Canada - Is fluoride safe?
Is fluoride safe?
CAROLE CLINCH
(Jan 30, 2007)
As Dr. Gifford-Jones writes in his column of Jan. 19, Fluoride May Do More Harm Than Good, I too had believed what I was told - that fluoride use had no risks but it definitely prevented cavities. After reviewing over 1,000 research papers on the risks and benefits of fluoride I'm left with two haunting impressions: the benefits have been grossly overstated, and the risks have been ignored.
Fluoride is ubiquitous. It is in our water, our food and in the air. It is in the toothpaste, mouthwash and topical applications used by dentists.
But is all this fluoride actually good for us? Is fluoride essential to our health? What potential harm can it do to, say, thyroid function, our bones, our teeth, pineal function (melatonin, our sleep hormone), kidney and diabetes patients, the very young and the elderly? Does the public have the right to know and understand the risks involved in fluoridation?
Dr. Hardy Limeback, associate professor and head of preventive dentistry at the University of Toronto, is making a concerted effort to explain why he is opposed to water fluoridation to the dentists that he once taught. An April 25, 1999 article in the Toronto Star quoted Limeback as saying: "Children under three should never use fluoridated toothpaste. Or drink fluoridated water. And baby formula must never be made up using (fluoridated) Toronto tap water. Never."
Can the City of Waterloo prove that fluoridating water is causing no harm? Can the city prove fluoridation is providing any benefit? Until these important issues of risk and benefit are resolved with credible evidence, the city should not be fluoridating water.
Carole Clinch
Waterloo
CAROLE CLINCH
(Jan 30, 2007)
As Dr. Gifford-Jones writes in his column of Jan. 19, Fluoride May Do More Harm Than Good, I too had believed what I was told - that fluoride use had no risks but it definitely prevented cavities. After reviewing over 1,000 research papers on the risks and benefits of fluoride I'm left with two haunting impressions: the benefits have been grossly overstated, and the risks have been ignored.
Fluoride is ubiquitous. It is in our water, our food and in the air. It is in the toothpaste, mouthwash and topical applications used by dentists.
But is all this fluoride actually good for us? Is fluoride essential to our health? What potential harm can it do to, say, thyroid function, our bones, our teeth, pineal function (melatonin, our sleep hormone), kidney and diabetes patients, the very young and the elderly? Does the public have the right to know and understand the risks involved in fluoridation?
Dr. Hardy Limeback, associate professor and head of preventive dentistry at the University of Toronto, is making a concerted effort to explain why he is opposed to water fluoridation to the dentists that he once taught. An April 25, 1999 article in the Toronto Star quoted Limeback as saying: "Children under three should never use fluoridated toothpaste. Or drink fluoridated water. And baby formula must never be made up using (fluoridated) Toronto tap water. Never."
Can the City of Waterloo prove that fluoridating water is causing no harm? Can the city prove fluoridation is providing any benefit? Until these important issues of risk and benefit are resolved with credible evidence, the city should not be fluoridating water.
Carole Clinch
Waterloo
posted by Bill at
4:10 PM
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