environment. He recommends reading William H. Rodgers, Corporate Country, Rodale Press,
for the details.
Cost/benefit analysis is a typical tool that is sometimes used to justify pollution on the
grounds that the the need for profits outweighs a social value for a clean environment.
Farmers have a right to keep their farms productive even if their farms are down wind of
aluminum smelters. Pollutions standards are supposed to prevent the neccesity of suing
for the loss of income and damage to property caused by pollution. Stuffing the standards
committees with personnel favorable to polluters is a way of undermining attempts to
prevent pollution.
Masters and Coplan,
in a presentation at the ISFR conference in Bellingham, Washington,
showed statistical evidence that the acid fluorides commonly used for fluoridating
mumicipal water systems cause corrosion of lead from metal pipes and plumbing fixtures.
The lead goes to the brain of children who drink this water. The lead damages the brain
so that they become more likely to use cocaine and commit violent crimes. The cost of
crime has a significant economic impact. A corporation is only one component in the total
economic system. Components like the justice system, which do not produce anything, still
cost money to operate.
The twenty-second conference of the International Association for Fluoride Research was
held in Bellingham, Washington from August 24 to 27, 1998. R.D. Masters and M. Coplan
presented their findings on lead and silicofluorides. Lead is a heavy metal which damages
neurons and deregulates neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. These are essential
for normal impulse control and learning. Without sufficient impulse control, there is a
greater tendency for people to commit violent acts. Metal water pipes and brass plumbing
fixtures are a significant source of lead. Two chemicals which are widely used in
fluoridation, hydrofluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride, are acids which leach lead
into tap water. This causes a higher level of lead in children's blood indicating that
more lead is going to the brain. Cocaine use and violent crime rates are higher in the
communities which have these silicofluorides in the water than in the communities that
do not. Even when the black population is considered separately, there is still significantly
more cocaine use and violent crime in the communities with the silicofluorides in their
tap water.
Many older papers claiming that the concentration of fluoride in public water systems
is so small that we can be sure it does no harm have been published in scientific journals.
New research, reported at the twenty-second conference of the International Association
for Fluoride Research on August 25, 1998, has uncovered a fatal flaw in the research design
of experiments with laboratory rats. It was the custom for
laboratory experiments about
fluoride toxicity to be done using sodium fluoride in distilled water for the rats'
drinking water. It was presumed that if sodium fluoride at very low levels in distilled
water did not harm
the rats then fluoride in tap water must be safe.
Now, scientists have found that there is a toxic chemical reaction with aluminum and
fluoride even at very low levels just like they put in the water. K. Jensen and coworkers
found that when fluoride and aluminum combine to make AlF3 at very low
concentrations in water, aluminum gets into the brain and kidney more easily. The
accumulation of aluminum in the brain results in damage to the neurons thus
resulting in an Alzheimer's-like condition with memory loss. Alum is commonly used
for processing water for municipal water systems. This leaves small amounts of aluminum
in the water which combine with fluoride.
Presentations of scientific research at the twenty-second conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research (ISFR) began today. The highlight of the day was Dr. Mullenix's report that her laboratory studies that fluorine damages the brain.
The toxic effect of fluorine in the brain is relevant to
childhood leukemia. Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow which causes excess
production of white blood cells The treatment for leukemia causes the cancer cells to
go to the brain. Drugs must be used to kill the cancer cells in the brain
if the treatment is to be successful. Prednisoline and dexamethasone have
been used for this purpose. The molecular structures of these two drugs
is almost the same. Dexamethasone has one fluorine atom in each molecule
and prednisolone does not. Dexamethasone has become the drug of choice
because it is more powerful. However, children who were treated with
dexamethasone and who already had mediocre IQ lost ten more IQ points after
treatment with dexamethasone. These children also grew more slowly, had
narrower skull shapes and their teeth stopped developing.
In her latest laboratory studies, Dr. Mullenix found that
dexamethasone impaired the behavior of rats in a way that is equivalent
to hyperactivity in humans. Dr. Mullenix pioneered a computerized
technology for these studies. Video cameras record the activity of rats
at specified
intervals. The activities of the rats are classified and then the sequence
of activities can be compared. The rats on the dexamethasone had "dispersed"
sequences. This means that their behavior sequences did not follow the
usual patterns
of healthy rats. The disrupted patterns of activity are reminiscent of
hyperactivity in children.
