Top 10 false health scares
9. The (Unfounded) Scare: Adding fluoride to tap water can cause health problems like fluorosis, abnormal thyroid function, lower IQ and osteosarcoma.
Origin of the Scare: The Environmental Working Group published an article in their August 2007 Bulletin claiming that "(e)ven the American Dental Association ... tells parents to avoid fluoridated water." The group also featured a study published in the Harvard journal Cancer Causes and Control, which linked fluoridated water to a rare bone cancer in boys.
The Bottom Line: The Environmental Working Group, which is stridently anti-chemical, neglected to mention the Harvard research is part of a much bigger project and that it is an "exploratory analysis" that will require scientific confirmation. In addition, the principal investigator of the larger study says the full study will not suggest an overall association between fluoride and osteosarcoma. The group also misrepresented the ADA's recommendations about fluoride and infant formula. The ADA says infant formula prepared with fluoridated water presents no health risk but may slightly increase the risk of fluorosis (mottling the teeth), which affects only the way teeth look, not overall health.
Going by the above I would not have much faith in the other 9 assurances.
Origin of the Scare: The Environmental Working Group published an article in their August 2007 Bulletin claiming that "(e)ven the American Dental Association ... tells parents to avoid fluoridated water." The group also featured a study published in the Harvard journal Cancer Causes and Control, which linked fluoridated water to a rare bone cancer in boys.
The Bottom Line: The Environmental Working Group, which is stridently anti-chemical, neglected to mention the Harvard research is part of a much bigger project and that it is an "exploratory analysis" that will require scientific confirmation. In addition, the principal investigator of the larger study says the full study will not suggest an overall association between fluoride and osteosarcoma. The group also misrepresented the ADA's recommendations about fluoride and infant formula. The ADA says infant formula prepared with fluoridated water presents no health risk but may slightly increase the risk of fluorosis (mottling the teeth), which affects only the way teeth look, not overall health.
Going by the above I would not have much faith in the other 9 assurances.
posted by Bill at
10:18 AM
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