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| 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. FLUORIDES IN WATER AND LEAD LEVELS AUG. 31, 1999 - DARTMOUTH NEWS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: HANOVER, N.H. -Although the dangers of lead poisoning have been known for years, substantial numbers of children continue to suffer from blood lead above danger level of 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood (10µg/dL). A study published this month in the International Journal of Environmental Studies, and led by Roger Masters, Emeritus Professor of Government at Dartmouth, describes a factor that is correlated with higher lead levels in children. Analyzing a survey of over 280,000 Massachusetts children, the investigators found that silicofluorides - chemicals widely used in treating public water supplies - are associated with an increase in children's absorption of lead. The research team included Myron J. Coplan, retired Vice President of Albany International and principal of Intellequity, Natick, Mass., and Brian T. Hone, research associate at Dartmouth College. In their analysis, the investigators found that levels of lead in children's blood was significantly higher in Massachusetts communities using the silicofluorides fluosilicic acid and sodium silicofluoride than in towns where water is treated with sodium fluoride or not fluoridated at all. Compared to a matched group of 30 towns that do not use silicofluorides, children in 30 communities that use these chemicals were over twice as likely to have over 10µg/dL of blood lead. "Silicofluorides are largely untested," said Professor Masters, who pointed out that over 90 percent of America's fluoridated drinking water supplies are treated with silicofluorides. "Virtually all research on fluoridation safety has focused on sodium fluoride, even though the studies in the 1930s showed important biological differences between these chemicals. The correlation with blood levels is especially serious because lead poisoning is associated with higher rates of learning disabilities, hyperactivity, substance abuse and crime." Since completing the Massachusetts study, the investigators have analyzed data from rural counties in six additional states as well as in the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES III). The results, which have not yet been published, find a correlation between silicofluorides and blood lead levels, as well as higher rates of violent crime and substance abuse. Masters will summarize these findings in a plenary lecture at a meeting of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 9 a.m. The research was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training and by The Earhart Foundation, which integrates scientific discoveries in neuroscience, environmental chemistry, and human behavior. Also see: Poisoning the Well: Neurotoxic Metals, Water Treatment, and Human Behavior by Roger D. Masters Roger Masters is the Nelson A. Rockefeller Professor of Government Emeritus at Dartmouth College. He can be reached at 603/646-1029 or Roger.D.Masters@Dartmouth.edu. Myron Coplan, the principal of Intellequity, can be reached at 508/653/6147 or email at MikeCoplan@aol.com. |