It used to be that opposition to fluoride -- especially fluoridating water supplies -- was considered akin to walking around wearing a tin-foil hat. But concerns about fluoride have gained increasing validity in recent years. And never more so than with the publication this month of an article in Scientific American. The article, titled Second Thoughts on Fluoride, looks at the fluoride controversy, and the fact that the attitudes about fluoridation among scientists are starting to shift. Mainstream scientists and experts are becoming increasingly vocal about the risks of too much fluoride. Scientific American's editors write: "Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland."
The article's author, Dan Fagin, is an award-wining environmental reporter and Director of New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. He writes: "There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily intake of fluoride." And according to Fagin, some of the researchers he talked to even wonder whether the 1 mg/L that is added into drinking water is too much.
The article discusses the 3-year research process of a committee at the National Research Council (NRC), which, according to Fagin: "concluded that fluoride can subtly alter endocrine function, especially in the thyroid -- the gland that produces hormones regulating growth and metabolism." In addition to the thyroid concerns, Fagin discusses expert findings regarding dental fluorosis, lowered IQ levels, risks of bone fracture, and other health problems linked to fluoride overexposure. The NRC report, issued in 2006, recommended that the government reduce the current limits for fluoride in drinking water, due to the health risks to both children and adults.
You can read the beginning of the article (the full Scientific American article is available for online purchase and download), online here.
MORE ON FLUORIDE AND THE FLUORIDE/THYROID CONNECTION
- EPA Standard for Fluoride in Drinking Water Is Not Protective -- NRC Report
- Hidden Danger in Your Drinking Water and Toothpaste: Fluoride and Fluoridated Water's Link to Thyroid Disease
- Why We Changed Our Minds About Water Fluoridation, by Richard L. Shames MD & Karilee H. Shames PhD, RN
Photo: clipart.com
I am a victim of endocrine imbalance. It started out with a hypothyroid; and when that was being treated properly, I began having problems with the adrenal insufficiency. For the past decade, it’s been a two steps forward and one step back kind of existence with me feeling more often than not, that I am walking through chest-high wet sand. It is very hard to do my work with this kind of energy drain. It is also extremely difficult to get the endocrine system into balance. My doctor and I are working on that. The thing is, I am furious with a government which would not only foist the myth of fluoride uppon us (result of the Manhattan Project—papers were subsequently declassified telling us quite emphatically that our government didn’t want to pay to dispose of fluoride, so they dumped it into our water supply, salt, toothpaste and who knows what else, stating that it had health benefits when it is really an industrial toxin. Not only that, but our taxes pay for a man in the health department whose sole purpose is to perpetuate this myth debunking any information which attempts to refute it.
Our government is not working in the best interests of the citizens of this country by continuing this hoax! My health is a prime example of what fluoride and other environmental toxins can do. The dental assn. early on, was also pulled into this hoax and have also continued to perpetuate it. I have been talking to my dentist about this for some time and refuse to allow fluoride containing products to be used on me. He is beginning to show some interest instead of debunking everything I say about fluoride. A small step forward, that; but not nearly enough to combat this evil which is most definitely not in the best interest of our health.
I also see and believe there is only an illusion of safety and efficiency about fluoridation because of ‘Sin of Omission’ endorsement and spin.
Any benefits fluoride may have for teeth, are primarily topical (when applied to teeth) not systemic (through ingestion). Why is It is only Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, UK & the US who seem to continually ignore this and evidence of adverse effects and risks to humans which continues to surface from scientific communities all over the world? Please be active against fluoridation and be aware of where your information is coming from. It is wise not to accept information from people benefiting from this product or who ignore its inefficiency, risk and harm. I recommend free FAN bulletins – either the regular one (three or four times a week) or the monthly edition. Go to http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2477/t/2431/signUp.jsp?key=2965.
Fluoride Action Network.
(1).Fluorides …“actions primarily are topical for both adults and children” (CDC, MMWR Weekly – October 22, 1999) Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Fluoridation of Drinking Water to Prevent Dental Caries/48(41); 933-94
(2). “Fluoride, the key agent in battling caries, works primarily via topical mechanisms:” THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CARIES PREVENTION JOHN D.B. FEATHERSTONE J Am Dent Assoc 2000; 131: 887-899) Journal of American Dental Association, 2000.
I just read an article that said that T3 actually rose in rabbits administered fluoride. Even though TSH is repressed, if T3 rises, isn’t this a good thing for hypothyroids? http://www.cababstractsplus.org/google/abstract.asp?AcNo=20053061537