Dr. Mullenix is in the Pscyhiatry Department at Children's Hospital in
Boston,
Massachusetts.
Another presentation at the ISFR conference showed photographs of
microscopic brain
damage of rats which drank water with sodium fluoride (NaF). Dr. Chubek and
co-workers
found that the rats on the fluoridated water for 21 days had the highest
concentrations of NaF and had brain cells
that were smaller and mishapen. The myelin, a substance
which surrounds certain axons
and nerve fibers, was swollen:
The ISFR conference is being held in Bellingham, Washington. These conferences
are held once every two years.
On June 22, 1998, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution for the Seattle Public Utilities to study the feasibility of bottling Seattle's drinking water for sale. The proposed name for the bottled water is Seattle Rain. Councilwoman Margaret Pageler said that Seattle's water is pure enough to bottle. Pageler was quoted as saying, "A lot of us have gone to the store and seen people pay exorbitant amounts of money for bottled water and we ask: Is this really better than what we can get out of the tap?" The City Council perceives the demand for bottled water as a fad. Seattle Public Utilities may have to raise money to pay for a $70 million dollar plan to restore habitats for wild salmon in the Cedar River Watershed. Councilman Peter Steinbrueck was quoted as saying, "If we could get all the people who buy bottled water from other cities, states or countries to buy pure Seattle water we'd have more than enough to finance the restoration of the watershed." The theory is that water coming out of the treatment plant is purer than water that has passed through the pipes.
The bottled water market is definitely growing. Bottled water sales have been growing at 9 percent per year. This is faster than soft drink sales are growing. In 1996, bottled water sales were almost $3.4 billion. Soft drink sales were about $30 billion. Bottled Spring water has no calories, no additives and no sugar.1
A related market is the one for home water purifiers. In 1995, American homeowners bought $450 million in home water purifier systems. This was a 30 percent increase over 1994. As of 1996, 12 percent of homes have water purifiers. It is predicted that in 15 years 40 percent of American homes will have water purifier systems.2
There is a variety of reasons why people choose to avoid tap water. Some say it's the taste. One might reasonably infer that if the water tastes bad it may contain heavy metals from old pipes or chemical pollutants that people read about in the newspapers. Ordinary chlorination has failed to stop outbreaks of kryptosporidium. Sports bottles are a convenient substitute for soft drinks when people are away from home. People who do not own their own homes may have to rely on bottled water because they can't install heavy duty water purifiers.
A telephone survey in Toronto, Canada found that 73 percent of the respondents were concerned about chemical pollutants in tap water. 35 percent obtained at least 50 percent of their drinking water from an alternative source such as water filters or bottled water.3
A survey in Iowa found that 81 percent of homes use public water and 19 percent use private well water. 26 percent use some bottled water and 11 percent use a filtration system.4
Even people who do not have much money avoid tap water. A survey of patients at two community health centers in Rhode Island in 1994 found that 55 percent used only bottled water for drinking. 59 percent of households with children did so. Most of the patients were on public assistance or uninsured. 52 percent of children on public assistance were getting bottled water. They do not know the fluoride content, but they judge the water by its taste or on what they have heard about tap water.5
Most brands of bottled water contain little or no fluoride. A survey in Houston, Texas revealed that most bottled waters are well below 0.3 parts per million fluoride.6 The fluoride content in 83 percent of bottled water brands in an Iowa survey was less than 0.16 parts per million.7
The concentration of fluoride in tap water is no longer a reliable indicator of how much fluoride people are getting. Fluoride is in dental products such as toothpaste. Fluoride gets into foods and beverages which are processed with water in a fluoridated town and then shipped to market in an unfluoridated town. Bottled water generally has little or no fluoride, but there are exceptions. Almost none of the bottled water brands list the fluoride content on the label. Fluoride may be removed by some water purifiers, but not others.8
As more people avoid using tap water for drinking and cooking, the pro-fluoridation political activists fret that people are not getting their fluoride. It seems that the more discriminating consumers who would more likely oppose fluoridation of tap water would rather vote with their pocket books. Dental public health specialists pursue their fantasy that fluoridation can deliver a controllable daily dose while consumers are opting for ways to take control of the quality of their water in a direct and more individuated way.
Part of this information came from the Seattle Times, June 23, 1998, p. A1.
Notes:
In two recently published experiments with rats, low amounts of aluminum fluoride and
sodium fluoride in drinking water caused brain cell neurotoxicity. This research is
reviewed in an editorial and abstracts in the May, 1998 issue of Fluoride
magazine. Fluoride is published by the International Society for Fluoride
Research.
It is a common practice to treat public drinking water with alum, which contains aluminum.
Dr. Bruce Spittle commented:
"It appears that a complex interaction may occur between fluoride and aluminium so that
when both are present in rats' drinking water, at low concentration, 0.5 ppm of trivalent
aluminium ion and 1 ppm of fluoride ion, they combine to form aluminium fluoride, AlF3,
which has the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain, and also
to become deposited in the kidneys. When 2.1 ppm of sodium fluoride is present in the
drinking water of rats, corresponding to 1.1 ppm of sodium ion and 1 ppm of fluoride ion,
the fluoride ion appears to be able to combine with aluminium from the food resulting in
a similar entry to the brain and kidneys but with some points of difference. When the
fluoride is present with larger amounts of aluminium, such as 5 ppm of trivalent aluminium
and about 10 ppm of fluoride or 50 ppm of trivalent aluminium and about 100 ppm of fluoride,
the resulting overt toxicity is less."
One of the surprising findings of these experiments is that aluminum fluoride in such
small concentrations is more toxic than much larger concentrations. This is known as a
paradoxical effect.
The citations for the aluminum fluoride toxicity research are:
JA Varner, KF Jensen, W Horvath and RL Isaacson, "Chronic Administration of Aluminum-Fluoride
or Sodium-Fluoride to Rats in Drinking Water: Alterations in Neuronal and Cerebrovascular
Integrity," Brain Research, 784, 284-298, 1998. Reprints: Julie A. Varner,
jvarner@lineberryresearch.com.
RA Isaacson, JA Varner and KF Jensen, "Toxin-Induced Blood Vessel Inclusions Caused by the
Chronic Administration of Aluminum and Sodium Fluoride and Their Implications for Dementia,"
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 825, 152-166, 1997. Reprints:
Robert L. Isaacson, isaacson@binghamton.edu.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began requiring new wording in the
warnings
on fluoride toothpaste labels. Now that the new toothpaste is coming on to store shelves,
people are noticing. The FDA purpose was to increase consumer awareness of possible harm.
The new warning reads: "Warning: Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age.
If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional assistance or
contact a Poison Control Center immediately."
In the year before the new warning, 5,442 toothpaste related calls were made to poison
control centers. In the first year since the new warning, 12,855 toothpaste related
calls were made to poison control centers.
The American Dental Association is dismayed. The ADA complains that this warning is
required only because fluoride is classified by the FDA as a drug. The ADA insists that
such exposure to fluoride is not life threatening, but may cause dental fluorosis.
A spokesman for Colgate-Palmolive, says that the warning conflicts with the traditional
idea that the purpose of fluoride toothpaste is to prevent cavities and therefore
fluoride toothpaste is for public health. The warnings required by the FDA are also in
the interest of public health. The FDA cautiously performed a scientific review before
requiring the new wording of the
warning on fluoride toothpaste labels.
We reported in December, 1996 that a class action suit against toothpaste manufacturers
was filed in the United Kingdom
by the parents of more than 200 children.
The children had permanent damage to their
teeth because they had zealously brushed their teeth with fluoride toothpaste every day.
For them, dental fluorosis is not a trivial discoloration of teeth.
Part of the information for this article came from the New York Times, March 24,
1998, p. A18 and the Boston Globe, March 25, 1998, p. A1.
David Kennedy, DDS, reports that a Fluoridation Risk Assessmnet Symposium will be held in
San Diego, California on June 20 and 21, 1998. Dr. Kennedy practices dentistry in San
Diego. Issues to be considered at the symposium will be whether fluoridation causes
cancer, an Alzheimers-like brain deterioration, genetic damage, neurological impairment, and
bone disease. Famous fluoride toxicology experts will be there. For details,
refer to
Dr. Kennedy's e-mail communication.
