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UK Against Fluoridation

Friday, March 31, 2006

Portsmouth PCT's cautious request

Prompt letter issued by PCT. Well done everybody even to get them to have doubt is a miracle.

31st March 2006
Jonathan Montgomery
Chair
Hampshire & Isle of Wight SHA
Oakley Road
Southampton
SO16 4GX

Dear Jonathan,

RE Strategic Health Authority (SHA) request to Portsmouth City Teaching PCT that we consider inviting the SHA to undertake a feasibility study and public consultation in fluoridating the Portsmouth water

We discussed this issue at our board meeting on Wednesday 29th March 2006, and in a free vote agreed 7 to 5 in favour of formally asking the Strategic Health Authority to undertake a feasibility study and public consultation subject to certain conditions being met. Principally before we go ahead and ask you to undertake this activity we need to know how much the feasibility study and consultation will cost, it would also be useful to have a clear picture of exactly what will be involved in the feasibility study and what form the public consultation will take. It would be normal practice to understand the scope and cost of such a project before agreeing to it. So in short the board has given conditional approval to the feasibility and consultation subjected to a costed plan being approved by the board.

I thought it might be helpful if I put this decision into context. We received 11 often long and detailed letters from the public prior to our board meeting on this issue, we had 45 to 50 people attend our board meeting, this gives an indication of the depth of public feeling. Whilst as a board we were not being asked to consider if adding fluoride to the water is a good or a bad thing, it was very clear to us it is a very continuous activity to undertake. When asked out of curiosity for a show of hands from the public on whether they would support the board in us asking the SHA to undertake the feasibility study and consultation exercise, only five members of the public indicated they would, leaving over 40 clearly unhappy with our subsequent board decision.

In the interests of both continued public engagement and sensible use of public funds we as a board need to be clear that undertaking this feasibility and consultation exercise is going to be a sensible activity. With the very challenging financial situation in the NHS, the growing need for statutory consultations on a range of issues, the difficulty in genuinely assessing the conflicting fluoride evidence and the moral issue about enforcing people to ingest an added substance in their water for the benefit of others, we do need to be sure that the cost of the feasibility study and public consultation is going to be able to stand up to public scrutiny and will add some real value.
I hope this does help to put the board perspective into context. I look forward to your rely containing a costed feasibility and consultation plan and will ensure that we make time to take your response at our first available public board meeting so as not to cause significant delay.

With best wishes
Zenna Atkins
Chair
zenna.atkins@ports.nhs.uk

Thursday, March 30, 2006

‘Most people should minimize their fluoride intake’

Blue-Ribbon Scientific Panel Exposes Fluoridation’s Serious Health Risks
Fluoride jeopardizes health - even at low levels deliberately added to public water supplies – according to a recent National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) National Research Council (NRC) report. Fluoride poses risks to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others and can severely damage children’s teeth.
(1) Two panel members advise avoiding fluoridated water, according to an Oregon newspaper.
(2)An Oregon newspaper reports, “NAS panel member Kathy Thiessen, a former senior scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who has studied fluoride for the EPA, said the report showed ‘the potential is there’ that water fluoridation is unhealthy. As for the studies finding that higher levels damage children’s IQ, she said it’s possible water fluoridation levels may have a similar, albeit reduced effect… the research suggests ‘most people should minimize their fluoride intake’ — which includes avoiding fluoridated water.” “NAS panel member Robert Isaacson, a distinguished professor of neurobehavioral science at the State University of New York in Binghamton, agreed, saying that the possible effects on endocrines and hormones from water-fluoridation are ‘something that I wouldn’t want to happen to me…,’” reports the Portland Tribune. The 12-member NRC fluoride committee unanimously decided that fluoride’s 4 milligrams per liter (4 mg/L) maximum-contaminant-level must be lowered.
Adults consuming 8 milligrams fluoride daily, via two liters of 4mg/L fluoridated water, risk weakened bones, fractures, and stage II skeletal fluorosis (pain, joint stiffness, pelvis and spine osteosclerosis). Some high-water drinkers consume 8 milligrams fluoride daily when only 1 mg/L is added to their water supplies, according to the report. Fluoride is also in food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, dental products, pesticide residues, cigarette smoke and air emissions. About 2/3 of U.S. water suppliers deliberately add fluoride chemicals (mostly industrial waste silicofluorides) to reach 0.07 to 1.2 mg/L, so-called optimal, in a failed effort to prevent tooth decay. But, “fluoride is a water contaminant over 1.3 mg/L,” the NRC reports. “This report is misleading by suggesting that the problem has to be studied to death before decisions can be made,” says retired EPA scientist, Robert Carton, PhD. “The safe drinking water act requires the federal government to act if there is any indication of possible or anticipated adverse health effects in order to protect the most vulnerable subsets of the population,” says Carton “Furthermore, why wasn’t there a minority report?” asks Carton. “Fluoride has detrimental effects on the thyroid gland of healthy males at 3.5 mg a day. With iodine deficiency, the effect level drops to 0.7 milligrams/day for an average male, according to the report,” says Carton. Furthermore, studies linking fluoride to cancer and lowered IQ are plausible, reports the NRC. Eleven unions representing over 7,000 EPA scientists, engineers, lawyers and others ask for a moratorium on fluoridation.
Insist legislators stop unnecessary water fluoridation. Suggested letter here: http://capwiz.com/congressorg/sbx/f/?aid=8635566&r=1
References: http://tinyurl.com/6kqtu
Contact: Robert Carton, PhD bcarton@verizon.net,
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof nyscof@aol.com
http://www.FluorideAction.Net
SOURCE: NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
PO Box 263
Old Bethpage, NY 11804
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof nyscof@aol.com
Longer Versions of This News Release is Here:
http://snipurl.com/oeqb

