Flouride 50 Reasons not to Flouridate
From: "Arthur M. Strauss"
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 19:42:23 -0400
I encourage you to selectively pass this on appropriately.
50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation
by Paul Connett, Ph.D.
March 6, 2001
Dr. Paul Connett
Professor of Chemistry
St. Lawrence University, NY 13617
315-229-5853 ggvideo@northnet.org
with assistance from:
Michael Connett
Webmaster
Fluoride Action Network
http://www.fluoridealert.org
50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation
1) Fluoride is not an essential nutrient. No disease has ever been linked
to a fluoride deficiency. Humans can have perfectly good teeth without
fluoride.
2) Fluoridation is not necessary. Most Western European countries are not
fluoridated and have experienced the same decline in dental decay as the US
(see data from World Health Organization on levels of tooth decay in
Europe, US, New Zealand, and Australia in Appendix 1).
3) Fluoridation's role in the decline of tooth decay is in serious doubt.
The largest survey ever conducted in the US (over 39,000 children from 84
communities) by the National Institute of Dental Research showed little
difference in tooth decay among children in fluoridated and non-fluoridated
communities (Hileman, 1989 and Yiamouyiannis, 1990). According to the
NIDR's statisticians, the study found an average difference of only 0.6
DMFS (Decayed Missing and Filled Surfaces) in the permanent teeth of
children aged 5-17 residing in either fluoridated or unfluoridated areas
(Brunelle and Carlos, 1990). This difference is less than one tooth
surface! There are 128 tooth surfaces in a child's mouth.
4) Where fluoridation has been discontinued in communities from Canada, the
former East Germany, Cuba and Finland, dental decay has not increased but
has actually decreased (Maupome et al, 2001; Kunzel and Fischer,1997,2000;
Kunzel et al, 2000 and Seppa et al, 2000).
5) One of the early trials which helped to launch fluoridation took place
in Newburgh, NY, with Kingston, NY as the control community. After 10 years
of this trial (which was methodologically flawed), it looked as if there
was a large decrease in dental caries in the fluoridated community compared
to the non-fluoridated community. However, when children were re-examined
in these two cities in 1995 (50 years after the trial began) there was
practically no difference in the dental decay in the two communities. If
anything, the teeth in unfluoridated Kingston were slightly better (Kumar
and Green 1998).
6) Modern research (e.g. Diesendorf, 1986; Colquhoun, 1997, and De Liefde,
1998) shows that decay rates were coming down before fluoridation was
introduced and have continued to decline even after its benefits would have
been maximized. Many other factors influence tooth decay. Studies in India
(Teotia and Teotia, 1994) and Tuczon, Arizona (Steelink, 1992) have shown
that tooth decay actually increases as the fluoride concentration in the
water increases.
7) Leading dental researchers (Levine, 1976; Fejerskov, Thylstrup and
Larsen, 1981; Carlos, 1983; Featherstone, 1987, 1999, 2000; Margolis and
Moreno, 1990; Clark, 1993; Burt, 1994; Shellis and Duckworth, 1994 and
Limeback, 1999, 2000), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC, 1999) are now acknowledging that the mechanism of fluoride's benefits
are mainly TOPICAL not SYSTEMIC. Thus, you don't have to swallow fluoride
to protect teeth. As the benefits of fluoride (if they exist) are topical,
and the risks are systemic, it makes more sense, for those who want to take
the risks, to deliver the fluoride directly to the tooth in the form of
toothpaste. Since swallowing fluoride is unnecessary, there is no reason to
force people (against their will) to drink fluoride in their water suppy.
(All the referencs for "topical versus systemic benefits" are listed as a
group in the reference section).
8) The US fluoridation program has massively failed to achieve one of its
key objectives, i.e. to lower dental decay rates while minimizing dental
fluorosis (mottled and discolored enamel). The goal of the early promoters
of fluoridation was to limit dental fluorosis (in its mildest form) to 10%
of children (NRC, 1993, pp. 6-7). The percentage of children with dental
fluorosis in optimally fluoridated areas is up to EIGHT TIMES this goal
(Williams, 1990; Lalumandier, 1995; Heller, 1997 and Morgan, 1998). The
York Review estimates that up to 48% of children in optimally fluoridated
areas have dental fluorosis in all forms and up to 12.5% in the mild to
severe forms (McDonagh, 2000).