We reported earlier this year that the California OEHHA has proposed that the
safe level for fluoride in drinking water should not be higher than 0.8 ppm so
that the prevalence of dental fluorosis in the population using fluoridated water will
be kept to an acceptable level. Now, dental public health scientists at the University
of Michigan report that the acceptable trade off may be as low as 0.7 ppm fluoride in
water. Even at this level, the prevalence of dental fluorosis is over 20 percent. The
University of Michigan report was originally published in the Journal of Public Health
Dentistry, 57(3) 136-143, 1997. The abstract is in the February, 1998 issue of
Fluoride, the official publication of the International
Society for Fluoride Research
One might consider whether caution would be preferable to a trade off which can only be
measured by uncertain statistics. For a review of this policy debate, see The Precautionary Principle in the Related Topics
subdirectory of the Environment directory of Fluoride Issues.
The 22nd Conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research (ISFR) will be
held in Bellingham, Washington. The conference will be held from August 24 through 27,
1998 at the Best Western Lakeway Inn, 714 Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, Washington 98226,
Tel. (360) 671-1011, Fax: (360) 676-8519. Scientists from all over the world will present
research papers on topics related to fluoride. The second call for abstracts of papers
to be presented at the conference was recently sent out. Registration for students and
guests is $150 before June 1, 1998 and $200 after June 1, 1998. For complete details
and registration forms, contact Dr. Yu at:
ISFR-XXIInd Conference
On March 25, 1998, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6 to 1 to require voter approval
before fluoridating the city's water. The new city ordinance contravenes a law passed
by the California State Legislature in 1995 which requires cities to fluoridate their
water whether the people want to vote on it or not. For more information, see Edwin
Rugh's website currently at:
members.tripod.com/~safewater/.
A five person task force has been appointed to review the safety of fluoridation in
Calgary, Alberta. City Alderman Jon Lord is reported by the Calgary Sun, March 21,
1998, to have said, "Are we growing kids with brain damage so they can have good teeth?"
He was referring to neurotoxicology research by Dr. Phyllis Mullenix and co-workers
which was published in 1995.
A Calgary resident, Elke Babiuk, was denied admittance to a task force meeting. The task
force spokeman, Dr. Read Seiner, said that their scientific review was not intended to
be an open forum.
Dr. Mullenix was fired from her prestigious position at Forsyth Institute
because her research proved that sodium fluoride caused damage to the nervous system of
rats and was published in a respected scientific journal in 1995. Over the years,
other great scientists who made impartial searches for the truth like she did were
harassed or demoted in various ways. The real purpose for the reckless promotion of
fluoridation was the fear of the U.S. intelligence cultists that there would be a public
outcry against fluoride pollution from atomic bomb manufacturing. The supporting facts
for these conclusions have recently been reviewed in The Winds,
a magazine published on the World Wide Web. The review article, "Did Government Approve
Citizens as Toxic Waste Sites?" is currently archived at
www.thewinds.org/archive/medical/fluoride01-98.html.
After reading this article, one might conclude that the evidence that fluorides are
harmful to the brain has been covered up for many years by a combination of cynical
intelligence agencies and incompetent science research managers who act like Luddites.
In February, 1998, a vote on fluoridation was planned in Hot Springs,
Arkansas.
A surprised local
citizen contacted John Yaimouyainnis, Ph.D, a biochemist, who was in Hot
Springs on vacation. Dr. Yaimouyainnis made a speech in favor of pure
water. He is the author of Fluoride: The Aging Factor. Opponents
of fluoridation flooded the newspaper with authoritative articles and
showed strength at the council meetings. The proponents withdrew their
proposal.
The March 2, 1998 GAAF newsletter reports a strategy that was successful in
stopping a fluoridation proposal. There are some subsets of the population
which have been identified as being at risk for health problems arising
from drinking fluoridated water. They are described in Toxicological
Profile of Fluoride, p. 112. One legal implication, pointed out by
George Glasser, is that there is a duty of fluoridators to warn these
subsets of the population of potential damage to their health. Betty
Fowler, representing Safe Water Coalition of Washington State, persistently
informed local officials in Spokane, Washington of their duty to warn until
they decided they didn't need to impose fluoridation.
The Global Alliance Against Fluoridation (GAAF) offers advice on how to
apply the duty to warn concept. For more information, contact:
GAAF
An article in the Manchester Guardian Weekly, March 22, 1998, p. 14,
entitled, "Give Us This Day Our Toxic Bread," expounds upon the world
wide impact
of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed organic
food rules. The USDA proposed standards for
"organic" farming would "outlaw genuine organic production all over the
world." The standards would be interpreted to
prohibit the states from setting standards
higher than the USDA's.
