Ban Fluoride! Health, Scientific, Environmental and Legal Professionals Call for an End to Water Fluoridation
July 25, 2007
Water fluoridation involves adding various fluoride chemicals to the public water supply at a concentration of one ppm (1 part per million or 1 milligram per liter), ostensibly to fight tooth decay. One ppm may seem small, but it is actually 250 times greater than the level of fluoride in mother's milk, 0.004 ppm.
Once fluoride is put into the public water supply, the dose cannot be controlled and it goes to "patients" without their consent, thus violating both medical ethics and the individual's human rights. It also goes to subsets of the population that we now know are particularly vulnerable to fluoride's toxic effects -- including the very young, the very old, the infirm, people with poor kidney function and others with poor nutrition.
While strongly supported by the US public health establishment, most countries have rejected this practice, including the vast majority of European nations. They are not willing to force medication on those who do not want it, and they feel that many health concerns have not been resolved (see a list of official statements from various countries on this at fluoridealert.org/govt--statements.htm).
According to World Health Organization (WHO) data available online, dental health for 12 year olds in non-fluoridated countries is as good, if not better, than those countries, which fluoridate.
These observations in countries are duplicated in studies comparing communities within a country. Since the 1980s there has been an ever growing number of research articles and reviews which indicate that there is little difference in tooth decay between communities which are fluoridated and those which are not (Leverett, 1982; Colquhoun, 1984; 1985 and 1987; Diesendorf, 1986; Gray, 1987; Brunelle and Carlos, 1990; Spencer et al. 1996; deLiefde, 1998; Locker, 1999; Armfield and Spencer, 2004 and Pizzo et al., 2007. An alphabetical listing of the full citations can be found at www.fluoridealert.org/health/biblio.html). Any minor difference due to fluoride status is usually dwarfed by the difference in income levels. Poverty is the major factor related to tooth decay, not lack of fluoride.
Government officials endlessly promote fluoridation while steadfastly refusing to publicly debate the issue, or provide the scientific evidence to support their claims.
Professionals' statement:
We, the undersigned, call for an end to water fluoridation.
SEVEN recent events make action to end this practice urgent.
1. The publication in 2006 of a 500--page review of all relevant health effects and exposure information on fluoride by a distinguished panel appointed by the National Research Council (the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences).
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested this review to determine if a new drinking water standard is required. Contrary to news media coverage, the NRC report went far beyond concluding that the current EPA standard of 4 ppm (i.e. the maximum contaminant level goal) is unsafe and should be lowered.
The panel identified many important research studies in which animals or humans drinking water close to, at, or even lower than 1 ppm, showed numerous systemic adverse health effects. These included: bone fractures, decreased thyroid function, impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes), brain cell damage, lowered IQ in children, kidney damage, arthritic-like conditions, symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
Considering the substantial variation in individual water intake, and the wide range of human sensitivity to any toxic substance, fluoridation at 1 ppm provides no margin of safety to protect against these adverse health effects.
2. The publication in 2004 of the book "The Fluoride Deception" by award-winning investigative reporter Christopher Bryson.
This meticulously researched book documents that industrial interests, concerned about liabilities from fluoride pollution and fluoride's heath effects on workers, played a significant role in the early promotion of fluoridation in the 1950's. Bryson also details the brutal suppression of scientists who have challenged the establishment on the safety of this practice. A videotaped interview with Bryson can be accessed on Google video.
3. The evidence provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2005 that 32% of American children have dental fluorosis -- an abnormal discoloration and mottling of the enamel -- caused by fluoride exposure.
Clearly, our children are now being overdosed with fluoride -- from water, swallowed toothpaste, foods and beverages processed with fluoridated water, and other sources. Fluoridated water is the easiest source to eliminate.
4. The American Dental Association's distribution, on November 9, 2006, of an Advisory to its membership recommending that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula due to the elevated risk of dental fluorosis.
This admission by the ADA that fluoridated water is not appropriate for infants is reason alone for fluoridation to be immediately halted.
5. The concession by the CDC in 1999, and again in 2001, that the predominant benefit of fluoride in reducing tooth decay is TOPICAL and not SYSTEMIC.
To the extent fluoride works to reduce or prevent tooth decay, it works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside the body. It makes no sense to drink it and expose the rest of the body to the long-term risks of fluoride ingestion when fluoridated toothpaste is so readily available.
6. The publication in May 2006 of a peer-reviewed, case-controlled study from Harvard University which showed a 5-7 fold increase in osteosarcoma (a frequently fatal bone cancer) in young men associated with exposure to fluoridated water during their 6th, 7th and 8th years (Bassin et al., Cancer Causes and Control, 2006).
This study was surrounded by scandal as Elise Bassin's PhD thesis adviser, Professor Chester Douglass, was accused by the watchdog Environmental Working Group of attempting to suppress these findings for several years. See video at FluorideAction.net
7. The admission by federal agencies, in response to questions from a Congressional subcommittee in 1999-2000, that the industrial grade waste products used to fluoridate over 90% of America's drinking water supplies (fluorosilicate compounds) have never been subjected to toxicological testing or FDA approved for human ingestion.
See: keepersofthewell.org
To bring an end to fluoridation:
We call upon Members of Congress to sponsor and/or support a new Congressional Hearing on Water Fluoridation so that those in government agencies who continue to support the procedure, particularly the Oral Health Division of the CDC, will be compelled to provide the scientific basis for their ongoing, aggressive promotion of fluoridation with millions of taxpayer dollars. They must be cross-examined under oath if the public is ever to fully learn the truth about this unnecessary and harmful practice.