9) Dental fluorosis means that a child has been overdosed on fluoride.
While the mechanism by which the enamel is damaged is not definitively
known, it appears fluorosis may be a result of either inhibited enzymes in
the growing teeth (Dan Besten 1999), or through fluoride's interference
with the thyroid gland.
10) The level of fluoride put into water (1 ppm) is 100 times higher than
normally found in mothers' milk (0.01 ppm) (Institute of Medicine, 1997).
There are no benefits, only risks, for infants ingesting this heightened
level of fluoride at such an early age (this is an age where susceptibility
to environmental toxins is particularly high).
11) Fluoride is a cumulative poison. Only 50% of the fluoride we ingest
each day is excreted through the kidneys, the remainder accumulates in our
bones, pineal gland, and other tissues. If the kidney is damaged, fluoride
accumulation will increase.
12) Fluoride is very biologically active even at low concentrations. It
interferes with hydrogen bonding which is central to the structure and
function of proteins and nucleic acids. Thus, fluoride has the potential to
disrupt events at the very heart of living things (Emsley, 1981).
13) Fluoride inhibits enzymes in test tubes (Waldbott, 1978), in bacteria
in the oral cavity (Featherstone, 2000), in the growing tooth (DenBesten,
1999), in bone (Krook and Minor, 1998) and in other tissues (Luke, 1998).
14) Fluoride has been shown to be mutagenic, cause chromosome damage and
interfere with the enzymes involved with DNA repair in a variety of insect,
tissue culture and animal studies (DHSS, 1991, Mihashi and Tsutsui, 1996).
15) Fluoride administered to animals at high doses wreaks havoc on the
reproductive system - it renders sperm non-functional and increases the
rate of infertility (Chinoy, et al, 1995; Kumar & Susheela, 1994; Chinoy &
Narayana, 1994; Chinoy & Sequeira, 1989). A recent study from the US found
increased rates of infertility among women living in areas with 3 or more
ppm fluoride in the water. According to this latter study, which was
published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, "Most
regions showed an association of decreasing TFR [Total Fertility Rate] with
increasing fluoride levels" (Freni 1994).
16) Fluoride forms complexes with a large number of metals, which include
metals which are needed in the body (like calcium and magnesium) and metals
(like lead and aluminum) which are toxic to the body. This can cause a
variety of problems. For example, fluoride interferes with enzymes where
magnesium is an important co-factor, and it can help facilitate the uptake
of aluminum into tissues where the aluminum wouldn't otherwise go.
17) Rats fed for one year with 1 ppm fluoride in doubly distilled and
de-ionized water, using either sodium fluoride or aluminum fluoride, had
morphological changes to their kidneys and brains and had an increased
level of aluminum present in their brain (Varner et al, 1998). Aluminum in
the brain is associated with Alzheimers disease.
18) Fluoride and aluminum fluoride complexes interact with G-proteins and
thus have the potential to interfere with many hormonal and some
neurochemical signals (Struneka and Patocka, 1999).
19) Aluminum fluoride was recently nominated by the Environmental
Protection Agency and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
for testing by the National Toxicology Program. According to the EPA and
NIEHS, aluminum fluoride currently has a "high health research priority"
due to its "known neurotoxicity" (BNA, 2000). If fluoride is added to water
which contains aluminum, than aluminum fluoride complexes will form.
20) Animal experiments show that fluoride exposure alters mental behavior
(Mullenix et al, 1995). Rats dosed prenatally demonstrated hyperactive
behavior. Those dosed postnatally demonstrated hypoactivity (i.e. under
activity or "couch potato" syndrome).
21) Studies by Jennifer Luke (1997) showed that fluoride accumulates in the
human pineal gland to very high levels. In her Ph.D thesis Luke has also
shown in animal studies that fluoride reduces melatonin production and
leads to an earlier onset of puberty.
22) Three studies from China show a lowering of IQ in children associated
with fluoride exposure (Li et al, 1995; Zhao et al, 1996 and Lu et al,
2000). Another study (Lin et al, 1991) indicates that even just moderate
levels of fluoride exposure (e.g. 0.9 ppm in the water) can exacerbate the
neurological defects of iodine deficiency, which include decreased IQ and
retardation. (According to the CDC, iodine deficiency has nearly quadrupled
in the US since the 1970's, with nearly 12% of the population now iodine
deficient.)
23) Earlier in the 20th century, fluoride was prescribed by a number of
European doctors to reduce the activity of the thyroid gland for those
suffering from hyperthyroidism (over active thyroid) (Merck Index, 1960, p.
952; Waldbott, et al., 1978, p. 163). With water fluoridation, we are
forcing people to drink a thyroid-depressing medication which could serve
to promote higher levels of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) in the
population, and all the subsequent problems related to this disorder. Such
problems include depression, fatigue, weight gain, muscle and joint pains,
increased cholesterol levels, and heart disease.
It bears noting that according to the Department of Health and Human
Services (1991) fluoride exposure in fluoridated communities is estimated
to range from 1.58 to 6.6 mg/day, which is a range that actually overlaps
the dose (2.3 - 4.5 mg/day) shown to decrease the functioning of the human
thyroid (Galletti & Joyet, 1958). This is a remarkable fact, and certainly
deserves greater attention considering the rampant and increasing problem
of hypothyroidism in the United States. (In 1999, the second most
prescribed drug of the year was Synthroid, which is a hormone replacement
drug used to treat an underactive thyroid).
24) Some of the early symptoms of skeletal fluorosis, a fluoride-induced
bone and joint disease that impacts millions of people in India, China, and
Africa , mimic the symptoms of arthritis. According to a review on
fluoridation by the journal of the American Chemical Society, "Because some
of the clinical symptoms mimic arthritis, the first two clinical phases of
skeletal fluorosis could be easily misdiagnosed" (Hileman, 1988). Few if
any studies have been done to determine the extent of this misdiagnosis,
and whether the high prevalence of arthritis in America (over 42 million
Americans have it) is related to our growing fluoride exposure, which is
highly plausible. The causes of most forms of arthritis (e.g.
osteoarthritis) are unknown.
25) In some studies, when high doses of fluoride were used in trials to
treat patients with osteoporosis in an effort to harden their bones and
reduce fracture rates, it actually led to a HIGHER number of hip fractures
(Hedlund and Gallagher, 1989; Riggs et al, 1990).
26) Eighteen studies (four unpublished, including one abstract) since 1990
have examined the possible relationship of fluoridation and an increase in
hip fracture among the elderly. Ten of these studies found an association,
eight did not. One study found a dose-related increase in hip fracture as
the concentration of fluoride rose from 1 ppm to 8 ppm (Li et al, 1999, to
be published). Hip fracture is a very serious issue for the elderly, as a
quarter of those who have a hip fracture die within a year of the
operation, while 50 percent never regain an independent existence. (All 18
of these studies are referenced as a group in the reference section).
27) One animal study (National Toxicology Program, 1990) shows a
dose-related increase in osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in male rats. The
initial finding of this study was of "clear evidence of carcinogenicity" a
finding which was soon conspicuously downgraded to "equivocal evidence"
(Marcus, 1990). EPA Professional Headquarters Union has requested that
Congress establish an independent review of this study's results (Hirzy
2000).
28) Two epidemiological studies show a possible association (which some
have discounted: Hoover, 1990 and 1991) between osteosarcoma in young men
and living in fluoridated areas (National Cancer Institute, 1989 and Cohn,
1992). Other studies have not found this association.
29) Fluoridation is unethical because individuals are not being asked for
their informed consent prior to medication. This is standard practice for
all medication.
30) While referenda are preferential to imposed policies from central
government, it still leaves the problem of individual rights versus
majority rule. Put another way -- does a voter have the right to require
that their neighbor ingest a certain medication (even if it's against that
neighbor's will)?
31) Some people appear to be highly sensitive to fluoride as shown by case
studies and double blind studies (Waldbott, 1978 and Moolenburg, 1987).
This may relate to fluoride interfering with their hormone levels including
those produced by their thyroid gland. Can we as a society force these
people to drink fluoride?