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Visible results of fluoridation?

Thank you for another great article,Jon Brodkin ("Study: too much fluoride in water dangerous," March 23).
As for MWRA and EPA consideration, they might start to thinkliability. Should a young person get osteosarcoma, one Texas law firm is already advertising to develop a class action suit.
Having worked against fluoridation for nineteen years, I can't help thinkingpain. I see the results everyday at the supermarket with the elders and now midlife folks hobbling from a lifetime of this poison. Who hasn't had low back pain, the first symptom? I see obesity and the 50 million people with sub-normal thyroid. Young people in sports have more injuries than they should. Autism in boys isn't all a mystery nor midlife depression in women. Can't sleep? Check out fluoride in the pinealocytes of the pineal gland. Much more is not so obvious and more seriously ravaging to health. Here the comparison to cigarette smoking is appropriate. Fluoride is worse because the government (The Center for Disease Control, CDC) has always been involved activelypromoting fluoridation. The latest study by Levy of the National Dental Research Institute tells us that fluoridation provides no significant difference in tooth decay numbers. Like cigarettes, I hope the love affair with fluoride will fall away quickly. It has been a costly mistake and neither safe nor effective. Now that the National Academy of Science Study is out, perhaps mothers will be more discerning and less emotional about another fallen idol. Pediatricians must take notice.

SHIRLEY M. BROWN,

Natick

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Irish letter

Joe(joet61) Posted: 27/03/2006 14:24
So, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington is saying bluntly that drinking water at 4 ppm fluoride damages your health. Irish water is fluoridated at 1 ppm, and we\'re supposed to believe that\'s safe. As if some people don\'t drink four times as much water as others... Other drugs are given big safety margins; why is fluoride treated so differently? Fluoride is a cumulative poison, with a very wide range of harmful effects. The only sensible approach is to minimize our exposure to fluoride, as we do with radon gas. The whole legal basis of Irish fluoridation (the Ryan case, High Court, Supreme Court, 1963/64) is that fluoridation is absolutely safe. Judge Kenny said in his 1963 judgement: \"Let me say then that I am satisfied beyond the slightest doubt that the fluoridation of the public water supplies in this country at a concentration of 1 p.p.m. will not cause any damage or injury to the health of anybody, young, old, healthy or sick, who is living in this country and that there is no risk or prospect whatever that it will.\" That gave the green light to Irish fluoridation. Judge Kenny was neither a scientist nor a medical doctor, nor were the Supreme Court judges (led by Cearbhall O Dalaigh) who backed him up. However, Mary Harney told the Oireachtas Health Committee last July: \"Like many areas of health care, it is not a black and white issue but has shades of grey. However, if the Government thought for one moment that fluoridation did not have a positive effect, clearly it would do the right thing.\" The ONLY argument in favour of fluoridation is that it\'s supposed to reduce tooth decay in children, but the ONLY cause of tooth decay is sugar. As long as the Minister relies solely on the advice of the professors in the dental schools, whose reputations are tied to fluoridation, logic and common sense are out the window. And fluoridation remains the only public health problem that can be solved overnight.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Hope this is true.

25 March 2006
There still are loopholes, even in the new legislation, which a water company that didn't want to fluoridate could use: they could tell the SHA that fluoridation wasn't feasible, or that the cost would be prohibitive - or that the cost of doing a feasibility study to determine the cost of fluoridation would be prohibitive. So while technically 'water companies must', in practical reality Ming Campbell is right: water companies needn't.The major problem with that is that the water companies all came on-board with the BFS - basically they agreed not to use the loopholes.Our abiding ally in this new situation is the water companies'greed. They're willing to fluoridate if it's an opportunity to make a lot of money out of the Dept of Health. However, if the SHAs can't afford the feasibility studies - which they can't - then fluoridation plans will go no further. UK water companies don't do anything for free!
Ros.


