Thursday, December 4, 2014

Fluoride Update

Did somebody mention Fluoride?

Fluoride Update

How could fluoridation end in 2015 – let me count the ways.
By Paul Connett, PhD, Director of the Fluoride Action Network

1. The Peel (Ontario, Canada) lawsuit.
This case, being brought by citizens in the Peel district of Ontario, and being fought by one of Canada’s most prestigious law firms (Ruby Shiller Chan Hasan), has perhaps the best chance of any lawsuit to end fluoridation. Under the Canadian constitution the government does not have the right to force medication on it is citizens. Unlike theU.S.,local authorities do not have the “police powers”(see note 1 below) to override constitutional provisions. This lawsuit could end fluoridation in two ways.

A)   If the case is won it would end fluoridation herewith. However, even if

B)   the case makes it into court it would ring the death knell around the country.

Why? In the latter situation the proponents will have to have their expert witnesses cross-examined under oath. When this happens the “authority” of local Medical Officers of Health (MOH), which currently bedazzles local councils, will melt away. Currently these MOH are forced to do the bidding of Health Canada with little independent thought or analysis. Under cross-examination it will become abundantly clear that they simply do not have the science to back either their claims for safety or effectiveness. Once the assumed “authority” of these experts is exposed for what it is then local councils will be forced to review the science and arguments of opponents of fluoridation on their merits and not simply dismiss them out of hand.

Needless to say if fluoridation ends in Canada it will have a huge impact on the US and other English speaking countries.
2. If the FDA is forced to take responsibility for regulating fluoride for ingestion.
After nearly 70 years of fluoridation, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never done this. Were it to do so it would spell the end of fluoridation, because again under a scientific spotlight no justification could be given for swallowing fluoride. There is no evidence that there is any known biochemical process that needs fluoride, but there is plenty of evidence that many biochemical processes are harmed by it. Moreover, a carefully administered randomized control trial (RCT) using bottled water with and without fluoride should be undertaken. An RCT is by far the best way to quantitatively determine the size of the benefit ascribed to fluoridation. Right now, with more and more evidence indicating harmful effects at doses within the range of common exposure in fluoridated countries the 'claimed' benefit could neither justify the risks being taken nor justify forcing it on people without their informed consent.


3. If the EPA Office of Water were to do an honest health risk assessment for fluoride in water using the latest scientific evidence of harm.

While the FDA has jurisdiction over the administration of drugs (whether delivered as ADDITTIVES to the water supply or in tablet form) the EPA does not. However, the EPA does have jurisdiction over the regulation of CONTAMINANTS in the water supply. For these, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA must determine safe drinking water goals (MCLG or maximum contaminant level goal) and standards (MCL or maximum contaminant level). Since 1986, the EPA has set both the MCLG and MCL at the ridiculously high level for fluoride at 4 ppm. This was based on the use of crippling skeletal fluorosis as the most sensitive end point (clearly politically motivated since crippling skeletal fluorosis is the last stage of this disease not the first, which has symptoms almost identical to arthritis).

In 2006, the National Research Council of the National Academies (NRC) review panel (hired by the US EPA to re-examine these standards), concluded that the 4 ppm goal and standard for fluoride were not protective of health and recommended that the EPA perform a new risk assessment to determine a new MCLG and MCL. After 8 years the EPA has not finalized a new goal or standard.
In 2011, prompted by the fact that dental fluorosis rates (an indicator of over-exposure to fluoride) were reaching epidemic proportions, the EPA and the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) held a joint press conference indicating two things,

a) the HHS was recommending that the so-called optimal level of fluoride to reduce tooth decay (without causing too much dental fluorosis) should be lowered from the range of 0.7 to 1.2 ppm to a single value of 0.7 ppm, and

b) the EPA announced that it had started its determination of a new MCLG which it was going to base on severe dental fluorosis as the most sensitive end point of fluoride’s toxicity. They also announced that they wanted to protect children’s teeth (i.e. protect the fluoridation program), even though that it is illegitimate under the Safe Water Drinking Act (SDWA).  The EPA is required to determine a SAFE level for fluoride under the SWDA,and that determination should not be compromised by any other issues.