32) According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR, 1993) some people are particularly vulnerable to fluoride's toxic
effects; these include: the elderly, diabetics and people with poor kidney
function. Again, can we in good conscience force these people to ingest
fluoride on a daily basis?
33) Also vulnerable are those who suffer from malnutrition (e.g. calcium,
magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D and iodide deficiencies and protein poor
diets). Those most likely to suffer from poor nutrition are the poor, who
are precisely the people being targeted by new fluoridation proposals (Oral
Health in America, May 2000). While being at heightened risk, poor families
are less able to afford avoidance measures (e.g. bottled water or removal
equipment).
34) Since dental decay is most concentrated in poor communities, we should
be spending our efforts trying to increase the access to dental care for
poor families. The real "Oral Health Crisis" that exists today in the
United States, is not a lack of fluoride but poverty and lack of dental
insurance.
35) Fluoridation has been found to be ineffective at preventing one of the
most serious oral health problems facing poor children, namely, baby bottle
tooth decay, otherwise known as early childhood caries (Jones, 2000).
36) Once fluoride is put in the water it is impossible to control the dose
each individual receives. This is because, one, some people (e.g. manual
laborers, athletes and diabetics) drink more water than others, and
because, two, we receive fluoride from sources other than the water supply.
Other sources of fluoride include food and beverages processed with
fluoridated water; fluoridated dental products, and pesticide residues on
food.
As one doctor has aptly stated, "No physician in his right senses would
prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not
know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the
advice: 'Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of
your life because some children suffer from tooth decay. ' It is a
preposterous notion."
37) Despite the fact that it is recognized that we are ingesting too much
fluoride, and despite the fact that we are exposed to far more fluoride in
2000 than we were in 1945 (when fluoridation began), the "optimal"
fluoridation level is still 1 part per million, the same level deemed
optimal in 1945!
38) The early studies conducted in 1945 -1955 in the US, which helped to
launch fluoridation, have been heavily criticized for their poor
methodology and poor choice of control communities (De Stefano, 1954;
Sutton 1959, 1960 and 1996). According to Dr. Hubert Arnold, a statisician
from the University of California at Davis, the early fluoridation trials
"are especially rich in fallacies, improper design, invalid use of
statistical methods, omissions of contrary data, and just plain
muddleheadedness and hebetude."
39) The US Public Health Service first endorsed fluoridation in 1950,
before one single trial had been completed (McClure, 1970)! It may not be
coincidental that in the same year of the US PHS endorsement, the Sugar
Research Foundation, Inc. (supported by 130 corporations) expressed its aim
in dental research as, "To discover effective means of controlling tooth
decay by methods other than restricting carbohydrate (sugar) intake"
(Waldbott, 1965, p.131).
40) The fluoridation program has been very poorly monitored. There has
never been a comprehensive analysis of the fluoride levels in the bones of
the American people. US Health authorities have no idea how close we are
getting to levels which will cause subtle or even serious bone and joint
damage!
41) According to a letter received by New Jersey Assemblyman John Kelly,
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never approved the fluoride
supplements given to children, which are designed to deliver the same
amount of fluoride as fluoridated water.
42) The chemicals used to fluoridate water in the US are not pharmaceutical
grade. Instead, they come from the wet scrubbing systems of the
superphosphate fertilizer industry. These chemicals (90% of which are
sodium fluorosilicate and fluorosilicic acid), are classified hazardous
wastes contaminated with toxic metals and trace amounts of radioactive
isotopes. Recent testing by the National Sanitation Foundation suggest that
the levels of arsenic in these chemicals are high and of significant
concern.
43) These hazardous wastes have not been tested comprehensively. The
chemical usually tested in animal studies is pharmaceutical grade sodium
fluoride, not industrial grade fluorosilicic acid. The assumption being
made is that by the time this waste product has been diluted down, all the
fluorosilicic acid will have been converted into free fluoride ion, and the
other toxics and radioactive isotopes will be so dilute that they will not
cause any harm, even with lifetime exposure. These assumptions have not
been examined carefully by scientists, independent of the fluoridation
program.
44) Studies by Masters and Coplan (1999) show an association between the
use of fluorosilicic acid (and its sodium salt) to fluoridate water and an
increased uptake of lead into children's blood.
