Fluoridation: How safe is your water?

If you had asked me 6 months ago what I thought about fluoride in my water, I would have told you it was a good thing.  All that fluoride was great for my teeth.  That was the marketing I was exposed to and accepted.  I was told growing up that fluoride prevents tooth decay and is a harmless additive found in toothpaste, rinses, and our water supply.  I actually felt sorry for family members that lived rurally on well water that they weren’t getting added fluoride in their water.  Now that I have researched fluoride I think we may be better off with that well water.  Here is what I discovered.

Fluorides are compounds containing the element fluorine.  Calcium fluoride is naturally found in freshwater, ocean water, tea, sea weed and fish bones.  High concentrations of fluoride are toxic and can cause death.  Fluoride is not an essential nutrient.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration list fluoride as an “unapproved drug”.  Fluoride has never received FDA approval and does not meet the legal requirements of safety and effectiveness necessary for such approval.  The Environmental Protection Agency lists fluoride as a “contaminant”.

Have you checked out your tube of toothpaste:  Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age.  If more toothpaste than is used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.

When we talk about Fluoridation we are talking about adding fluoride to drinking water.

Initial evidence that fluoride would help to prevent tooth decay started with a 1939 study by H. Trendley Dean.  He found that communities with natural fluoride levels of one part per million in their water had fewer cavities.  His study has since been shown to have many flaws in the analysis of his data.

The American Dental Association (ADA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) support water fluoridation.

By 1955 water fluoridation was widespread.  In 2002 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) stated that 66% of the US population is exposed to fluoridated water.

So, if the theory holds true those populations that are exposed to fluoridated water should have less dental decay than those not exposed.  According to the World Health Organization’s own data this is not the case.  Keep in mind the WHO is pro fluoridation.  The WHO analyzed the percentage of all 12 year olds in various countries with decayed, missing, and filled teeth and the status of fluoridation in their drinking water.  Here is some of what they found:

There is no significant tooth decay difference between countries that fluoridate and those that don’t!

The CDC also reported that 22% of American children have dental fluorosis.  Dental fluorosis is a condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine compounds over an extended period of time, and can cause yellowing, white spots and brown spots on teeth.  People with fluoride-damaged teeth wind up with more spots, more decay and fewer teeth.

In 1975 a paper was published by John Yiamouyiannis and Dr. Dean Burk, chief Chemist Emeritus of the National Cancer Institute that detailed an increase in cancer deaths in fluoridated areas.  They found that more than 10,000 Americans were dying from cancer each year as a result of the fluoride in their water (J. Yiamouyiannis, Fluoride, The Aging Factor).

Most soft drinks and some beers are made with fluoridated water and packaged in aluminum cans.  Aluminum is absorbed more completely in the presence of fluoride.  Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.  (J.A. Varner, K.F. Jensen, W. Horvath, and R.L. Isaacson Brain Res, Feb 16, 1998, 784 (1-2): 284-289) (A. Strunecka and J. Patocka Cesk Fysiol, Feb 1999, 48(1): 9-15)

New research is being done that is showing an overexposure to fluoride linked to arthritis, osteoporosis, and kidney damage.

Dr. Charles Gordon Heyd, Past President of the American Medical Association said: “I am appalled at the prospect of using water as a vehicle for drugs. Fluoride is a corrosive poison that will produce serious effects on a long- term basis. Any attempt to use water this way is deplorable.”

OK!  So it is not improving tooth decay, it can be linked to cancer, it may be linked to Alzheimer’s, it may be linked to arthritis, osteoporosis, motor dysfunction, learning disabilities, thyroid malfunction and kidney damage.  Putting it in our water is a bad idea.  Not only does it go against my personal freedom to choose the medications I want to expose myself to, it also doesn’t seem to be doing anyone any good.  Let’s correct this mistake and stop fluoridating our water.