It is probable that American corporations would
later complain that countries such as Canada and the European Union were
engaging in unfair trade practices if they maintained a higher standard
of organic food. The World Trade Organization refers disputes like this
to the Codex Alimentarius, a "food standard body dominated by corporate
scientists." The Codex, of course, can't see any scientific evidence that
European organic produce is any different than American organic produce.
"The consumption of organic food is rising 20% to 30% per year." Organic
food production could eventually become the dominant agricultural land use.
Big business can't compete successfully in small scale labor intensive
organic farming. The excessively centralized economic control which the USDA
would impose is reminiscent of the old Soviet Union's centalized "command
economy."
One might consider that one of the reasons why the incompetent practice of
public water fluoridation has persisted for so many years is that
scientific research about it is
managed through a system of excessively centralized control by
agencies of the U.S. government.
Plans to make artificial fluoridation of public drinking water mandatory
throughout the United Kingdom have been put on hold because of the opposition
of the British Home Secretary, Jack Straw. According to
The Observer newspaper (2/1/98), Secretary Straw intervened on
behalf of opponents of mandatory fluoridation, urging Health Secretary Frank
Dobson to take seriously the scientific evidence linking fluoride to bone
disease, infant mortality and brain damage. Mr. Straw pressed the Health
Secretary to meet with fluoridation opponents, saying, "Having looked
carefully and objectively at both sides, I do feel that theirs is a valid
viewpoint. I would be grateful if you perhaps reply more fully to the
points raised."
As a result of strong and persistent citizen opposition, only a handful of
areas in the British Isles have been fluoridated. The battle is particularly
fierce in Northern Ireland where, despite the recommendation of all health
boards to fluoridate, nearly all of it's district councils have rejected the
idea because of public health concerns.
The British Dental Association has been lobbying the government to fluoridate
water for some time and Mr. Dobson as well as Tessa Jowell, the Public
Health Minister, are said to favor the policy. But Mr. Straw's intervention
has compelled the British government to conduct a further review of the
situation. In the public health paper, Our Healthier Nation, the
government made a commitment to "seek to take account of these views and to
find a way forward."
The California Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Asessment (OEHHA), Pesticide and Environmental Toxicology Section,
proposed in November, 1997 to lower the safe level of fluoride in drinking
water. The California Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 requires the OEHHA to adopt public
health goals for contaminants in drinking water based on exclusively public health
considerations. A public health goal of 0.8 ppm for fluoride in drinking water is
proposed to prevent dental fluorosis. This takes into account the relative source
contribution
of fluoride in drinking water. This standard is intended to prevent even mild dental fluorosis,
whereas the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendation of not more than 2.0 ppm
fluoride in drinking water is intended to prevent moderate to severe dental fluorosis.
The OEHHA maintains that although there is scientific research showing that fluoridation
is a cause of hip fractures, the evidence is not sufficient to provide a mathematical
basis for calculating a public health goal.
The OEHHA reports was originally published at
www.calepa.cahwnet.gov/oehha/docs/phgs/2getphgs.htm and is reprinted
herein pdf format.
There is a list of toxic
chemicals on the web site. Go down the list to find the document on fluoride.
The USDA has proposed new rules for a federal standard for certified organically grown eggs.
The rules for organic eggs would allow up to 20% conventional feed, antibiotics, parasiticides and
coccidiostats, irradiation in food processing, and warehousing of hens. The rules will allow the use of
feed grains from fields where sewage sludge containing heavy metals was used as fertilizer.
Genetically engineered organisms would be eligible for the organic food label.
Nearly a dozen of the huge producers of organic eggs lobbied for this ruling. Smaller organic
egg producers are concerned that they could be driven out of business by the fee
structure for certifying their products. A federal law concerning organic foods could take precedence over the
California organic foods law because of the interstate commerce clause in the U.S.
Constitution. In this way, the standards for organic eggs would be being lowered.
If you would like to contact the USDA to suggest a change in rules, you must include the Docket No.
TMDD-94-00-2 and the section numbers of proposed rules. The deadline for your comments is March 16, 1998.