45) Sodium fluoride is an extremely toxic substance -- just 3 to 5 grams,
or about one teaspoon, is enough to kill a human being. Both children
(swallowing gels) and adults (accidents involving malfunctioning of
fluoride delivery equipment and filters on dialysis machines) have died
from excess exposure.
46) Some of the earliest opponents of fluoridation were biochemists and at
least 14 Nobel Prize winners are among numerous scientists who have
expressed their reservations about the practice of fluoridation (see
appendix 4 for list). Dr. James Sumner, who won the Nobel Prize for his
work on enzyme chemistry, had this to say about fluoridation: "We ought to
go slowly. Everybody knows fluorine and fluoride are very poisonous
substances.We use them in enzyme chemistry to poison enzymes, those vital
agents in the body. That is the reason things are poisoned; because the
enzymes are poisoned and that is why animals and plants die" (Connett,
2000).
Last year's (2000) recipient of the Noble Prize for Medicine and
Physiology, was Dr. Arvid Carlsson of Sweden. Dr. Carlsson was one of the
leading opponents of fluoridation in Sweden. He was part of the panel that
recommended that the Swedish government reject the practice, which they did
in 1971. In her book "The Fluoride Question: Panacea or Poison" Anne-lise
Gotzsche quotes Carlsson as follows: "It is not worthwhile to conceal the
fact that it is a question of applying a pharmacologically active substance
to an entire population" (p.69).
47) The Union representing the scientists at the US EPA headquarters in DC
is on record as opposing water fluoridation (Hirzy, 1999) and rejects the
US EPA's approval of the use of hazardous industrial waste products to
fluoridate the public water supply.
48) Many scientists, doctors and dentists who have spoken out publicly on
this issue have been subjected to censorship and intimidation (Martin
1991). Tactics like this would not be necessary if those promoting
fluoridation were on secure scientific ground.
49) Promoters of fluoridation refuse to recognize that there is any
scientific debate on this issue, despite the concerns listed above and
objective reviews of the controversy (Hileman, 1988). Dr. Michael Easley,
one of the most vocal proponents, goes so far as to say that there is no
legitimate debate, whatsoever, concerning fluoridation. According to
Easley, who works closely with the CDC and ADA, "Debates give the illusion
that a scientific controversy exists when no credible people support the
fluorophobics' view." Easley adds that
"a most flagrant abuse of the public trust occasionally occurs when a
physician or a dentist, for whatever personal reason, uses their
professional standing in the community to argue against fluoridation, a
clear violation of professional ethics, the principles of science and
community standards of practice" (Easley, 1999).
Comments like these led the associate technical director for Consumers
Union, Dr. Edward Groth, to conclude that "the political profluoridation
stance has evolved into a dogmatic, authoritarian, essentially
antiscientific posture, one that discourages open debate of scientific
issues" (Martin, 1991).
50) When it comes to controversies surrounding toxic chemicals, invested
interests traditionally do their very best to discount animal studies and
quibble with epidemiological findings. In the past, political pressures
have led government agencies to drag their feet on regulating asbestos,
benzene, DDT, PCBs, tetraethyl lead, tobacco and dioxins. With fluoridation
we have had a fifty year delay. Unfortunately, because government officials
have put so much of their credibility on the line defending fluoridation,
and because of the huge liabilities waiting in the wings if they admit that
fluoridation has caused an increase in hip fracture, arthritis, bone
cancer, brain disorders or thyroid problems, it will be very difficult for
them to speak honestly and openly about the issue. But they must, not only
to protect millions of people from unnecessary harm, but to protect the
notion that, at its core, public health policy must be based on sound
science not political pressure. They have a tool with which to do this:
it's called the Precautionary Principle. Simply put, this says: if in doubt
leave it out. This is what most European countries have done and their
children's teeth have not suffered, while their public's trust has been
strengthened.
It is like a question from a Kafka play. Just how much doubt is needed on
just one of the health concerns identified above, to override a benefit,
which when quantified in the largest survey ever conducted in the US,
amounts to less than one tooth surface (out of 128) in a child's mouth?
For those who would call for further studies, we say fine. Take the
fluoride out of the water first and then conduct all the studies you want.
This folly must end without further delay.
APPENDIX 1. World Health Organization Data
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