This is where the honesty comes in. In the EPA’s announcement there was no mention of fluoride’s neurotoxicity, including the many studies that have found a lowering of children’s IQ at fairly modest exposure levels. If the EPA were to examine these studies they would find that many of the children who had their IQ lowered had less than severe dental fluorosis (either moderate or mild). Thus they cannot legitimately claim that severe dental fluorosis is the most sensitive endpoint of fluoride’s toxicity, but rather fluoride’s ability to lower IQ.

Thus if a way could be found to “force” the EPA,

a) to acknowledge these IQ studies;

b) study the full body of literature on fluoride’s neurotoxicity (see www.FluorideAlert.org/issues/healht/brainhttp://fluoridealert.org/issues/health/brain/ );

c) determine the lowest observable adverse level, or LOAEL, and thence

d) the no observable adverse effect level, or NOAEL, and thence

e) the safe reference level to protect the whole population (RfD) and thence

f) the MCLG (safe drinking water goal), and

g) finally the MCL (safe drinking water standard), which takes into account the economic costs of removing naturally occurring fluoride, it would force an end to fluoridation. For while the MCL might be set above 1 ppm, the MCLG could not be set higher than 0.1 ppm and more likely at zero –see the discussion below.

The lowest level at which IQ has been lowered (with borderline iodine deficiency) was at 0.88 ppm (Lin et al., 1991) or at 1.26 ppm (without iodine as a complicating factor).  It is very clear that there is no margin of safety to protect all children drinking water in the range 0.7 to 1.2 ppm, and given current exposures from other sources (dental products and pesticides) the MCLG should be set at zero. Because, as far as lowering IQ is concerned our children are already consuming too much fluoride from other sources and thus they should not be exposed to any additional fluoride in drinking water. Of especial concern is protecting children from low-income families (whose IQ has a greater potential to be compromised)who are bottle-fed with formula made up with fluoridated tap water.

This scenario is the kind of thing that would happen in a world in which public health policy was determined by the rational application of science. Sadly, fluoridation is a practice where politics constantly overrules science, so while we can hope that someone (Congress?) will force the EPA to do an honest job, we can’t bank on it.

However, this is not rocket science. We desperately need to find journalists to pursue and expose this issue. Meanwhile, we have to continue to work on at least two other fronts.

A) To reach individuals one open mind at a time and

B) Communities one community at a time.

We must continue to seek two tipping points:

5 comments:

  1. Hopefully Templeton will soon join the list of communities that stop poisoning its residents. How do I know that it is poison? Watch this short video. PoisonWater When you spend some time on learning about water fluoridation it becomes quite upsetting.

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    1. Years ago apple growers used arsenic of lead in a spray on apples. Little did they know once arsenic and lead was in the ground, it never leaves. They did this because they did not understand the results of their actions, but when the evidence showed it was wrong, they stopped. So why doesn't our Water Department stop adding fluoride to the town's drinking water ?? It is a poison, that is a fact !! Is it so they do not have to acknowledge Julie and Pete have been right all of these years ?? That fact sounds just about right to me. The decent thing would be to at least put a notice on the water bills so new people to the community are aware that their water is treated. I also think to make a big issue of fluoride in tooth paste and other products would cost the many companies a fortune to change the way they process their product, and that would hurt their bottom line. Can't do that, naturally. It will come out in the wash, but I just hope too many people are not hurt in the meantime. Bev

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  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ys9q1cvKGk

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  3. If your a parent you owe it to the children to take out 5 minutes to view the video and do some research about this poison.
    follow the links above and get a real education on it.

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  4. 1 out of 3 children now have signs of Dental Fluorosis. 33% Wake up and drink the cool aid or do something to help your kids.
    If their teeth are falling apart what about the rest of them. Will you believe the person that says if it weren't for fluoride in the water all the kids teeth would be full of cavities. 5 minutes should do it just watch and listen for the sake of your children. If you don't they could hold it against you for ignoring the facts.

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