F.A.N. Newsletter

 The Greatest Threat To Non-Fluoridated Communities Is Here

The U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has partnered with the chemical industry to target 19 million residents in 32,000 small and medium sized communities across the United States that do not add fluoridation chemicals to the public drinking water. Using your tax dollars, the CDC provided funds to private business to develop a fluoridation delivery product for water systems serving between 50 and 10,000 people.  The widespread sale and promotion of this new product will start in January throughout the US, Canada, and Australia. The American Dental Association (ADA) has joined the CDC in pushing this new strategy. FAN is responding with our own new technology to defend the public's drinking water, which we will explain in tomorrow's bulletin.

In July, the CDC held a "Public Health Grand Rounds" presentation on fluoridation.  While there was no mention of the large number of new studies linking low levels of fluoride and fluoridated water to neurotoxicity, this was essentially an infomercial for a new technology that the CDC and ADA were calling "a game changer" in their efforts to expand fluoridation.  Below is a slide from that presentation, where you can see they intend to increase the percentage of fluoridated water systems from 73% to 77%--representing 19 million people on 32,000 water systems--by 2030. 

This goal isn't exactly new.  The CDC and ADA have utilized a number of strategies over the past decade to expand the practice, but largely due to FAN and our network of local volunteers and professionals, the number of fluoridating communities has actually decreased, while the population served has increased slightly due to urban growth. Some tactics they've tried, and continue to utilize, included introducing statewide mandate legislation in places like New Jersey and Hawaii, as well as providing federal and state funding for fluoride equipment and public relations campaigns. FAN has successfully helped fight off these mandates, working closely with legislators, local organizers, and private water companies.  And while the equipment grants have certainly slowed the trend of communities ending fluoridation when aging equipment breaks, it hasn't stopped it, because now more communities are also considering the numerous studies showing harm.

Now the pro-fluoridation lobby has a new strategy:

To accomplish this significant increase over the next 8 years they intend to utilize a new fluoridation system specifically designed to be simple and cheap enough for even the smallest water systems, which could include private systems, or even colleges and public schools.  They're calling it the "New Wave Fluoridation System." It utilizes compacted sodium fluorosilicate in a tablet form designed to dissolve over time in a small amount of water, much like the deodorizer tablets used in urinals.

We have learned that this process started in 2013, when CDC's Chief Fluoridation Engineer, Kip Duchon, suggested that the CDC help develop a product that was feasible for small and rural communities. Soon thereafter the CDC announced a Small Business Innovation Research grant opportunity for private business to develop and test the idea.  KC Industries, of Mulbery, Florida was awarded two large grants, one to develop the tablet and the other to develop the injection/feeder system.   

KC Industries is a small chemical manufacturer with a handful of employees.  According to their website, “The plant was built by Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation and began producing Sodium Fluorosilicate in 1957 as a raw material to manufacture aluminum.”  KC Industries purchased the facility in 1999 and appears to have focused heavily on the “dry” fluoride drinking water additive market with Sodium Fluoride.  Here is their page on their Sodium Fluoride product; it’s worth a quick look.

Over the past twenty years, more communities have switched their additive to fluorosilicic acid, which is an incredibly dangerous and corrosive liquid, but is cheaper.  This led to a massive decline in sales of dry additives, and KC Industries' profits. According to their press release, they were struggling until the CDC's grant, which they say provided "a new lease on life" for the chemical company. They're expecting "an immediate return on investment" as communities clamor for the new system.

The New Wave Fluoridation system will be marketed by DuBois Chemicals throughout North America starting on Jan. 1, 2022. KC Industry representatives have said that interest in the system has come from around the world — including Canada and Australia — and that they expect to be implementing the system soon in communities in Colorado and Georgia, followed by an additional half-dozen communities within the first few months.

The CDC employee who initiated this process, Kip Duchon, has retired from the CDC and is now a consultant to the ADA’s National Fluoridation Advisory Committee.  Even as a CDC employee he apparently worked closely with the pro-fluoridation lobby.  Here’s a photo of him as a government employee alongside a co-founder and board member of the American Fluoridation Society, wearing their t-shirt.

I suspect Duchon's consulting services to the ADA's fluoridation advisory committee will focus on promoting this new technology. The ADA has already called it a "game-changer" and lobbied Congressional members to include taxpayer funding for this technology in the recent Infrastructure Bill. FAN also reached out to these congressional members, and while the ADA's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, the Infrastructure bill does provide some general funding for drinking water improvements focused on sustainability, security, and lead removal. I suspect the ADA will continue to lobby for federal funding in future budgets and bills, and will attempt to have local and state governments re-allocate and misuse some of these infrastructure funds in the meantime. FAN will continue to track and combat any of these attempts.

Meanwhile, the CDC continues to give very large taxpayer funded grants to states to pay for public relations campaigns to promote fluoridation.  FAN asked them to suspend this practice, and in response they agreed to organize a meeting with experts on fluoride neurotoxicity.

FAN will be working to stop this expansion of fluoridation. We have to, because our health and the safety of our drinking water depends on it.  Please join us in this effort.

Thank you,

Stuart Cooper
Campaign Director
Fluoride Action Network