Fluoridated Water Jeopardizes Your Health
Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007
Fluoridated Water Jeopardizes Your Health
Posted: Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The (Unfounded) Scare: The addition of fluoride to tap water causes multiple health problems, including fluorosis, abnormal thyroid function, lower IQ and osteosarcoma. Origin of the Scare: The Environmental Working Group (EWG) published an article in their August 2007 Bulletin entitled “Fluoride in Your Water: Friend or Foe?”(6) The article claimed that “[e]ven the American Dental Association has changed its tune and tells parents to avoid fluoridated water.” The EWG also featured a study done by researchers at Harvard, which was also published in the Harvard journal Cancer Causes and Control.(7) The study linked fluoridated water to a rare bone cancer in boys. Media Coverage: This story scared many cities about their public water supply and was picked up by hundreds of local newspapers. ABC in Fayetteville, North Carolina ran a story about fluoridated water entitled “Fluoridation fears.” It quoted Dr. Michael Fleming, a member of the FDA dental advisory committee, saying, frighteningly, “Fluoride in the water is essentially a drug, it’s an uncontrolled use of a drug.”(8)
The Bottom Line: The EWG is a strident anti-chemical group that took two claims about fluoride and ran with them, in a bad direction. The authors of the Harvard paper noted that their work is just a part of a much bigger project and that it is an “exploratory analysis” that will require scientific confirmation. In addition to this, the principal investigator of the larger study states that the full study will not suggest an overall association between fluoride and osteosarcoma.(9) Not only did EWG skew their reporting of the Harvard data, they also misrepresented the ADA’s recommendations about fluoride and infant formula.(10) The ADA states that infant formula prepared with fluoridated water presents no health risk but may create a small increased risk of fluorosis, which only affects the way teeth look, not overall health as the EWG would like everyone to believe. They should be ashamed for telling a flat-out lie about the ADA.
The way they dismiss fluorosis would make anybody doubt their word on any of it.
Fluoridated Water Jeopardizes Your Health
Posted: Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The (Unfounded) Scare: The addition of fluoride to tap water causes multiple health problems, including fluorosis, abnormal thyroid function, lower IQ and osteosarcoma. Origin of the Scare: The Environmental Working Group (EWG) published an article in their August 2007 Bulletin entitled “Fluoride in Your Water: Friend or Foe?”(6) The article claimed that “[e]ven the American Dental Association has changed its tune and tells parents to avoid fluoridated water.” The EWG also featured a study done by researchers at Harvard, which was also published in the Harvard journal Cancer Causes and Control.(7) The study linked fluoridated water to a rare bone cancer in boys. Media Coverage: This story scared many cities about their public water supply and was picked up by hundreds of local newspapers. ABC in Fayetteville, North Carolina ran a story about fluoridated water entitled “Fluoridation fears.” It quoted Dr. Michael Fleming, a member of the FDA dental advisory committee, saying, frighteningly, “Fluoride in the water is essentially a drug, it’s an uncontrolled use of a drug.”(8)
The Bottom Line: The EWG is a strident anti-chemical group that took two claims about fluoride and ran with them, in a bad direction. The authors of the Harvard paper noted that their work is just a part of a much bigger project and that it is an “exploratory analysis” that will require scientific confirmation. In addition to this, the principal investigator of the larger study states that the full study will not suggest an overall association between fluoride and osteosarcoma.(9) Not only did EWG skew their reporting of the Harvard data, they also misrepresented the ADA’s recommendations about fluoride and infant formula.(10) The ADA states that infant formula prepared with fluoridated water presents no health risk but may create a small increased risk of fluorosis, which only affects the way teeth look, not overall health as the EWG would like everyone to believe. They should be ashamed for telling a flat-out lie about the ADA.
The way they dismiss fluorosis would make anybody doubt their word on any of it.
posted by Bill at
10:14 AM
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