You can see the proposed standards and make comments at the USDA web site at
www.ams.usda.gov/nop. Send your letters to:
Eilenn Stommes, Deputy Administrator
To the best of my knowledge,
the USDA does not prohibit using artificially fluoridated water in organic egg
production. There is nothing organic about acid fluoride (hydrofluosilicic acid) or
sodium fluoride. These sources of fluoride ions should not be allowed in drinking water
of hens for egg production. Research financed by the American Dental Association
showed that chickens used in baby food is an excessive source of fluoride ions.
The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare is
considering whether fluoride ions are necessary for the health of
premature infants. Those wishing to comment should send their written
comments to HEW before July 1, 1998. Be sure to include the
Docket No. 96N-0391. For more information,
see the complete news report or the
Federal Register,
January 15, 1998, pp. 24404-24405.
The Bremerton City Council originally estimated that the cost of bringing fluoridation to Bremerton would be $90,000. Now, they are estimating a cost of $300,500. Mr. Phil Heggen, a Bremerton resident, estimates that when the cost of corrosion reduction is included, the cost is closer to one million dollars. A letter from Mr. Heggen gives the details. Acid fluoride contributes to corrosion. Acid fluoride is the most commonly chosen chemical for adding fluoride ions to public water supplies. See related articles on corrosion in the Fluoride and Lead Index in the Environment directory of Fluoride Issues.California Water Fluoridation Drive Launched
October 7, 1998Research Links Low Levels of Fluoride and Aluminum to Alzheimer's and
Kidney Damage
October 6, 1998ISFR Web Site Comes Online
October 1, 1998ISFR Conference: Breakthroughs in Vitamin Treatments for Chronic Fluoride Poisoning
September 3, 1998Corporate Power is Being Misused to Undermine the Preservation of Human Resources
August 28, 1998ISFR Conference: Fluoridation and Lead from Water Pipes Causes Higher Violent Crime Rates
August 27, 1998ISFR Conference: Newly Discovered Toxic Interaction of Fluoride and Aluminum in Tap Water is the Death Knell of Fluoridation
August 26, 1998ISFR Conference: Dr. Mullenix Presents More Evidence that Fluoride Damages the Brain
August 25, 1998
"A neuropathological study and computerized morphometric analyses revealed
revealed a marked shrinkage of cerebellar granular and Purkinje cells,
perivascular myelin swelling, and astroglia reaction, especially in the
white matter of brains in the NaF-treated animals. Neuronal and myelin
changes appeared to be more pronounced ... "
Seattle Rain: The Marketing Concept is Embraced by a Public Water Utility
July 7, 1998
Combination of Fluoride and Aluminum has Unforeseen Effects in Drinking Water
June 25, 1998Consumer Awareness of Fluoride Toothpaste Hazard Increases
June 8, 1998San Diego Fluoridation Risk Assessment Symposium To Be Held June 20-21, 1998
May 5, 1998Is the Dental Fluorosis Trade Off Too High?
May 1, 1998ISFR Conference to be Held in August, 1998 in Bellingham, Washington
April 7, 1998
Dr. Ming-Ho Yu
Huxley College of Environmental Studies
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225-9181 USA
(360) 650-3676 Fax: (360) 650-7284
mhyu@titan.cc.wwu.edu
Santa Cruz, California City Council Defies Fluoridation Law
April 5, 1998Safety of Fluoridation Questioned After U.S. Government Coverup Comes to Light
April 1, 1998Fluoridation Proposal Comes to Naught in Hot Springs, Arkansas
March 25, 1998A Successful Test of the Duty to Warn Strategy
March 24, 1998
Park West Station
P.O. Box 20832
New York, N.Y. 10025-1516
(212) 665-1757
World Wide Impact of USDA Proposed Organic Food Label Rules
March 23, 1998Opposition Stalls Fluoridation in United Kingdom
March 12, 1998California OEHHA Considers Lowering the Safe Level of Fluoride in Drinking Water
March 2, 1998Now is the Time to Comment on USDA Organic Egg Standards and Fluoridation
February 25, 1998
USDA-AMS-TM-NOP
Room 4007-So, Ag Stop 0275
P.O. Box 96456
Washington, D.C. 20090-6456Is Fluoride a Nutrient for Infants?
February 22, 1998Fluoridation Costs Under Estimated in Bremerton, Washington
February 8, 1998