FLUORIDE IN WATER
Fluoride in Water—Good intentions based on bad science: Australia is fluoridating drinking water, while Europe long ago banned fluoride because of its high toxicity.
Why have other countries banned fluoride? Below is a list of some countries that never have or no longer fluoridate. Fluoridation is outdated science. In 2014 Israel joined a growing list of countries to ban fluoride in drinking water.
What do European and other Governments know that our Australian Government doesn’t about fluoride in water?
| Israel | Italy | Egypt | Czech Republic |
| Iceland | Finland | Belgium | Croatia |
| Sweden | Norway | Germany | Austria |
| France | Hungary | Greece | Denmark |
| Japan | Luxemburg | Netherlands | Northern Ireland |
WHAT WE FOUND OUT SHOCKED US
Fluoride in water—fluorosilicic acid (dangerous goods class 8) comes under many different names; the Standard classifies all for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons (SUDP) as S7 poisons; and as health, physicochemical and ecotoxicological (environmental) hazards according to Australia’s National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC).
When we heard that the water we drank and bathed in was being contaminated with fluorosilicic acid, we had to investigate. The authorities believe there are benefits to our teeth, but we wondered – were there other effects?
Fluoride in water – causes cancer.
Dr Dean Burk – Fluoride causes cancer from AHA Structured Water on Vimeo.
FLUORIDE IN WATER – WE DISCOVERED
- Fluorosilicic acid, or sodium silicofluoride, commonly known as fluoride, is a by-product of the phosphate fertiliser industry.
- Fluorosilicic acid from this source is also contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, aluminium, chromium, mercury, beryllium, cadmium, hydrogen fluoride and barium.
- Fluoride is an industrial waste product that would cost the manufacturer millions to dispose of if they could not re-label it and sell it to local councils to add to our water supply – for us to bathe, shower, cook with, drink, and give to our pets.
- Fluoride is an S7 poison* (others are Arsenic, Cyanide, Fluoroacetic acid, Fluoroacetamide, Hydrocyanic acid, Strychnine, and Thallium).
Scientific research published in peer-reviewed journals has found the following adverse effects.
- Fluoride is linked to lowered IQ in 23 studies at 1.9 ppm. Fluoride from other food and drink sources can easily exceed this amount.
- Increased bone density, increased bone brittleness – higher rates of hip fracture.
- Endocrine system disruption (thyroid gland, pineal gland, and glucose metabolism)
- Fluoride in excess causes skeletal fluorosis. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) stated in 1977 that, for the average individual, a retention of 2 mg/day would result in crippling skeletal fluorosis after 40 years.
- Fluoride in water goes by many names: Fluorosilicic acid, hydrofluorosilicic acid, and silicofluoric acid – fluorosilicates are derivative compounds of hexafluorosilicic acid in water. The fluoride ion is an effective carrier used in many fluorinated pharmaceutical drugs Prozac and Rohypnol are two examples. Fluorinated pesticides, inorganic compounds known as organo-fluorines, cryolite (sodium aluminium fluoride) pesticides used on food, and sulfuryl fluoride, a food fumigant, fungicide, insecticide used in homes, offices, libraries and public environments. Fluoride as sodium silicofluoride is an insecticide and rodenticide – rat poison. Sodium fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is used in baits to kill dingoes.
RESPONSIBILITIES
We assume that the Government voted in by ‘we the people’ have our best interests at heart. Our oral health is so important, and we, too, want the best, healthiest teeth. We want our dental appointments to be problem-free once in a while and to feel reassured that the future of our children’s teeth is taken care of. A beautiful smile is important to our self-esteem, and a beautiful smile is everyone’s right.
The Australian Dental Association (ADA) and the Australian Government say they uphold the fluoridation of the nation’s water supply to prevent tooth decay in children and adults alike. To date, 90% of Australia’s municipal water supplies are fluoridated.
As recently as 2013, the ADA made a public statement reiterating their support of a 2007 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)** review, which strongly endorsed water fluoridation.
Yet countries that are not fluoridated have similar declining rates of dental decay as countries that fluoridate – see graph from the World Health Organization (WHO) 2005 (see graph below).
Fluoride in water – World Health Organisation Results 2005
What if our Government’s statistics are obsolete? What if the ADA only looks at one perceived benefit – the prevention of tooth decay?
What if our policymakers are too busy due to a heavy bureaucratic workload and huge amounts of information they are asked to read and understand? After all, they are not scientists but ordinary people that have to rely on the expertise of others.
Only seven countries in the developed world impose fluoridation on more than 50% of their population. They are Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Southern Ireland, the United States and Columbia.
FLUORIDE IN WATER – HARVARD STUDIES
In a review of 27 studies, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and China Medical University researchers reported a dose-dependent relationship between fluoride in water and lower IQ in children. The study, Developmental Fluoride Neurotoxicity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, found a reduction in IQ of as much as seven decrement points with fluoride levels of as little as .88 ppm (Choi, Grandjean, Sun, & Zhang, 2012). In their conclusion, the researchers stated, “potential developmental neurotoxicity of fluoride should be a high research priority” (p. 1367). “Fluoride seems to fit in with lead, mercury, and other poisons that cause chemical brain drain…The effect of each toxicant may seem small, but the combined damage on a population scale can be serious, especially because the brain power of the next generation is crucial to all of us.” Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Two steps first, get your water structured and second, get your water filtered. Choose a filter that will filter out Fluoride. The combination of the two is most likely the best available solution.
RESOURCES:
Australia’s National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC). http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
National Code of Practice for Preparing Material Safety Data Sheets, [NOHSC:2011(2003)]. http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/
Australian Code for Transporting Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail, 7th Edition, Australian Government, Publishing Service, Canberra, October 2007.
Bassin, E. B. (2001). Association between fluoride in drinking water during growth and development and the incidence of osteosarcoma for children and adolescents. Doctoral Thesis, Harvard School of Dental Medicine. For a Commentary on Elise Bassin’s findings on fluoride exposure and osteosarcoma, see: Part I: Revisiting the Fluoride-Osteosarcoma connection in the context of Elise Bassin’s findings, Dr Paul Connett, Chris Neurath and Michael Connett submitted to the NRC review panel on the Toxicology of Fluoride in Water March 2, 2005. http://www.fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/fan-bassin.2006a.pdf
Bassin, E. B., Mittleman, M. A., Wypij, D., Joshipura, K., Douglass, C. W. (2004). Problems in exposure assessment of fluoride in drinking water. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 64, 45-9.
Choi, A. L., Grandjean, P., Sun, G., & Zhang, Y.,(2012). Developmental fluoride neurotoxicity: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(10), 1362-1368. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1104912. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ehp.1104912.pdf
Choi, A. L. & Grandjean, P. (2012). Statement on fluoride paper. Anna Choi, a research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at HSPH (Harvard School of Public Health), is the lead author. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at HSPH, is the senior author. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/files/2012/07/Media-Statement_Fluoride-9-12-12-Revised2.pdf
Choi, A. L. & Grandjean, P. (2007). Potentials for developmental fluoride neurotoxicity. XXVIITHConference of the International Society for Fluoride Research, October 9-12, 2007, Beijing, China.
Cohn, P. D. (1992). An epidemiological report on drinking water fluoridation and osteosarcoma in young males. New Jersey Department of Health, Environmental Health Service, Trenton, NJ. http://www.trueactivist.com/15-facts-most-people-dont-know-about-fluoride/
Connett, P. (2002). The absurdities of water fluoridation. Red Flags Weekly. http://fluoridealert.org/articles/absurdity/
Connett, P., Beck, J., & Micklem, H. S. (2010). The case against fluoride: How hazardous waste ended up in our drinking water and the bad science and powerful politics that keep it there. US, Chelsea Green.
Ding, Y., YanhuiGao, Sun, H., Han, H., Wang, W., Ji X., Liu, X., Sun, D. (2011). The relationships between low levels of urine fluoride on children’s intelligence, dental fluorosis in endemic fluorosis areas in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 186(2-3), 1942-6.
Dwyer, M. (2012). Impact of fluoride on neurological development in children. Grandjean, P., & Choi, A. L. (2012). http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/fluoride-childrens-health-grandjean-choi/
FAN, Fluoride Action Network. http://fluoridealert.org/
Fluosilicic acid, hydrofluorosilicic acid, silicofluoric acid. classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Class 1 Hazardous Waste. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/english/pet_221_e_30308.html
Fluosilicic acid, (Fluoride) Other names: 2001 – Toxicological Summary for Sodium Hexafluorosilicate [CASRN 16893-85-9] and Fluorosilicic Acid [CASRN 16961-83-4].
Fluosilicic acid (Fluoride) Other names: 2001 – Toxicological Summary for Sodium
Hexafluorosilicate [CASRN 16893-85-9] and Fluorosilicic Acid [CASRN 16961-83-4].TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank. Review of Toxicological Literature. Prepared for Scott Masten, PhD, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/chem_background/exsumpdf/fluoro silicates_508.pdf
Also available at:
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Fluorosilicates.NIH.2001.pdf
Fluosilicic acid, hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6), Declan Waugh, Environmental Scientist. (2012). Banned biocide/pesticide used to fluoridate water supplies in Ireland.http://ffwireland.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/banned-biocidepesticide-used-to.html
Fluosilicic acid, Safety Data Sheet.
http://www.csbp.com.au/Media/MSDS/AN/MSDS_Fluorosilicic_Acid.aspx
http://ffwireland.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/banned-biocidepesticide-used-to.html
Fluosilicic acid, Review of Toxicological Literature. Prepared for Scott Masten, PhD, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/chem_background/exsumpdf/fluoro silicates_508.pdf
Also available at:
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Fluorosilicates.NIH.2001.pdf
Hedlund, L. R. & Gallagher, J. C. (1989). Increased incidence of hip fracture in osteoporotic women treated with sodium fluoride. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 4, 223-225.
Hillier, S, Cooper, C., Kellingray, S., et al. (2000). Fluoride in drinking water and risk of hip fracture in the UK: a case-control study, Lancet, 355, 265-269. http://www.fluoridation.com/lee-jr.htm
Lee, J. R. (2000). A critique by John R. Lee, M. D. (2000). Fluoride, 33,1. Michael A. Lennon, Department of Oral Health and Development, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Mercola, J. (2013). How to help fluoride toxicity. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/24/fluoride-toxicity.aspx
National Academy of Sciences (1977). Drinking Water and Health. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. pp. 388-389.
National Health and Medical Research Council, NHMRC (2007). Public Statement: Efficacy and Safety of Fluoridation. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/eh41
National Health and Medical Research Council, NHMRC (1991). The effectiveness of water fluoridation. Canberra: NHMRC 1991:7.6.2.
National Research Council (2006). Fluoride in drinking water: A scientific review of EPA’s standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Petersen, P. E. (2004). Oral Health Programme, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Effective use of fluorides for the prevention of dental caries in the 21st century: the WHO approach. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 32:319-21.
Phosphate fertilizer industry. Sinkhole in the gypsum stack. Paragraph 13. Wastewater Issues. http://fluoridealert.org/articles/phosphate01/
RISCTOX, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), ISTAS (Union Institute of Work, Environment and Health). hexafluorosilicic acid. Regulations on restriction/prohibition of substances. Banned biocides. http://www.istas.net/risctox/en/index.asp?idpagina=607
Sulfuryl fluoride. Food fumigant. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/11/sulfuryl-fluoride-what-is-it-the-story-so-far.aspx
Walker, G. S. R. (2009). Chairman of the Anti-Fluoridation Association of Victoria. www.fluoridationfacts.com/ausfnews/aprjun09/afn0904.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO) 2005. (World Health Organization Data (2004) – Tooth decay trends (12-year-olds) in fluoridated vs un-fluoridated countries.
