10 Facts about Fluoride

10 Facts about Fluoride
Fluoride Action Network | December 2006

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1) 97% of western Europe has chosen fluoride-free water. This includes: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland. (While some European countries add fluoride to salt, the majority do not.) Thus, rather than mandating fluoride treatment for the whole population, western Europe allows individuals the right to choose, or refuse, fluoride.

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2) Fluoride is the only chemical added to drinking water for the purpose of medication (to prevent tooth decay). All other treatment chemicals are added to treat the water (to improve the water's quality and safety - which fluoride does not do). This is one of the reasons why most of Europe has rejected fluoridation. For instance:

In Germany, "The argumentation of the Federal Ministry of Health against a general permission of fluoridation of drinking water is the problematic nature of compulsion medication."

In Belgium, it is "the fundamental position of the drinking water sector that it is not its task to deliver medicinal treatment to people. This is the sole responsibility of health services."

In Luxembourg, "In our views, drinking water isn't the suitable way for medicinal treatment and that people needing an addition of fluoride can decide by their own to use the most appropriate way."

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3) Contrary to previous belief, fluoride has minimal benefit when swallowed. When water fluoridation began in the 1940s and '50s, dentists believed that fluoride needed to be swallowed in order to be most effective. This belief, however, has now been discredited by an extensive body of modern research (1).

According to the Centers for Disease Control, fluoride's "predominant effect is posteruptive and topical" (2). In other words, any benefits that accrue from the use of fluoride, come from the direct application of fluoride to the outside of teeth (after they have erupted into the mouth) and not from ingestion. There is no need, therefore, to expose all other tissues to fluoride by swallowing it.

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4) Fluoridated water is no longer recommended for babies. In November of 2006, the American Dental Association (ADA) advised that parents should avoid giving babies fluoridated water (3). Other dental researchers have made similar recommendations over the past decade (4).

Babies exposed to fluoride are at high risk of developing dental fluorosis - a permanent tooth defect caused by fluoride damaging the cells which form the teeth (5). Other tissues in the body may also be affected by early-life exposures to fluoride. According to a recent review published in the medical journal The Lancet, fluoride may damage the developing brain, causing learning deficits and other problems (6).

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5)There are better ways of delivering fluoride than adding it to water. By adding fluoride to everyone's tap water, many infants and other at-risk populations will be put in harm's way. This is not only wrong, it is unnecessary. As western Europe has demonstrated, there are many equally effective and less-intrusive ways of delivering fluoride to people who actually want it. For example:

A) Topical fluoride products such as toothpaste and mouthrinses (which come with explicit instructions not to swallow) are readily available at all grocery stores and pharmacies. Thus, for those individuals who wish to use fluoride, it is very easy to find and very inexpensive to buy.

B) If there is concern that some people in the community cannot afford to purchase fluoride toothpaste (a family-size tube of toothpaste costs as little as $2 to $3), the money saved by not fluoridating the water can be spent subsidizing topical fluoride products (or non-fluoride alternatives) for those families in need.

C) The vast majority of fluoride added to water supplies is wasted, since over 99% of tap water is not actually consumed by a human being. It is used instead to wash cars, water the lawn, wash dishes, flush toilets, etc.

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6) Ingestion of fluoride has little benefit, but many risks. Whereas fluoride's benefits come from topical contact with teeth, its risks to health (which involve many more tissues than the teeth) result from being swallowed.

Adverse effects from fluoride ingestion have been associated with doses atttainable by people living in fluoridated areas. For example:

a) Risk to the brain. According to the National Research Council (NRC), fluoride can damage the brain. Animal studies conducted in the 1990s by EPA scientists found dementia-like effects at the same concentration (1 ppm) used to fluoridate water, while human studies have found adverse effects on IQ at levels as low as 0.9 ppm among children with nutrient deficiencies, and 1.8 ppm among children with adequate nutrient intake. (7-10)

b) Risk to the thyroid gland. According to the NRC, fluoride is an “endocrine disrupter.” Most notably, the NRC has warned that doses of fluoride (0.01-0.03 mg/kg/day) achievable by drinking fluoridated water, may reduce the function of the thyroid among individuals with low-iodine intake. Reduction of thyroid activity can lead to loss of mental acuity, depression and weight gain (11)