Doug Cross


Doug Cross

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Fluoride foes get validation

NAS panel member Robert Isaacson, a distinguished professor of neurobehavioral science at the State University of New York in Binghamton, agreed, saying that the possible effects on endocrines and hormones from water-fluoridation are “something that I wouldn’t want to happen to me if I had any say in the matter.”
The report “should be a wake-up call,” he added.
Extract

Friday, March 24, 2006


Lib view of fluoridation - not exactly right

USA - Letter -Fluoridation of drinking water is unsafe practice

Your article states, "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends a maximum level of about one part per million" (of fluoride in drinking water). The EPA is only authorized by law to determine levels of chemicals in drinking water that protect public health.Unfortunately, they continue to allow the Public Health Service, the historic promoter of fluoridation, to influence their standard-setting process so water fluoridation is not threatened. The standard is conveniently four times higher than the level used in water fluoridation (1 ppm). This standard is at least 40 times higher than an honest assessment of the scientific literature would allow.It will be interesting to see if the new study deals honestly with the health effects conveniently ignored by EPA: chipping and fracturing of teeth and an arthritic condition resulting from the calcification of ligaments and tendons.
The entire preparation of the fluoride standard for drinking water was unethical, and is documented in a paper I co-authored with J. William Hirzy of EPA and delivered at the 1998 annual meeting of the National Association of Environmental Professionals.

Robert J. Carton, Averill Park, N.Y.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

USA - Fluoride standard is criticized

The report is the first to conclude that there are legitimate health concerns about the existing standard. The health and wisdom of fluoridation in water supplies has been debated in the United States for several decades.
The panel of 12 unanimously decided that the existing standard is not protecting the public from serious health effects and recommended that the EPA lower it.
The scientists determined that people who drink water containing the allowable amount of fluoride are "likely to experience more fractures" because the compound can weaken bones over a lifetime of exposure.
In addition, about 10 percent of children in communities with fluoride levels at or near the allowable level develop severe tooth enamel fluorosis, which can cause yellowing of developing teeth and damage the enamel.
(Extract)

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

USA - Activists worry a new pesticide will put toxic levels of fluoride in your food

Water in the U.S. was first treated with sodium fluoride in 1945 and today the U.S. is only one of four countries, including Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, that fluoridates municipal water supplies, serving 300 million people worldwide. With the advent of the Dow AgroSciences pesticide ProFume, millions of Americans could also ingest fluoride in their food. An alternative pesticide to ozone-depleting methyl bromide, which is being phased out after 50 years, ProFume is approved for use in “non-residential structures,” including processed-food and pet-food facilities, warehouses, and shipping containers. ProFume’s active ingredient is sulfuryl fluoride, a highly toxic gas that kills insects and rodents in nearly all life stages, although insect eggs seem resistant to it.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

USA - Two good letters

Scientists have questioned fluoride benefits

Look at potential health effects

Two good letters.

USA - Today's solution of the day is “hydrofluorosilicic acid,” or HFS for short.

“What it says is if the city's going to medicate through the water supply, the medication has to be approved by the FDA for that purpose and the substance used cannot exceed EPA pollution goals,” said Weiner.

Extract - click title to see full story. If we do not stop fluoridation then this approach maybe an idea.

Monday, March 20, 2006

If fluoride is effective as dentists claim does this make sense?

In the 2004-2005 school year, the Winnebago County Health Department spot checked more than 11,000 students in Winnebago and Stephenson counties and found 35 percent needed routine treatment and nearly five percent needed urgent attention — meaning they had five or more cavities or had developed abscesses.

Extract - click title to see full report. Illinois is a fluoridation mandated state(NYSCOF)

I wish the UK rejected fluoridation.

High health-care costs and much needless illness could be lessened if Minnesota taxpayers insisted that their St. Paul legislators got rid of this state's mandatory water fluoridation law.We need to start insisting that our publicly elected officials provide our municipalities with pure drinking water. Taxpayers should reject paying for potentially hazardous fluoride being dumped into our public drinking water supplies.Water fluoridation has been implicated in causing bone diseases, neurological damage, birth defects, cancer and numerous other health problems. For this reason, most countries of the world totally reject the U.S. propaganda that water fluoridation is beneficial for people.
... Please urge your state legislators to nullify Minnesota's archaic forced fluoridation law.

Sunday, March 19, 2006


They haven't introduced it here yet but can we stop them?

USA - "They" can be beaten

Bainter also took on those who wanted to add fluoride to the city's drinking water in 2004. Bainter believes the information she obtained about the costs involved and the risks associated with adding fluoride helped defeat the initiative.
Voters rejected it by a vote of 8,084 to 7,563.
"You know the people supporting putting fluoride in the water outspent us 10 to 1," Bainter said. "But I think the people listened to us and decided we were right."
As for sitting back and watching the battles from the sidelines, Bainter said sitting back and watching the battles from the sidelines isn't for her.
"Politicians are elected to represent the people, and when they don't, we need to remind them," Bainter said.

Extract

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Same toxic fluoride in water, cigarettes

Smoking is good for your teeth. There is 1.5 mg/L of toxic fluoride in cigarette tobacco and when it is heated and burned it is twice as toxic. This is the same fluoride people like yourself recommend be put in the public drinking water. You can only hide the truth so long. The big cover-up between fluoride and cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke will be exposed. You have the freedom of choice to decide which side of the fence you want to be on.
Gerald Marsch

(Never realized this link between fluoride and smoking - found information backing this - click title to go to URL)

Same toxic fluoride in water, cigarettes

Smoking is good for your teeth. There is 1.5 mg/L of toxic fluoride in cigarette tobacco and when it is heated and burned it is twice as toxic. This is the same fluoride people like yourself recommend be put in the public drinking water. You can only hide the truth so long. The big cover-up between fluoride and cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke will be exposed. You have the freedom of choice to decide which side of the fence you want to be on.
Gerald Marsch

(Never realized this link between fluoride and smoking - found information backing this - click title to go to URL)

Friday, March 17, 2006

USA - More opposition to fluoride

Activists go after fluoride
By Ann Marie Ames
Correspondent for The Capital Times
MOUNT HOREB - Rinse and spit. Spit really, really well.
On Wednesday night, village resident Susan Michetti spoke about possible adverse health effects of fluoridated drinking water, a topic she has been researching since January.
Jim Walters, a naturopath practicing in Mount Horeb,
(Extract)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Important - action needed to counter the BFS

British Fluoridation Society calls for allowing the addition of fluorides to foods

Ahead of the vote by the Environment, Food Safety and Public health Committee of the European Parliament on a regulation on Food Additives scheduled on the 20-21 March 2006, the British Fluoridation Society calls for a strong stance to allow the addition of fluorides to foods.
According to the BFS, various amendments (23 and 24) if accepted, would prohibit the addition of fluorides to food and water.

The BFS argues that exposure to fluoride has been one of the main factors contributing to the widespread improvement of oral health. However, oral health inequalities exist between and within EU Member States. Besides, dietary fluoride intake plays a major role in the prevention of dental caries.

Therefore the BFS urges civil society organisations to lobby actively Members of the European Parliament in order to encourage them to reject the proposed amendments.

Shall you want to do so, please contact Sheila Jones in order to receive background materials.
Last modified on March 15 2006.
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phone: +32 2 230 3056 - fax: +32 2 233 3880 - email epha@epha.org

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

USA - Unbelievable anybody could be so reckless

Extract

The operator used a piece of plastic to hold a switch open, allowing fluoride to be pumped continuously into tanks, and then left the area to perform other duties. The operator failed to remove the plastic before his shift ended at 8:30 a.m., the report said

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

PCT meeting changes.

John Spottiswoode of the Green Party will be making a presentation to the Portsmouth PCT board on the 29th with the arguments against fluoridation.. Mrs Stella Saunders, Consultant in Dental Public Health for the whole of Hampshire, will be in attendance.This will take place in the Entertainments Hall, St James’ Hospital, Locksway Road, Portsmouth and:“Questions are invited from the public and must be submitted in writing (or e-mail) 5 days before to: Maria Smith, Personal Assistant to CEO, Chair and PEC, Portsmouth City Primary Care Trust, Trust Central Office, St James’ Hospital, Locksway Road, Portsmouth PO4 8LD, e-mail address:

maria.smith@ports.nhs.uk

John Spottiswoode's power point presentation

On the face of it the idea of putting fluoride in our water sounds like it could be a good idea if it cuts down on the number of fillings we and our children need. After all many of us take supplements of vitamins and minerals to boost our health, and usually rightly so. However it is extremely important not to ingest toxins of whatever type.

The whole fluoridation issue has become shrouded in controversy. Despite more than fifty years of research there is still much debate on:

firstly whether there is really an improvement to our dental health from fluoridation and
secondly, whether there are dangerous other effects from putting fluoride in our bodies.

On this site you can download John Spottiswoode's power point presentation or web page show of the arguments to persuade the SHA not too fluoridate

Australia - good letter

WHEN dentists use language such as R. McCray, president of the Australian Dental Association, Queensland, (The Border Mail, February 22), it is a sure sign he and his association have lost the plot.
Spin-doctors have failed in their hopeful cover-up of the serious toxicology relating to problems which are associated with fluoridation and its utter failure to stop tooth decay (see Sydney Report 2005).
Does the ADA president, in his own words, consider at least 15 Nobel Prize scientists in their published opposition to fluoridation are, “malicious, ignorant scare-mongering” scientists?
The president seems completely out of scientific focus by claiming “fluoridation support from every leading medical and scientific authority from the World Health Organisation down”, none of whom can show scientific proof of fluoridation safety including WHO and the Australian Dental Association.
That statement by the ADA is so wrong in light of the fact that all the scientifically advanced countries in Europe have either stopped fluoridation or never used it.
Consider this: If all the fluoridation hype by dentists was true, then most dentists would be out of work because fluoridated populations, including Australia which is 85 per cent fluoridated, would be displaying perfect undecayed teeth.
This is not the fact — indeed the governments of Australia and the ADA cry out for more dentists to treat people waiting five years for dental help in fluoridated cities.
As 96 per cent of the world population do not use fluoridation, it proves the magic bullet of fluoride is a failed, meaningless health proposition foisted by compulsion on the people without their consent.
— AUGUST SIRKEL

Too much fluoride - never!

Kids may get excess fluoride from beveragesMon Mar 13, 2006 8:28 PM GMT
By Charnicia Huggins
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While fluoride protects against cavities, some children may be getting too much of it via fluoridated beverages, and have the telltale white streaks on their teeth to prove it.
A study of 408 Iowa children found that more than one in three showed such signs of dental fluorosis. Their fluoride sources included different types of beverages, such as infant formula and 100 percent fruit juice.
In light of the findings, parents should "beware of the potential for the risk of fluorosis," study author Dr. Teresa A. Marshall, an assistant professor at the University of Iowa's College of Dentistry, told Reuters Health.

Extract, click title to see all of it.

Monday, March 13, 2006

USA: Dangerous leaks - We have no warning system!

Camp Hill to set up emergency systemSunday, March 12, 2006 BY ELLEN LYONOf
The Patriot-News Camp Hill will soon launch a Code Red Emergency Notification System to alert residents and business owners of major problems. The Borough Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to form a committee of borough, police and fire department officials to work out the details. Under the system, officials would be able to send out a recorded phone message to all residential and business locations in the borough six minutes after the emergency, Camp Hill Police Chief Gregory "Jan" Ammons said"It's a reverse 911 system, so to speak" for police, fire, hazardous material and other emergency incidents, Ammons noted. The Dec. 10 fluoride leak that contaminated the water supply in the borough and other West Shore areas is an example of the need for such a system, borough officials said. Councilman Rick McBride said that, to his knowledge, Susquehanna Twp. is the only other community in the Harrisburg area using this emergency notification system. "This is the cutting edge of technology and it provides a great sense of security to our borough," he said. McBride stressed that it would be used only for emergencies. The first year of a two-year contract for the system would cost $10,000, which Cedar Shopping Centers Inc., owner of the Camp Hill Shopping Center, has agreed to pay, Ammons said. The second year will cost $5,000. ELLEN LYON: 975-9783 or elyon@patriot-news.com

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Australian Letter from Doctor now retired and wiser

Surveys aren’t always reliable
AS a family doctor in the 1950s, I supported fluoridation in published letters.
I have since found that surveys throw even more doubt on official claims.
Fluoridation in some surveys is found to save some teeth, but not as many as can be saved by applying fluoride to tooth enamel.
More significantly, bone malignancies and other long-term effects, worse than tooth decay, are increasingly linked to fluoridation in surveys by clinical epidemiologists, as distinct from public administrative experts.
— DOUG EVERINGHAM
Middle Park

What a state to be in.

Four times, Robinson-Gates said, the pain was so intense that it drove her to the emergency dental clinic at the San Mateo Medical Center. But, underscoring one of the biggest issues in the country's health care safety net, the dentists there could only pull out her front teeth to end the pain: There was no funding to replace them with dentures.

This is in CA, USA not sure if fluoridated but most likely is. Will it be like it here soon or is it already?
(Extract - click title to see article)

Saturday, March 11, 2006

UK Letter - Cumbrians Against Fluoridation

HEALTH
Published on 10/03/2006
Fluoride is putting your life at risk
IN 2000 the government’s independent scientific enquiry into fluoridation failed to endorse fluoridation as safe or effective and outlined evidence of excess fluoride in 44 per cent of children in fluoridated areas.
(Extract - also second letter worth reading - not fluoride)

Friday, March 10, 2006

And asbestos is harmless too!

Drink-Industry Statements
"The facts demonstrate that there are multiple causes of dental erosion and many protective factors that can help prevent or minimize it. It is irresponsible to blame foods, beverages or any other single factor for enamel loss and tooth decay."

Study on Sodas, Sports Drinks Causing Tooth Decay

Bet the survey was completely unbiased!

Surveys supportwater fluoridation10.03.2006 By MARY MANN mary.mann@northernstar.com.au
LISMORE dentist Dr Brendan White is adamant that drilling at little kids’ teeth every day of the week shouldn’t happen. He believes fluoridating our water supply is the answer. "It would see a 50 per cent decrease in tooth decay in children by the time they started school," said Dr White, president of the Far North Coast division of the Australian Dental Association (ADA) NSW branch. "We know fluoridating our water supply could make a huge difference to the health of people’s teeth." The results of two recent independent surveys into the attitudes of local communities to water fluoridation were recently presented to Rous Water. The surveys found that the majority of North Coast residents supported water fluoridation. Oral Health project manager John Irving said the results of the survey were not surprising. "Several other recent independent surveys had come up with similar results," he said. However there are some who feel fluoridating our water is ‘a criminal act’. "Anyone who wishes this toxin [fluoride] on other people is a criminal," said Tora Blackman, a member of the Safe Water Action Network. "It’s an industrial waste product. It’s highly toxic and is used as a rat and cockroach poison." Ms Blackman said daily in- take of fluoride could accumulate in your body and cause cancer, kidney disease and female infertility. "It’s a violation of our freedom of choice, a form of forced mass medication," she said. "It’s a terrible, terrible thing." However Dr White said the small quantity of fluoride that would be added to the water supply would not effect the health of residents in any negative way. "We know it’s safe," he said. "Over 90 per cent of the state receives a fluoridated water supply and there have been no related health issues." of drinking water.

They sure do

Fluoridated beverage linked to childhood dental fluorosisBy International & American Association for Dental ResearchMar 9, 2006, 21:41 Editor's note: Fluoride is added to public water systems to prevent dental cavities, but new research shows the fluoridated water can cause a worse dental disease known as fluorosis. Fluoridation of drinking water is a highly controversial issue. The growing body of evidence suggests that added fluoride may attribute to childhood dental problems while dentists diligently promote fluoridation
(Extract)

Thursday, March 09, 2006

NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation Press Release

Press Release
Source: NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation
(NYSCOF) Studies: Fluoride Not Stopping Tooth DecayWednesday March 8, 7:21 pm ET
NEW YORK, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Fluoride is not stopping cavities and is causing discolored teeth, is reported in several new studies to be presented at the American Association for Dental Research's annual meeting from March 8-11, 2006, in Orlando, Florida, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF).
For example:
-- Researchers following children from birth, starting in 1991-1995 (Iowa Fluoride Study), found almost double the dental fluorosis in early erupting permanent teeth of 9 year-olds drinking optimally fluoridated water compared to children drinking sub-optimally fluoridated water (41% vs. 21%); but no less tooth decay.(1)
-- Researchers found no significant relationship between fluoride exposure and cavities in permanent teeth of 6 to 9-year-olds in Campeche, Mexico.(2) Previously, it was reported that 56% of this group has dental fluorosis.(3)
-- A U.S. national study reports cavity prevalence increased by 15% in 2 to 5-year-olds, in surveys taken between 1988-1994 and 1999-2002,(4) despite 60 years of water fluoridation reaching 2/3 of Americans on public water supplies and virtually 100% via the food supply. However, the Centers for Disease Control report that 1/3 to 1/2 of U.S. schoolchildren display dental fluorosis.(4a)
-- Another U.S. study shows that breastfed children have less cavities than non-breastfed(5) even though breast milk has 100 times less fluoride than dentists claim is optimal to reduce cavities. Breastfeeding is also protective against fluorosis.(5a)
-- Although New York City fluoridated in 1965, NYC children of Chinese descent suffer a much higher prevalence and severity of tooth decay than the national average (63% vs 38%).(6)
-- About half of 7 to 14-year-old children from fluoridated Rochester,
NY, have cavities. Latino children had significantly higher caries experience than African-American and Caucasian children, thus indicating that disparities exist among different ethnic groups even when the water is fluoridated.(7)
-- In fluoridated Detroit, 91% of African American low-income children, 5 years and younger, have tooth decay.(8) "Today, fluoridation puts American children at risk of dental fluorosis without any benefit of less tooth decay," says Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President and General Counsel. "And growing evidence links fluoride to hypersensitivities, bone damage, thyroid problems and more," says Beeber.
These studies add to a growing body of evidence pointing to fluoride's ineffectiveness and lack of safety: See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/teeth/caries/fluoridation.html#top
References: http://groups.google.com/group/Fluoridation-News-Releases
Contact: Paul Beeber, 516-433-8882, nyscof@aol.com
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
http://www.fluorideaction.net/
Media Inquiries: 516-796-8954

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

USA - Battle over impending legislation

Several letters posted at the above Web page one for and four against fluoride - this one from Dr Connett

Who is scaring whom?
Your editorial accuses me of "scare tactics" over the dangers of water fluoridation merely for pointing out what is readily available in the peer reviewed and published scientific literature. See http://www.fluorideaction.net/healthWhat is really scary is US government agencies are ignoring what is in the literature and your willingness to promote the mandatory use of this practice throughout your state without reading that literature for yourself. Also scary is that those in favor of this draconian measure failed to produce one individual to share the platform with me on Saturday to argue their case. This despite efforts by the organizers to get them to do so. As I said in my presentation, "they promote it like parrots and defend it like chickens."I urge all your readers to do everything thay can to prevent mandatory fluoridation in Pennsylvania. Most countries in Europe do not impose fluoridation on their citizens and yet their teeth - according to WHO figures - are just as good, if not better than ours.Regardless of arguments over dangers and benefits, and no matter how well-intentioned, a bunch of legislators in Harrisburg have no right to do to all their citizens what an individual doctor cannot do to an individual patient, that is force him or her to take medication without their informed consent.
Dr. Paul Connett, Canton, NY 13617

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Ohio is 91% fluoridated: NYSCOF

Over the years, Jeter said children’s dental problems have gotten worse. He said kids as young as 18 months old are getting cavities. April Elliott, a dental hygienist in Jeter’s office, said snacks between meals, sugary foods and beverages have led to many of the oral problems.“Parents really need to keep an eye on what their children eat,” she said. “They need to get involved and read the labels.”

This is what the UK York Review found
"The evidence about reducing inequalities in dental health was of poor quality, contradictory and unreliable. Since the report was published in October 2000 there has been no other scientifically defensible review that would alter the findings of the York review."

Monday, March 06, 2006


"The PCT has pledged that fluoride will not be added to the water in Southampton unless residents want it" Hope they keep to that.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

USA - Good letter

Reasons for not fluoridating
Dear Editor,
Nine reasons not to fluoridate Rifle's water supply:
1. "EPA should act immediately to protect the public, not just on the cancer data, but on the evidence of bone fractures, arthritis, mutagenicity and other effects." Dr. William Marcus, senior toxicologist at EPA.
2. "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-range basis. Any attempt to use water this way is deplorable." Dr. Charles Gordon Heyd, past president of the American Medical Association.
3. "The plain fact that fluorine is an insidious poison harmful, toxic and cumulative in its effects, even when ingested in minimal amounts, will remain unchanged, no matter how many times it will be repeated in print that fluoridation of the water is 'safe'." Dr. Ludwig Grosse, chief of cancer research, U.S. Veterans Administration.
4. In Harlem, N.Y., which has been fluoridated for 32 years, "There's more dental decay among these kids; we see the beginning of inflamed gingivitis in their mouths." American Dental Association, May 2000.
5. "Fluoride has been shown to adversely affect the central nervous system, causing behavioral changes, increased hip fractures and reproduction problems." Natick Report Research Team (includes Apollo Program Project Scientist, Dr. N.R. Mancuso).
6. "Fluoride exposure, at levels that are experienced by a significant proportion of the population whose drinking water is fluoridated, may have adverse impacts on the developing brain." Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, May 2000.
7. "All of the organizations promoting water fluoridation agree that dental fluorosis, which is the first visible sign of systemic poisoning, increases with water fluoride levels." Dr. Kennedy, past president of International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology.
8. "Fluoridation ... it is the greatest fraud that has ever been perpetrated and it has been perpetrated on more people than any other fraud has." Dr. Professor Albert Schatz, (Microbiology) co-discoverer of Streptomycin, the cure for tuberculosis.
9. Because it's the right thing to do.Mary Bridges

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Spills will occur here.

Need quicker water warnings, PA tells utilities

HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has ordered water companies across the state to implement better procedures for notifying consumers of water-related emergencies, according to a March 3 article in the Patriot-News.The news comes after a Dec. 10 incident at Pennsylvania American Water Co.'s Yellow Breeches Water Treatment Plant, where a spill resulted in excessive levels of fluoride in drinking water for 34,000 customers, the article said. According to the report, Pennsylvania American Water issued a "do not consume" order several hours after the fluoride spill, but many customers were not aware of it.

(It will happen here and we have no emergency phone system to be able to alert customers)

