My Letter to the Editor on Water Fluoridation: Is tooth decay more important than brain decay?
Tuesday, 31 July 2012 09:30
(There's a limit of 400 words or less...turning this in to my local newspaper's op-ed dept. tonight.)
Fluoridation: Is tooth decay more important than brain decay?
Our city needs to reconsider the thousands of dollars we taxpayers spend on water fluoridation. Ever wonder why the United States consistently shows a drop in educational test scores versus the rest of the world? A recent study conducted by Harvard University researchers published in a federal government journal concluded, “Our results support the possibility of adverse effects of fluoride exposures on Children’s neurodevelopment.” Did you know fluoride is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) database of developmental neurotoxicants as a “chemical with substantial
evidence for developmental neurotoxicity”? This may be why New Hampshire recently passed a statewide fluoride warning law. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “grandfathered” fluoride in before the 1938 drug testing requirement, so in all these years, fluoride has never even been officially FDA-approved for ingestion, nor is it on the FDA’s “approved drug” list.
Fluoride is a chemical byproduct. Three types are used for fluoridation, one of which is a liquid by-product of phosphate fertilizer manufacturing. Because fluoride medication of our water is done outright, everyone ingests differing amounts depending on size and how much water they drink. The skin, being the body’s largest organ, also takes in fluoride every time we bathe or shower. Fluoride accumulates in our systems, and studies have shown adverse effects on nearly every organ in the body, from reducing thyroid activity to impairing kidney function. According to the National Toxicology Program, a “preponderance of evidence” from lab studies also indicates that fluoride is a “mutagenic compound.” Many mutagenic substances have been known to cause cancer. It makes sense Harvard researchers found fluoride negatively impacted the smaller, developing brains of children even worse than adults.
When we take a drink of water, how much surface time does that mouthful have with our teeth anyway before we swallow it? We ingest fluoride and it travels to every other system in our body, accumulating there. While cavities can certainly be an issue, impaired organs and bodily system function that lowers our overall life expectancy seems a tad direr in the grand scheme of things. Is dental health more important than organ health? While people have cheap, easy access to fluoridated toothpaste and toothbrushes, there is no quick drugstore remedy that can fix potentially permanent organ damage and a forever lowered IQ that studies show water fluoridation can cause.
Read more: Everyone's Blog Posts - 12160