c) Risk to bones. According to the NRC, fluoride can diminish bone strength and increase the risk for bone fracture. While the NRC was unable to determine what level of fluoride is safe for bones, it noted that the best available information suggests that fracture risk may be increased at levels as low 1.5 ppm, which is only slightly higher than the concentration (0.7-1.2 ppm) added to water for fluoridation. (12)

d) Risk for bone cancer. Animal and human studies – including a recent study from a team of Harvard scientists – have found a connection between fluoride and a serious form of bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in males under the age of 20. The connection between fluoride and osteosarcoma has been described by the National Toxicology Program as "biologically plausible." Up to half of adolescents who develop osteosarcoma die within a few years of diagnosis. (13-16)

e) Risk to kidney patients. People with kidney disease have a heightened susceptibility to fluoride toxicity. The heightened risk stems from an impaired ability to excrete fluoride from the body. As a result, toxic levels of fluoride can accumulate in the bones, intensify the toxicity of aluminum build-up, and cause or exacerbate a painful bone disease known as renal osteodystrophy. (17-19)

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7) The industrial chemicals used to fluoridate water may present unique health risks not found with naturally-occurring fluoride complexes . The chemicals - fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride, and sodium fluoride - used to fluoridate drinking water are industrial waste products from the phosphate fertilizer industry. Of these chemicals, fluorosilicic acid (FSA) is the most widely used. FSA is a corrosive acid which has been linked to higher blood lead levels in children. A recent study from the University of North Carolina found that FSA can - in combination with chlorinated compounds - leach lead from brass joints in water pipes, while a recent study from the University of Maryland suggests that the effect of fluoridation chemicals on blood lead levels may be greatest in houses built prior to 1946. Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children. (20-23)

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8) Water fluoridation’s benefits to teeth have been exaggerated. Even proponents of water fluoridation admit that it is not as effective as it was once claimed to be. While proponents still believe in its effectiveness, a growing number of studies strongly question this assessment. (24-46) According to a systematic review published by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, "The magnitude of [fluoridation's] effect is not large in absolute terms, is often not statistically significant and may not be of clinical significance." (36)

a) No difference exists in tooth decay between fluoridated & unfluoridated countries. While water fluoridation is often credited with causing the reduction in tooth decay that has occurred in the US over the past 50 years, the same reductions in tooth decay have occurred in all western countries, most of which have never added fluoride to their water. The vast majority of western Europe has rejected water fluoridation. Yet, according to comprehensive data from the World Health Organization, their tooth decay rates are just as low, and, in fact, often lower than the tooth decay rates in the US. (25, 35, 44)

b) Cavities do not increase when fluoridation stops. In contrast to earlier findings, five studies published since 2000 have reported no increase in tooth decay in communities which have ended fluoridation. (37-41)

c) Fluoridation does not prevent oral health crises in low-income areas. While some allege that fluoridation is especially effective for low-income communities, there is very little evidence to support this claim. According to a recent systematic review from the British government, "The evidence about [fluoridation] reducing inequalities in dental health was of poor quality, contradictory and unreliable." (45) In the United States, severe dental crises are occurring in low-income areas irrespective of whether the community has fluoride added to its water supply. (46) In addition, several studies have confirmed that the incidence of severe tooth decay in children (“baby bottle tooth decay”) is not significantly different in fluoridated vs unfluoridated areas. (27,32,42) Thus, despite some emotionally-based claims to the contrary, water fluoridation does not prevent the oral health problems related to poverty and lack of dental-care access.

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9) Fluoridation poses added burden and risk to low-income communities. Rather than being particularly beneficial to low-income communities, fluoridation is particularly burdensome and harmful. For example:

a) Low-income families are least able to avoid fluoridated water. Due to the high costs of buying bottled water or expensive water filters, low-income households will be least able to avoid fluoride once it's added to the water. As a result, low-income families will be least capable of following ADA’s recommendation that infants should not receive fluoridated water. This may explain why African American children have been found to suffer the highest rates of disfiguring dental fluorosis in the US. (47)

b) Low-income families at greater risk of fluoride toxicity. In addition, it is now well established that individuals with inadequate nutrient intake have a significantly increased susceptibility to fluoride’s toxic effects. (48-51) Since nutrient deficiencies are most common in income communities, and since diseases known to increase susceptibility to fluoride are most prevalent in low-income areas (e.g. end-stage renal failure), it is likely that low-income communities will be at greatest risk from suffering adverse effects associated with fluoride exposure. According to Dr. Kathleen Thiessen, a member of the National Research Council's review of fluoride toxicity: “I would expect low-income communities to be more vulnerable to at least some of the effects of drinking fluoridated water." (51)

