F.A.N. Newsletter

Since Thursday Dec 6, we have raised $2,802 from 14 donors (this includes a $1,000 doubling challenge) bringing us to a total of $70,081 from 99 supporters.  Thank you to all who have donated.  We need to keep this momentum up to reach our target of $250,000 from 1,250 donors by midnight Dec 31 to ensure we have the operating budget necessary to maintain our current progress in the fight to end fluoridation.

Before we highlight a collection of FAN resources created to help you protect the most important people in your life, we wanted to share an interesting article published in the UK Telegraph, by dentists.  It starts out telling how good fluoride (not fluoridation) is, and making fun of some anti-fluoridation arguments, but ends up more or less supporting most of the major and sensible anti-fluoridation arguments.  Please read and leave a comment at the bottom of the article.

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How to make a tax-deductible donation to FAN:

• Online at our secure server.
  
• Or by Check, payable to the Fluoride Action Network. Send your check to:
  
  Fluoride Action Network
  c/o Connett
  104 Walnut Street
  Binghamton NY 13905  

*Please note that some corporations match tax deductible donations made by their employees to some non-profits. We qualify for this. This is the information to provide your corporation finance people: FAN is a project of the American Environmental Health Studies Project, Inc, registered in Tennessee. 

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Protecting Your Family from Fluoride
When fluoride was first added to water in the 1940s, in an experiment to prevent tooth decay, not a single dental product contained fluoride: no fluoride toothpastes, no fluoride mouth rinses, no fluoride varnishes, and no fluoride gels. In the past 60 years, as more communities began fluoridation and one fluoride product after another entered the market, exposure to fluoride increased considerably, particularly among children.
Exposure from other sources has increased as well, such as: infant formula, processed foods, soups, soda and beer made with fluoridated water, food grown with fluoride-containing pesticides and fumigated in warehouses with sulfuryl fluoride (buy organic!), iced tea, raisins, fruit juices, wine, mechanically deboned chicken, and some pharmaceuticals (e.g. cipro) and fluorinated anesthetics that metabolize to yield a free fluoride ion.  Taken together, the glut of fluoride sources in the modern diet and at the tap has created a toxic cocktail, one that has caused a dramatic increase in dental fluorosis (a tooth defect caused by excess fluoride intake) over the past 60 years. The problem with fluoride, therefore, is not that we are receiving too little, but that we are receiving too much.
The best way to avoid fluoride is to work with your friends and neighbors to get it out of your water - or keep it out of the water.  That requires organizing and education.  If you live in a fluoridated community, you can also encourage your local restaurants and coffee shops to use reverse osmosis filters to remove the fluoride. Tell them that you and your group will publicly thank them with a press release and encourage residents to frequent these thoughtful entrepreneurs in your community.  This strategy has been used by a number of campaigns in the U.S. and Ireland to gain attention and support.
FAN also offers educational resources to help you and loved ones reduce exposure from all sources.  Our goal is a world safe from fluoride, and understanding sources of exposure and how to protect yourself is an important step towards achieving it.
Please share these guides with your friends and family: 

Moms2B: Information for Pregnant Women

The Moms2B campaign was launched in April 2018 to advise pregnant women to avoid fluoride, particularly fluoridated water, because of the potential for harm to the brain of the fetus.
 FAN guides to help you reduce your exposure to fluoride

• Top 10 Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure
• FAN’s Grocery Guide: 7 Ways to Avoid Fluoride in Beverages and Food 
• 5 Ways to Protect Your Infant From Fluoride
• Top 5 Ways to Reduce Fluoride Exposure From Infant Formula
• Considerations When Buying a Water Filter

Fluoride Content in:

• Tea / Bottled Water /Processed Beverages / Fruit Juice 
• Mechanically Deboned Chicken / Fresh Food
• Dental Products
• Approved Fluoride Levels in U.S. Food
• U.S. Water Systems With Naturally High Fluoride Levels

Other Sources of Exposure:

• Industrial Workplace
• Teflon Pans
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pesticides on Food 
• Fluoride Emissions

With your help we can continue to develop more free educational materials and guidebooks in this pursuit. If you find these resources helpful and would like to see more developed, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution--why not give it to FAN instead of Uncle Sam!

Thank you,

Stuart Cooper
Campaign Director
Fluoride Action Network