More communities are ending the practice of adding fluoride to the water supply, prompted by local government budget squeezes and growing skepticism about the health benefits.
As The New York Times reports, Pinellas County on Florida’s west coast voted to stop its seven-year-old fluoridation program. The county joins about 200 jurisdictions from Georgia to Alaska that have decided to halt fluoridation in the last four years.
The federal government continues to recommend water fluoridation, which began in the 1940s and today cover 72 percent of the U.S. population. Officials said the programs remain important because many people cannot afford dental care.
But the government’s recent cautionary advice about risks of excessive fluoride have helped fuel the growing pushback, which once came mostly from political fringe groups such as the John Birch Society. A report last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked fluoride to an increase among children in dental fluorosis, which causes white or yellow spots on teeth.
Fluorosis is mostly a cosmetic problem that can sometimes be bleached away but critics argue that it can signal that other bones in the body may be absorbing too much fluoride, which is associated with increases in bone fractures, pain and tenderness.
Also fueling resistance is the presence of fluoride in toothpaste and mouthwash. Even supporters acknowledge that putting fluoride in the water supply is less effective than applying it directly to the teeth through brushing.
Still, supporters say the trend will hurt public health. “Political rhetoric won out over science and the best advice of our medical and dental community,” said Kenneth T. Welch, a Pinellas County commissioner who wanted to continue adding fluoride to the water
STUART SILVERSTEIN
Related Post:
Filtered Drinking Water Comes With a Possible Catch: Tooth Decay
Seven NYC Council Members sponsored legislation and residents are petitioning Mayor Bloomberg to stop fluoridation, to preserve money and health. Join them:
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-fluoridation-in-new-york-city
Fluoride is more toxic than lead and only slightly less toxic than arsenic. Yet they decide to put this carcinogenic neurotoxin in the American water supply. And there have been multiple studies that show that fluoride actually INCREASES the incidence of cavities not to mention causing dental damage such as dental fluorosis. Brittle, cracked, pitted, stained teeth are not healthy teeth. Just because it doesn’t get counted as a cavity doesn’t mean it isn’t dental DAMAGE. Now that fluoride is added to 72% of the nations tap water, we now have toxic silicofluorides (pollution) in our processed foods, cereals, soft drinks, beer, tea, baby food, infant formula, etc. Just because it isn’t labeled doesn’t mean it isn’t in there. Fluoride in tap water does not evaporate. You can’t simply “cook it out”. Cooking with fluoridated tap water simply concentrates (increases) it in your food, beverages, and water. Fluoride is also absorbed through the skin when bathing, showering, or swimming in a fluoridated pool. There is no way the government can keep up with how much is being ingested by the human body on an individual level. Babies are only able to excrete about 10% to 15% of ingested fluoride. Adults with normally functioning kidneys can excrete up to 50% of ingested fluoride. The rest accumulates in your body over your lifetime contributing to many health problems such as hypothyroidism, lowered IQ in children, dental and skeletal fluorosis, arthritis, cancer, etc. Fluoride is used in rat and roach poison because it is toxic. Our children deserve better than this. There is no “correct dosage” of fluoride unless you happen to be a rat or a roach. Everyone agrees that too much fluoride is toxic but when was the last time your doctor or dentist measured your individual fluoride levels in your body? This is nothing short of insanity.
Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor essential for healthy teeth. It cures nothing and heals nothing and has never been tested or approved by FDA as safe and effective for human ingestion.
There are many large scientific studies to show that drinking fluoridated water has no positive effect on cavity reduction and to show that it causes cancer, thyroid damage, broken hips from brittle bones, lowered IQ and other health problems. The best source for scientific information on fluoridation can be found here: (www.fluoridealert.org).
If fluoride were “proven,” there should be evidence of its success in the U.S. state, Kentucky, which has been 100% fluoridated for over 40 years. However, government records show that Kentucky leads the nation in the number of dental cavities in children, and in the number of completely toothless adults. The same ineffectiveness is evident in many states and cities.
Most of Europe (16 countries) has considered and has rejected fluoridation and is 98% fluoride free. The World Health Organization reports that these countries have a better tooth decay rate than any fluoridated country.