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10) Due to other sources, many people are being over-exposed to fluoride . Unlike when water fluoridation first began, Americans are now receiving fluoride from many other sources* besides the water supply. As a result many people are now exceeding the recommended daily intake, putting them at elevated risk of suffering toxic effects. For example, many children ingest more fluoride from toothpaste alone than is considered “optimal” for a full day’s worth of ingestion. According to the Journal of Public Health Dentistry:

"Virtually all authors have noted that some children could ingest more fluoride from [toothpaste] alone than is recommended as a total daily fluoride ingestion." (52)

Because of the increase in fluoride exposure from all sources combined, the rate of dental fluorosis (a visible indicator of over-exposure to fluoride during childhood) has increased significantly over the past 50 years. Whereas dental fluorosis used to impact less than 10% of children in the 1940s, the latest national survey found that it now affects over 30% of children. (47, 53)

* Sources of fluoride include: fluoride dental products, fluoride pesticides, fluorinated pharmaceuticals, processed foods made with fluoridated water, and tea.

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References

To access the references, click here

More bad news about your tap water

Need more reasons to stay away from tap water? Try this on for size: It may contain artificial sweeteners.

That fact alone is bad enough -- but how they get there is enough to make you swear off water for good.

You see, people eat and drink foods loaded with this garbage. And as the saying goes: Garbage in, garbage out.

Sewage treatment plants are supposed to clean up that waste, but a new kind of water analysis shows that artificial sweeteners like aspartame can remain. And if you happen to live downstream from the plant, then you could end up drinking the stuff straight from your tap.

Aspartame is bad enough on its own, but an artificial sweetener that's made its way through someone else's body before entering yours -- well, I don't think I need to add anything to that.

But whether you're funneling it straight from a Diet Coke can, or whether it's in the form of poorly filtered tap water, aspartame is bad news. This artificial sweetener has been linked to cancer and neurological disease and is responsible for more FDA complaints than any other additive.

Forget regulating it. The only acceptable solution is an outright ban.

Now, this analysis was carried out in Germany, but don't assume for a moment that it's the only place with this problem -- or that artificial sweeteners are the only dangerous substances in the water supply.

There are plenty of other pollutants -- the difference is that much of the other stuff is actually put there on purpose. I've been telling you for years about the contaminants and pollutants that Big Government's mad scientists intentionally dump into U.S. water supply -- things like fluoride and chlorine.

The fluoride they dump into the supply is an industrial-grade waste product, but you never hear them talk about that. What you DO hear are the idiots telling people they need to swallow glass after glass of this stuff.

My favorite is the "eight glasses a day". I can't say the same about aspartame, fluoride, or chlorine in the unfiltered tap water.

And yet most people just go on assuming their water is safe to drink -- when it reality, you shouldn't even be showering in it. Get a shower filter because it will absorb through your skin..

Most people, that is, except for those of you who've been listening to me. Count yourself among the lucky few -- and then go warn your neighbors.

Acupuncture Today September, 2009, Vol. 10, Issue 09

Treating Modern Nutritional Deficiencies

By Marlene Merritt, LAc

One of the great things about traditional Chinese medicine is that it has been developed, over a long period of time, to address a prodigious number of health problems, many of which still exist today. Unfortunately, one of its shortcomings is that it is not well versed in the challenges of dealing with modern diseases and complaints. What could be that much different, you ask? Let's take a look.

The average person, during the early development of traditional Chinese medicine, existed almost primarily in an agricultural society, which meant that they spent a lot of time outdoors, doing physical labor. They woke up when the sun came up, and stopped working when it went down. They ate according to the seasons, and they ate meat (including organ meats), more vegetables and unrefined grains. The general population had to contend with starvation if the crops didn't grow or there was civil unrest.

The average modern American, on the other hand, does none of those things. Additionally, even if the average person ate only organic vegetables, never mind conventional vegetables, the topsoil in which the vegetables are grown is enormously depleted. So much so that conventional farm crops are completely dependent on the chemical fertilizers they are fed in order to grow. A Rutgers University study showed that it now takes 19 ears of corn to equal the nutritional value of one ear of corn grown in 1940, just as one example. Add in the easy access to processed foods, specialized foods year-round, along with sedentary jobs and the lack of exercise, and we have a population that is malnourished but overfed, lives longer but has more health concerns, and has made great strides in defeating some diseases but is losing the battle with many others, ranging from cavities to cancer.

