AMERICA: OVERDOSED ON FLUORIDE
by Lynn Landes & Maria Bechis, updated June 2016
NEWS: LEAD AND FLUORIDE: Feb 10, 2016 - Fluoridation: Worsening the Lead Crisis in Flint, and Beyond http://fluoridealert.org/articles/fluoridation_flint_lead/ more info below
FLUORIDE SUMMARY: Fluoride is a toxic substance that causes bone and tooth decay (including dental and skeletal fluorosis, bone pathology, arthritis, and osteoporosis) Alzheimer's, memory loss and other neurological impairment, kidney damage, cancer, genetic damage, and gastrointestinal problems.
Although the Federal Government set “maximum contaminant levels” for fluoride in humans, it is impossible to
control “fluoride exposure” due to the fluoride added to municipal water, medicines, food, drinks, & consumer products.
- 41% of all children have dental fluorosis, which can only come from fluoride
- fluoride is in many medications, dental products, processed food & drinks, and municipal water systems
- over 70% of all U.S. municipal water systems are fluoridated, using a type of fluoride that
is a hazardous waste product of several industries - fluoride leaches "lead" from pipes & soldering in public & private water systems
- The American Dental Association supports fluoridation
- The Journal of the American Dental Association was long warned about over-exposure
- fluoridation of public drinking water is banned in most countries
"...fluoride (that is added to municipal water) is a hazardous waste product...for which there is substantial evidence of adverse health effects and, contrary to public perception, virtually no evidence of significant benefits," says Dr. William Hirzy, Vice President, Chapter 280 of the National Treasury Employees Union, EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
At least 41% of American children now have dental fluorosis as a result of ingesting too much fluoride, according to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db53.htm. That rate may be higher in children from high socioeconomic-status families and those who live in fluoridated communities, according to a July 1998 report from The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and corroborated in several reports published since 1995 in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA-see below). Fluorosis is the discoloration and, in advanced cases, the pitting of teeth. Bleaching is not effective.
The more serious health concern is that dental fluorosis is not the only harmful health effect that results from overexposure to fluoride. Fluoride has been linked in government and scientific reports to a wide range of harmful health effects, including: bone and tooth decay (including dental and skeletal fluorosis, bone pathology, arthritis, and osteoporosis) Alzheimer's, memory loss and other neurological impairment, kidney damage, cancer, genetic damage, and gastrointestinal problems. In addition, fluoride has been found to leach lead from old water pipes and soldering material, which has resulted in increased lead levels in people.
Americans, even in unfluoridated communities, are suffering serious harmful health effects from overexposure to fluoride due to its widespread and uncontrolled use. Fluoride can be found in any food or beverage made with fluoridated municipal water. Less than 2% of Western Europe drink fluoridated water compared to over 60% of the United States population.
Federal and state public health agencies and large dental and medical organizations, such as the American Dental Association, continue to promote fluoride despite growing evidence that it is harmful to public health and the environment. This is also despite EPA’s own scientists, whose union, Chapter 280 of the National Treasury Employees Union, has taken a strong stand against fluoride.
Fluoride is not an essential nutrient. It has never received "FDA Approval" (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). It is listed as an "unapproved new drug" by the FDA, and as a "contaminant" by the EPA. Although calcium fluoride can occur naturally, the type of fluoride (sodium) added to municipal water is a hazardous waste product of the aluminum industry, phosphate fertilizer industry, and other industries.
There is no margin of safety for fluoride exposure. In the 1940’s, when fluoridation began, the "optimal" level of exposure for dental benefit was determined to be 1 milligram/day for an adult male. Even at that level, 10% of the population were expected to contract dental fluorosis. It was estimated that adult males drank 1 liter of water per day. At that time, other sources of fluoride were scarce.
1986: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set new "maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)" for fluoride in water. Above 2 mg/liter "children are likely to develop objectionable dental fluorosis" and parents must be officially notified. Above 4 mg/liter, individuals are at risk of developing "crippling skeletal fluorosis." It is against federal law to fluoridate water above 4 mg/liter.
1991: The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), in their Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, published an analysis & table of fluoride exposure levels (for a 110-pound adult) from food, beverages, toothpaste, and mouthwash. Note: The HHS data indicates that HHS was aware in 1991 that the public was already overexposed to fluoride. The table below is an analysis of the HHS data table.
| Fluoride Concentration in Drinking Water | Total Fluoride Intake | % Over 1 mg "Optimal" Dosage |
| Unfluoridated Communities < 0.3 mg/L | 0.88 - 2.20 mg/day | as much as 120 % |
| "Optimally" Fluoridated 0.7-1.2 mg/L | 1.58 - 6.60 mg/day | as much as 560 % |
| Fluoridated communities > 2.0 mg/L | 2.10 - 7.05 mg/day | possible > 605 % |
1993: The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated in its Toxicological Profile on Fluoride, "Existing data indicate that subsets of the population may be unusually susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride and its compounds. These populations include the elderly, people with deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, and/or vitamin C, and people with cardiovascular and kidney problems... Postmenopausal women and elderly men in fluoridated communities may also be at increased risk of fractures."