We call upon local elected officials in fluoridated communities to exercise due diligence in this matter and read the basic scientific literature themselves. It is not enough to blindly accept assurances from biased agencies whose reputations depend on maintaining the status quo and whose employees are required to promote fluoridation. If you are not confident about claims that fluoridation is safe and effective, you should not be forcing this practice on those who don't want it and may be harmed by it.
We call upon members of the media to do a professional job investigating this issue. Do not assume that the opposition's arguments are invalid because of the reams of endorsements that promoters use to put your intelligence on hold. It is irresponsible to just quote the Dr. Strangelove film and a few sentences from each side. If author Christopher Bryson can spend 10 years researching this issue, surely other investigative journalists can spend more than 10 minutes sorting out fact from fiction in this matter.
We call upon State health agencies, at the very least, to use their health networks to thoroughly publicize, at all levels, the ADA recommendation that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula.
We call upon medical and dental professionals to get up-to-date on this issue. Professionals should use their own high level education to look beyond the outdated blanket endorsements from promoting agencies. Specifically, we call upon them to review the NRC (2006) report and the other literature cited in the introduction above.
We call upon members of environmental and other activist groups to get involved. In addition to health concerns, fluoridation is "pollution by dilution" of the ecosystems with tons of industrial waste products each year. This problem is one that's easy to end -- once we have the political will -- by just turning off the taps. Getting that political will can be greatly accelerated by your organization educating its membership as to the newer developments identified above and by joining in the movement to end fluoridation.
Despite 60 years of fluoridation, tooth decay remains rampant in many long-fluoridated areas of the US. The untold millions of dollars that are now spent on equipment, chemicals, monitoring, and promotion of fluoridation could be much better invested on nutrition education and targeted dental care for children from low income families who are known to suffer the greatest amount of tooth decay. The vast majority of other countries have done this. It is time for the US to recognize that the fluoridation program has failed to deliver its promise, poses unnecessary risks, and violates freedom of choice and medical ethics. Fluoridation must be ended now.
Partial List of Hundreds of Signatories
Kenji Akiniwa, DDS, Akiniwa Dental Clinic, Editor, The Journal of the Japanese Society for Fluoride Research, Tokyo, Japan
Douglas A. Balog, BS, MS, JD, Author of Law Review article on the illegality of artificial fluoridation, Palm Bay, Florida.
David S. Banks, DDS, dental practitioner for 35 years, Member International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, San Marcos, CA
James Beck, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Medical Biophysics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Rosalie Bertell, PhD, Retired President, International Institute of Concern for Public Health, Toronto, Canada. Regent of the Board, International Physicians for Humanitarian Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
Steve Breyman, PhD, Executive Director, Citizens' Environmental Coalition, Albany, NY and Director, Ecological Economics, Values & Policy Program, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Christopher Bryson, author of "The Fluoride Deception", Seven Stories Press, 2004, paperback, 2006, NY, NY
Ernesto Burgio, Pediatrician, Vice President, Scientific Committee ISDE (International Society of Doctors for Environment), Palermo, Italy
Albert W. Burgstahler, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Co-author with George L. Waldbott, MD, and H. Lewis McKinney, PhD, of "Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma" (Coronado Press, 1978) and editor since 1998 of the international quarterly journal Fluoride, published by the International Society for Fluoride Research (www.fluorideresearch.org).
Neil J. Carman, PhD. Clean air program director, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, Austin, TX
Robert J. Carton, PhD, former Chief of Environmental Compliance, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD and former president of EPA professionals' union.
Arthur Chiu, PhD, MD, Chair, Health and Safety Committee, NTEU Local Chapter 280, Pathologist/Toxicologist/National Center Environmental Assessment, Office Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency (identification purposes only), Washington, DC
Ellen Connett, formerly Editor of Waste Not (1986-2000), and currently Pesticides Project director for the Fluoride Action Network, Canton, NY
Paul Connett, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University and Executive Director of the Fluoride Action Network, Canton, NY
Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC
Pat Costner, Science Advisor, GAIA, Science Advisor, IPEN, retired Senior Scientist, Greenpeace International
Elizabeth Cullen, MB, BCh, BAOM Sc. Diploma in Pollution Control, Secretary of the Irish Doctors' Environmental Association, Ireland
Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association
David T. Doi, DDS. In private practice since 1979, Past President of Hawaii County Dental Society, Member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology, the Holistic Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Dental Association, HI
Samuel S. Epstein, MD, Professor emeritus, Environmental & Occupational Medicine University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition, Chicago, Illinois
Richard D. Fischer, DDS, FAGD, MIAOMT, past president, International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology
Bill Glaros, DDS, Member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, Houston, TX
Barry Groves, PhD (nutritional science), Independent researcher, Author of "Fluoride: Drinking Ourselves to Death?", England
J. William Hirzy, PhD, Vice-President, EPA Headquarters Professionals Union (NTEU Chapter 280), risk assessment expert and (for identification purposes only) ranking chemist at EPA headquarters, Washington, DC
Robert L. Isaacson, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride.
Hardy Limeback, PhD, DDS, Assoc. Professor and Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto, past president of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, and Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride.
Lynn Margulis, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Geosciences, UMASS Amherst, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a 1999 recipient of the National Medal of Science, Amherst, MA
Bruce Spittle, MB, ChB, DPM, FRANZCP, Managing Editor of Fluoride, Quarterly Journal of the International Society for Fluoride Research, Dunedin, New Zealand
Craig E. Williams, Director: Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Director: Chemical Weapons Working Group, Recipient: 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize, KY
For more information contact:
