In 1945, Grand
Rapids, Mich.,
became the first
city in the world to
add fluoride to its
water supply - an
effort meant to
transform ordinary
H…0 into a
dental-health
elixir. Since then,
fluoride, a toxin
with a purported
heart of gold when
it comes to
protecting your
teeth from decay,
has been debated,
doubted, defended,
derided - and added
to one water supply
after another.
Today about 170
million people in
the United States
have fluoridated
water flowing from
their taps. That
includes you if you
live in Seattle,
Woodway, Kirkland
and Redmond or
another city where
fluoride is added to
municipal supplies.
But this spring, the
venerable National
Academy of Sciences
(NAS) may have
quietly shifted the
future of
fluoridated water
supplies when it
unleashed "Fluoride
in Drinking Water: A
Review of EPA's
Standards," a
long-awaited report
(three years in the
making) commissioned
by the Environmental
Protection Agency
(EPA).
The NAS was charged
with reviewing the
EPA's current
maximum contaminant
level goal (MCLG)
for fluoride -
meaning, the amount
of fluoride that the
EPA says can be
present in drinking
water without
compromising your
health.
The NAS' conclusion:
The current MCLG of
4 parts fluoride per
million parts water
(4 ppm) is too high
to protect people
from the adverse
effects of excess
fluoride consumption
- including severe
discoloration and
pitting of tooth
enamel, weakening of
the bones, and
increased risk of
bone fractures. The
report lists
additional
fluoride-related
health risks that
warrant more
research, including
gastrointestinal
disorders, hormonal
problems and
neurotoxicity.
Bottom line: Too
much fluoride is bad
for the bones, body
and brain - and 4
ppm, a quantity of
fluoride naturally
present in some
water supplies
because of mineral
secretions from
nearby rocks and
soil - is too much
fluoride.
What is the ideal
fluoride level?
The NAS was not
tasked with
identifying what an
ideal MCLG for
fluoride would be.
And the EPA didn't
ask the academy to
assess the safety of
water fluoridation,
which is carried out
using fluoride
concentrations of
only about 1 ppm.
The NAS report
officially is silent
on both issues.
But panel members
have reached their
own conclusions
about what an
appropriate MCLG
would be - and what
it would mean for
water fluoridation.
In an e-mail
interview with Sound
Consumer, scientist
Kathleen M. Thiessen
- one of the 12
committee members
who oversaw the NAS
fluoride review -
observes, "I
personally do not
think that a
responsibly set MCLG
would be high enough
to allow for water
fluoridation."
She adds that
"information
presented in the ...
report indicates a
safe MCLG for
fluoride would be
less than 1 ppm" - a
number that would
render fluoridation
impossible. It also
would indicate that
the water many
Americans are
drinking may be
hazardous to their
health.
At least one panel
member has stated
that he believes
fluoridation is not
dangerous, but
Thiessen notes that
others on the NAS
committee share her
doubts about the
United States'
61-year-old
fluoridation
program. "I'm not
the only one," she
says.
Possible next
steps
"We're a stone's throw away from ending fluoridation ... if honest science prevails at the EPA. And that's a huge if," says Paul Connett, executive director of Fluoride Action Network and professor emeritus of chemistry at St. Lawrence University.
Although the EPA
commissioned the NAS
report, it's not
bound to the
recommendations. The
agency may not want
to make any decision
that would derail a
long-running program
that the U.S.
Centers for Disease
Control and the
American Dental
Association have
insisted is safe.
The EPA hasn't
revealed when, or
if, it will
establish a new cap
on fluoride in
drinking water.
So, for now, what
are 170 million
fluoridated water
drinkers supposed to
do?
Certain types of
water filters can
reduce fluoride
substantially, but
"then,
unfortunately,
having spent a
fortune, this
doesn't do any good
with every cup of
coffee you have
downtown," Connett
says.
That's why he
suggests pushing the
EPA to act sooner
rather than, say, 10
years later on the
NAS' call to lower
the MCLG for
fluoride in drinking
water - and rallying
your municipal
government for a
change: "Tell [city]
authorities to stop
this until the
research has been
done," Connett says.
"It's as easy," he
adds, "as turning
off a tap."
Provided by Paul Connett of Fluoride Action Network