1994: The American Dental Association's (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs approved a new Fluoride Supplementation Dosage Schedule with the following cautions, "All sources of fluoride must be evaluated with a thorough fluoride history.... Patient exposure to multiple sources can make proper prescribing complex." The ADA does not point out in their recommendations that multiple sources of fluoride include processed foods and beverages, which also makes it impossible to determine fluoride exposure or control it.
1995-2000: The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA’s Dec. 1995, July 1996, July 1997, March 1999, June 2000) has published a series of studies reporting on pervasive overexposure to fluoride due to "the widespread use of fluoridated water, fluoride dentifrice, dietary fluoride supplements and other forms of fluoride...{There is} an increased prevalence of dental fluorosis, ranging from about 15% to 65% in fluoridated areas and 5% to 40% in non-fluoridated areas in North America." In February of 1997, The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), representing 35,000 dentists, warned parents to limit their children’s intake of juices due to fluoride content.
NOTE: Reports and studies sometimes use different measurements for, essentially, the same value. For example: Both milligrams per liter (mg/l) or micrograms per gram (ug/g) = parts per million (ppm).
more ZWA REPORTS:
Alzheimer's in America: The Aluminum - Phosphate Fertilizer Connection
- The ADA and Liability For Fluoride Overexposure (Released July 22, 1998)
- Legal Issues of Public Water Fluoridation - This appears to be a home study course for dentists to fend off any legal action against them regarding fluoride and fluoridation. They stress they aren't siding with anti-fluoridation information but make a point of Mullenix 1995 work, lead information, total fluoride intake and more.
- The Practical Case Against Fluoridation
- Jan 7, 1999: ADA Spokesperson REFUTES News Reports That Bottled Water Causes Cavities
- ZWA Press Release: Nov 2, 1998: Anti-Fluoride Activists Want Balanced News Coverage (i.e., unfluoridated bottled water fiasco)
FLUORIDE SUPPLEMENTS: Government data indicates that dentists should NOT prescribe supplements. In 1991, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, published the estimated intake of fluoride for Americans, at as much as 120% over the assigned 'optimum dosage' of 1 milligram/day in unfluoridated areas and 605% in fluoridated areas (SEE HHS'S Summary-Daily Fluoride Intake of Adults Table) & AMERICA:OVERDOSED ON FLUORIDE
ZWA ASKS: Why is Beech-Nut selling BEECH-NUT SPRING WATER, FLUORIDE ADDED, when even the American Dental Association (with its contradictory recommendations on fluoride & fluoridation), recommends NO fluoride supplements for most babies, 3 years and under? (See: Fluoride Supplementation Dosage Schedule)
| FLUORIDE & LEAD Fluoride contributes to increased amounts of LEAD in drinking water
LEAD-NUMBER 1 HAZARD TO CHILDREN, according to the EPA. Lead can be found in old paints, dusts, solder, soils, and in fluoridated water (see above). Although the use of lead in U.S. gasoline declined since 1985, other sources inject about 2 billion kilograms of lead into the atmosphere in this country each year. An estimated 1.7 million children in the United States have unacceptably high levels of lead in their blood. National Institute of Health & (Source: 1998 Cornell Study). According to the NRC, "the pandemic scale of lead contamination... has increased lead concentrations throughout the Northern Hemisphere by a factor of at least 10." The northern half of the planet now has at least 10 times as much lead in soil and water as it had before the arrival of Europeans in North America. Source: Rachel's # 541. See: ZWA's LEAD page. |
LISTEN HERE - CHECK OUT:
FLUORIDE NEWS!
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FLUORIDE WEBSITES Check-out these great sites for many more studies & abstracts!
STUDENT WEBSITE:
EXPERTS ON FLUORIDE
Heggen, Phil: Deceased / September 1999:Jackson County, Oregon, Stop Fluoridation USA . " |
U.S. GOVERNMENT "Fluoride" WEBSITES:
Note: For additional information, conduct "fluoride" searches of agency websites.
- Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
- National Institute of Health
- Environmental Protection Agency
| FLUORIDE INFORMATION CONSUMERS:
MEDICAL & HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: Use a Holistic Dentist ... for help in your fight against fluoride in your community AND for an accurate diagnosis of fluorosis
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| A Tall Texas Tale The following is in response to a fluoride proponent who wrote to ZWA. He believed that people who live in the Texas panhandle are exposed to 9-12 ppm fluoride and suffer no harmful health effects (except fluorosis) despite exposure to these localized, high naturally occurring fluoride levels. ZWA's Response: The amount of naturally occurring fluoride in Texas has been exaggerated. In 1969, US Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare (as it was called then) reported that in 1935 the highest level of fluoride was 8.0 ppm in Bartlett. Defluoridation was begun there in the 1950's. However, by 1969, testing methods were improved by the Public Service. They reported the following fluoride levels: Amarillo (3.9-5.6 ppm), Lubbock (3.8-4.2), Spur (3.8), Post (6.0), Lamesa (5.2), Plainview (2.9), Midland (2.5-3.6), Herefore (3.2), Slaton (5.2), and Loveland (3.5). |