As you've probably noticed, there are some modern diseases that weren't in our textbooks - problems like hypoglycemia, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, hormones in foods causing hormone imbalances, thyroid disorders and different forms of cancers. It's not enough to treat patients as if they are metabolically the same as a Chinese person from generations ago. We have nutritional problems now that are dwarfing our abilities to impact our patients' health.

Have you heard of the severe deficiency of vitamin D? It is so severe that rickets is starting to appear again in children. Vitamin D doesn't just build bone health, but is also completely vital for immune function to prevent autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases and cancer. Best found within sunshine and cod liver oil, there are direct links between the latitude in which people live (and therefore, how much sun to which they are exposed) and the autoimmune conditions of multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diabetes and Crohn's. In our office, we routinely run a vitamin D blood test (25-hydroxycalciferol), and only one person has ever had sufficient amounts present in their blood. All the rest of our patients and staff failed. Between 10 and 20 minutes in the sun is enough to make adequate amounts of vitamin D, but we are either slathered in sunscreen or indoors all day. Furthermore, if it's the middle of winter, it's even worse.

Or what about vitamin B? Its highest concentrations are found in liver and in whole, unrefined grains, and is routinely deficient in anyone who eats any refined grains, which is basically everyone we see. It is required in all steps for converting energy in the cell, so when it is deficient, we're tired, have less brain function and suffer from more depression and anxiety. It is responsible for nerve regeneration. Deficiencies cause "frayed nerves" or poor resistance to stress. It breaks down homocysteine, which helps prevent heart inflammation and heart attacks. And yet, so many people are deficient. Chinese herbs alone will not provide enough nutrition to restore their health.

Today's food is irradiated, pasteurized, homogenized, bleached, colored, flavored, preserved with chemicals and processed to remove nutrients that would cause it to spoil quickly. Our water has aluminum, chlorine and fluoride added intentionally, in addition to petrochemical and pharmaceutical (antibiotic and hormone) contamination. Our meats are treated with hormones, growth factors and antibiotics. Livestock are fed unnatural foods like corn on feedlots until they have chronic diseases like fatty livers and stomach ulcers. Then, unlike traditional ways of eating, we ingest only the muscle meat and leave the rest behind. The two groups of food that are the most nutritionally dense are organ meats and vegetables. How many of either of these are you or your patients eating?

So how do we treat modern nutritional deficiencies? In two ways. One is to teach patients how to choose and prepare nutritious foods. This includes educating them in the difference between organic and conventional produce. For example, organic tomatoes are 12 times higher in magnesium, 68 times higher in manganese and almost 2,000 times higher in iron than traditional tomatoes. Organic lettuce is five times higher in calcium, 50 times higher in iron and 170 times higher in manganese. Patients also need to be educated as to why it's important to eat meat that is natural, free-range and free from hormones. It may be more expensive, but your patients are otherwise paying the difference with their health, in the form of antibiotic resistance, nutritional deficiencies and hormone imbalances.

The other way is to support patients with nutritional concentrates that allow them to "catch up." If their bodies are severely deficient in many nutrients, they can't digest the huge quantities of nutritious foods they would need to restore their health. It's not enough to give isolated, synthetic vitamins because then we are essentially doing the same type of treatments as in Western medicine by treating the symptoms and not the root cause. Instead, by using nutritional concentrates made from whole foods, we're utilizing all the known and unknown elements of foods, along with the synthesis that occurs with those ingredients. Just like with herbal medicine. Instead, by adding natural nutrition to their diet, using whole foods and food concentrates, your patients will not just feel better, but will appreciate your attention to their whole health.

Reference
Tavera-Mendoza L, White J. Cell defenses and the sunshine vitamin. Scientific American, November 2007.

Fluoride: Is your thyroid working?

A half hour documentary on fluoride.

Then check out the website www.fluoridealert.org

Fluorine and Bromine and Chlorine along with Iodine are in the family of halogens in the periodic teble of the elements.

These halogens compete for the same spots in your thyroid!

How did they get into your body?

Fluoride does make calcium harder--when it's not in a living organism. Bromine substituted iodine from bakeries in the 60s because "the man" was concerned with too much iodine in the diet. Chlorine is in the water and in swimming pools to fight bacteria.