USA -Too many risks with fluoridation

Holy Moly!

Now, I am no activist, but I’m about to dig out my favorite Erin Brockovich push-up bra over this fluoride issue.

Something is going on. After we’ve already fought to remove it once and cities all over our country are voting down installing fluoride and even removing it from existing systems, why is Sheridan considering putting this mysterious chemical back into our pipes? And why do only a few people get to decide whether we have it in our pipes and in our bodies?

We won’t argue that fluoride isn’t found to be beneficial when applied directly to the teeth, but once it goes down the throat, we begin to see some big red flags. The warning on our toothpaste tube tells us we should get help if more than a bit is swallowed. Even Center for Disease Control recommendations on how much should go into city water systems have been substantially lowered. So they are telling us that overdose is alarmingly possible.

And what does happen when we get too much? That’s when it gets to be intriguing to me. In this world of increasingly disturbing diseases, we need to investigate their causes and diligently practice prevention. It seems we’ve become a “fix me” generation, instead of learning to take control of our health.

I’ve started reading the volumes of information about fluoride, its history and the mounting evidence of its dangers. It’s pretty spooky stuff. Read for yourself and have dialogues with the people around you. “The Case Against Fluoride” is an excellent book to begin with and is available at the library. (I’m told a copy of this book was gifted to the mayor and each of the city council members.)

The CDC informs us that too much fluoride can cause Fluorosis and that indeed 41 percent of our children ages 12-15 have this discoloration and pitting of the teeth. I phoned several pediatric dentists and asked how they treat Fluorosis and was told they bleach and/or veneer and bond teeth to cover it. I didn’t ask how much that would cost.

I was curious when I heard that Sheridan had fluoride in the water system from 1949-1954, but there was quite a fight to get it removed. I recognized our old family doctor’s name…Dr. Pratt, who we remember was so wonderful to all the coal miner families. He and U.S. District attorney John Raper were instrumental in exposing that fluoride was corroding water pipes and causing harsh digestive illnesses. I see in a recent Sheridan Press article “What’s in your water?” that we now have sodium hexametaphosphate as a corrosion inhibitor that protects the distribution system and pipes. So we may not have the same problems today — in the pipes, but what about our bodies? Plus, we also have soda ash to prevent pipes from corroding and aluminum sulfate to coagulate the dirt in the water so it will settle out of the water stream; chlorine and carbon, too.

I read that aluminum has been connected with Alzheimer’s disease. And did I read that this fluoride that they put in water systems is a by-product of aluminum manufacture? It It seems the Alcoa Aluminum Co. first sold it to us to rid itself of this sludge and profit from it. But that’s getting pretty far out there for now, and maybe it can’t even be proven let alone comprehended how we could be so darn fooled by corporations.

My dog that drinks water all day long. Then there’s my Boston fern and my beloved vegetable garden. How will fluoride affect them? The baby’s formula and her

daily bath? It’s surely absorbed into the skin. I hear that it crystallizes the thyroid and pineal glands, which can’t be good in any amount. The questions just keep coming at me.

I didn’t want to get sucked into this, I love my dentist and hygienist; they take wonderful care of my teeth. But I study holistic health and it urges me to understand how all systems of the body must work together. And I believe we have the right to ask questions and not be dismissed for doing so. I would think that as long as there are these red flags, our city officials would want to at least delay making such an important decision for our health. Remember when we came together to remove secondhand smoke from our public establishments? Could we ever have imagined the Mint and the Rainbow becoming nonsmoking bars? Well, that same progressive energy will circulate until we are assured of having clean air and clean water in our community.

Then maybe we will make the commitment to fight the real enemy — sugar!

Rosie DaBell
Sheridan