USA - Legislature says it will not consider mandate

Fluoride bill loses its bite: Legislature says it will not consider mandate, essentially killing chancesBy Jon Brodkin / Daily News StaffSaturday, March 4, 2006 A proposal to mandate fluoridation of most water supplies in the state was effectively killed this week when the Legislature’s Public Health committee decided not to consider it any further this session.
The bill, opposed by many people concerned about the health effects of fluoride, was put into "study," a move used to end discussion.
"For all intents and purposes, it means it’s not likely to move forward this session," said Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, co-chairman of the Public Health panel.
Natick chemist Myron Coplan, whose research found that children in fluoridated communities are at risk for excess levels of lead in their blood, said the move is good news for fluoridation opponents.
"From what I know about the Legislature, that’s the offhanded way of saying, ’We don’t want to talk about it anymore,’" Coplan said.
The unanimous vote to table the statewide fluoridation proposal was not surprising. In December, the measure’s leading proponent in the Senate, Sen. Pamela Resor, D-Acton, said research linking fluoridated water to bone cancer and other problems had convinced her that lawmakers should not vote on the proposal until a study is performed.
Putting a bill into study does not actually require anyone to look at the proposal again, unless they take an action like forming a commission to examine the issue.
But Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, co-chairwoman of the Public Health committee, said the bill may not be dead yet.
"It’s not necessarily a black hole. We can take it out of study," she said.
Fargo said she has no worries about the health impacts of fluoride. But she said the committee was concerned about taking control over fluoridation away from communities, and a provision in the bill that would require the state to reimburse cities and towns for fluoride costs.
Resor’s bill would require fluoridation of any municipal water supply that serves at least 5,000 people.
Currently, more than one-third of Massachusetts cities and towns have fluoridated drinking water, including all of those served by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Australian letter - Premier backs benefits for water fluoridation

(Bet they didn't read the York Review)
Extract
Overwhelming scientific evidence from esteemed international and Australian authorities, including the World Health Organisation, show that water fluoridation helps protect teeth against decay.
Their studies prove that water fluoridation is a safe and effective way of allowing everybody to benefit from fluoride.
The bipartisan approach of striving to give Victorians access to fluoride underscores the importance of oral health and a healthy body.
Water fluoridation is an effective, inexpensive and socially equitable way to reduce decay.
All Victorians should be able to enjoy the benefits.
— DR CHRISTOPHER M. CALLAHAN, president, Australian Dental Assoc, Victorian Branch
— JOHN JACKSON, president Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (Victorian Branch),
— DR MARK YATES, president Australian Medical Association (Victoria).

Fluoridated since 1973 (NYSCOF)

Teeth can become infected, and decay can spread deep into the tooth where bacteria strike the root. This type of infection often can be treated with antibiotics in the ER. A dental professional then has to perform a root canal or tooth extraction.
A serious complication is Ludwig’s angina, an infection that gets into the soft tissues of the throat and under the jaw, It can be life-threatening because the swelling progresses so rapidly that the airway can seal shut.

Scary article.

USA - Muscatine, Iowa, is fluoridated (NYSCOF)

The grant also will fund research that should help health-care professionals better understand the factors that are causing higher rates of cavities among low-income groups.

(Poor education on diet etc, poor parenting, low IQ and lack of moral fibre maybe some of the causes, not lack of fluoride)

Thursday, March 02, 2006

USA :Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’

Two sides of the fluoride debate Con: Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’
By Heidi Rice
Telegram Staff Reporter
Con: Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’For the past year, no fluoride has been added to the city of Rifle’s drinking water. Quite a few community members would like to keep it that way.In the past several years, the addition of fluoride to community drinking water has been questioned by community members and health care professionals around the country. They question if the practice is safe and they are concerned about potential health hazards. Some people question municipalities “mass medicating” the public and ensuring the proper dosage is administered. Others question the right of government to make personal choices for them. And some say without scientific proof that fluoride is beneficial, the slogan, “When in doubt, leave it out,” is appropriate.Mary Bridges is a citizen of Rifle who vehemently opposes the addition of fluoride in her drinking water. She has done extensive research on the subject and believes without a doubt that the addition of fluoride is harmful to citizens and is a conflict of interest by those in the dental industry who promote it.“Dental ‘professionals’ who generate income from the promotion of fluoride in any manner are not a neutral, reliable source of information on the subject,” Bridges wrote in a letter to Rifle City Council members recently. “In fact, I would say there is a real conflict of interest issue here.”
(Extract)

USA :Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’

Two sides of the fluoride debate Con: Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’
By Heidi Rice
Telegram Staff Reporter
Con: Fluoride is ‘a corrosive poison’For the past year, no fluoride has been added to the city of Rifle’s drinking water. Quite a few community members would like to keep it that way.In the past several years, the addition of fluoride to community drinking water has been questioned by community members and health care professionals around the country. They question if the practice is safe and they are concerned about potential health hazards. Some people question municipalities “mass medicating” the public and ensuring the proper dosage is administered. Others question the right of government to make personal choices for them. And some say without scientific proof that fluoride is beneficial, the slogan, “When in doubt, leave it out,” is appropriate.Mary Bridges is a citizen of Rifle who vehemently opposes the addition of fluoride in her drinking water. She has done extensive research on the subject and believes without a doubt that the addition of fluoride is harmful to citizens and is a conflict of interest by those in the dental industry who promote it.“Dental ‘professionals’ who generate income from the promotion of fluoride in any manner are not a neutral, reliable source of information on the subject,” Bridges wrote in a letter to Rifle City Council members recently. “In fact, I would say there is a real conflict of interest issue here.”
(Extract)

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

USA - Canada

Communities which have Rejected Fluoridation Since 1990