William Gralnick's opinion column (July 14th) shows
ignorance of current scientific issues in the fluoridation debate and
contains gratuitous insults about those who oppose the procedure. As SE
Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee, he should know better
than to box opponents into a category and label them with epithets such as
"loony-tunes." But Mr. Gralnick is typical of those who have fallen for the
relentless 55-year fluoridation promotion which has always consisted of
unsubstantiated guarantees of safety and efficacy, meaningless endorsements,
and systematic denigration of all opposition. Today, however, anyone can
easily access the truth by going to any Internet search engine and typing
the words, "Fluoridation Health Effects." One click and you will get to
those facts that have been too long hidden from the general public.
New York City's drinking water is no longer the "sweetest and purest"
described by Gralnick. In January, 2003, the NYC Dept. of Environmental
Protection suspended fluoridation for at least four months while "critical
system repairs" were being done. Hydrofluosilic acid, the main chemical used
for fluoridation, has a highly corrosive effect on water supply pipes and
equipment and it has taken its toll in New York City. This is also a likely
contributor to the serious problems with fluoridated water facilities in the
Glades cities. Since the County Commission cannot afford to immediately
build the new water facility desperately needed and promised to the people
in those western communities, it would be irresponsible to waste hundreds of
thousands of dollars on fluoridating unincorporated areas of Palm Beach
County. A vote on this is scheduled by the Commission for August 26th.
More than 50 years after the start of artificial fluoridation, we are all
overdosed on fluoride, a cumulative poison (read your toothpaste label)
rated more toxic than lead and slightly less toxic than arsenic. Fluoride
reaches us from water, toothpaste, dental treatments, fluoride air
pollution, fluorinated medications and food and beverages containing
fluoride pesticide residues and/or processed with fluoridated water. The
Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Summer, l997 reported that 66 percent of
children in fluoridated areas have dental fluorosis (permanently spotted or
discolored teeth) and over 30 percent of children in non-fluoridated areas
also show this visible sign of fluoride overexposure. The American Academy
of Pediatrics lowered dosages for fluoride supplementation for all children
in 1995 and pediatricians should no longer prescribe fluoride supplements
for infants from birth to age 6 months, even in totally non-fluoridated
areas. Consequently, infants drinking formula prepared with fluoridated
water are overmedicated and are at high risk for dental fluorosis.
Government reports state that African-American children are afflicted by
dental fluorosis at twice the rates of white American children.
A Congressional Investigation by the House Committee on Science in 2000
revealed there are no federal safety standards for fluoridated water and the
silicofluoride chemicals used for 91 percent of fluoridation have never been
approved for safety or efficacy by any government agency. Further, the U.S.
EPA admitted to the Committee that there are no safety studies at all for
ingestion of the silicofluoride chemicals. (See www.keepers-of-the-well.org
for Congressional documents.) Silicofluorides are industrial grade waste
products that come directly from the chimney scrubbers of the phosphate
fertilizer plants in central Florida. They are contaminated with arsenic,
lead, mercury, cadmium and radioactive elements, all of which end up in our
drinking water and add to the health risks of fluoridation. Recently
published peer-reviewed studies report that children drinking silicofluoride
treated water have significantly higher blood lead levels than children in
non-fluoridated areas. This alone is reason to end water fluoridation
immediately.
In July, 2000, the cornerstone of the fluoridation program was decimated by
the lead story in the Journal of the American Dental Association which
revealed that there is virtually no benefit from incorporating fluoride into
tooth enamel during the early childhood years and that any alleged benefits
from fluoride are primarily from topical exposure after the teeth have
erupted. This has been confirmed by U.S. Public Health Service publications
and by evidence from Western Europe where tooth decay rates have declined as
much as in the U.S. even though less than 2 percent of the population there
is fluoridated. In order to salvage the fluoridation program, promoters
created a new theory which claims that fluoride's benefits come from
continuous "bathing of the teeth" in fluoridated water. Common sense tells
us that brushing the teeth with fluoridated toothpaste, which contains 1,000
or more parts per million of fluoride, is far more effective than "teeth
bathing" with fluoridated water that contains one part per million or less.
Clearly, there is no longer any rationale for fluoridating drinking water
supplies. Please visit www.fluoridealert.org for an understanding of the
economic motives behind fluoridation as well as documentation of its many
harmful effects on human health.
As Mr. Gralnick wrote, fluoridation is a "No Brainer." Everyone in Palm
Beach County should contact their City and County officials to demand an end
to this outdated procedure that randomly, harmfully, and unnecessarily
medicates the public while adding tons of toxic industrial waste products to
our fragile and endangered water supplies and ecosystems.
Naomi Flack
Co-founder, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation
