Telemundo Airs Fluoridation TV Series

Fluoride Action Network | January 14, 2016 

Towards the end of December, the Telemundo television network aired a three-part news report on water fluoridation on its Atlanta affiliate station.  This is a major development since Telemundo is the second largest Spanish-language television network and is a trusted news source in the Hispanic community.  The series includes an introduction to the issue, an interview with a CDC statistician who attempts to explain why there are no fluorosis records for the Hispanic population, and advice on taking action.

It’s important to remember that in 2011, the largest national Hispanic civil rights organization, the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) passed a resolution calling for an end to fluoridation.

The broadcasts can be seen on the following links:

• First piece (intro)

• Second piece (interview with CDC Oral Health statistician who says there is no data on Hispanic fluorosis)

• Third piece (about taking action)

The series is the result of the organizing work of Dan Stockin of the Lille Center in Georgia, who provided the following message:

Hispanic Media Awakens to Fluoridegate and Fluoridation Harm

Hi – this is Daniel Stockin of The Lillie Center. As you may know, we’ve worked very hard at The Lillie Center to educate the African American community about disproportionate harm to communities of color from water fluoridation, but we have also done work to reach out to the Latino community. (My wife is Hispanic and I grew up with many Hispanic friends). I wanted to let you know of a really super development that has far-reaching implications. 

I was fortunate to speak with the anchor of Atlanta’s Telemundo news. For those that don’t know, Telemundo is a major news and programming outlet for Hispanics here in the U.S. Now Telemundo Atlanta has produced a three-part series in Spanish that aired recently. (In CDC’s backyard!) I wanted to ask everyone in the anti-fluoridation community to take a moment to check these out. 

Unfortunately we don’t have an English transcript of these pieces yet, but while the story is still new I wanted to ask folks to send the links below to every Hispanic TV station, radio station, newspaper, or website in your area. It’s worth seeing these, even if you don’t speak Spanish. See below for info as to what’s covered. There is a lot here that can be done by other outlets to produce other stories on harm to Hispanics from drinking fluoridated water.

The series is called: Drinking Water or Poison? For the first time, CDC was put on the defensive about fluoridation harm to Latinos, AND an interview happened at CDC! The first piece introduces the issue and features environmental leader Laura Seydel, myself, and Kathy Thiessen. Pieces of the Fluoridegate and Our Daily Dose documentaries are cut in. The second piece has an interview with the CDC Oral Health researcher involved in telling us that 41% of 12-15 year olds have dental fluorosis. I always wondered why the data told us fluorosis info by age group, but not by race. Why would they collect age data but not race data? Why not share race data, unless doing so created a problem? Then we found out that CDC wasn’t keen on sharing that info…and Freedom of Information Act documents let slip that they do know that blacks have way more fluorosis than whites…but why no info shared on fluorosis in Hispanics? The CDC rep here actually says there is no data. And if you believe that, well… you shouldn’t. The third piece tells people how they can take action and how they can contact the Nidel law firm if they have dental fluorosis. The station put up pics of fluorosis on their facebook page. Wahoo! This coverage has been worth all the trips down into Atlanta.

Please forward this everywhere — also to Hispanic city council members, legislators, and U.S. senators and congress reps. And if you’d like to send a thank you to Telemundo, here’s the news division: noticias@telemundoatlanta.com In the subject line you could mention Fluoride or its Spanish version: Fluoruro. Send your email in English – they have people like anchor Lara Carolina Fernandez there who are bilingual. I think she should get an award for courageously breaking this story in the Hispanic media.

Wow, am I glad this is finally out there, for folks to see.

Daniel G. Stockin, MPH

http://www.nextstagescience.org/

__________________________________________

News You May Have Missed

–Goversville Considers Removing Fluoride (New York)
–Paul Connett: No Justification for Fluoride (Vermont)
–Rous Fluoride Plant Failures Prompt Closure Calls (Australia)
–Collier County Citizens Petition to End Water Fluoridation (Florida)
–Durango Commission to Hear Merits of Fluoride in Water (Colorado)
–Healdsburg Fluoride Opponents to Try for Ballot Measure (California)
–Pure Water Inc. Dumping High Levels of Fluoride in Water (Arizona)
–Fluoride Still Used in Cities Despite Reports of Brain Damage (Oklahoma)
–Parsons City Fluoride Program to Cost $190,000 (Kansas)
–Parry Sound: Canvassing Begins to Remove Fluoride (Ontario)
–Union Rep Asks Bellefonte to Cease and Desist Fluoridation (Pennsylvania)

Sincerely,
Stuart Cooper
Campaign Manager
Fluoride Action Network