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The decision whether to add controversial chemical fluoride to water supplies will be made by health chiefs today. Southampton Primary Care Trust says it is the only way to reduce tooth decay in children across the city.

But campaigners fear fluoride has health risks. And they say adding it to tap water amounts to mass medication. And independent experts at York University have concluded there is only limited evidence that adding fluoride to water reduces decay.

And it warns any benefit comes at the cost of increasing the number of children developing mottled teeth from consuming too much fluoride.

The uncertain scientific evidence has led to an angry debate between those for and against fluoride.

"What is this toxin going to do in the body for the next 40 years? It's cumulative. It sits in the tissue and grows.

"Nobody knows what it can do. So I say err on the side of caution and don't put it in the water."

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Labels: chemicals, fluoride, health and safety, toxic, UK, water

Editors for Scientific American believe recent studies suggest that fluoride raises the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland, and in general “scientific attitudes” about fluoridation may be shifting.

"Fluoride, the most consumed drug in the USA, is deliberately added to 2/3 of public water supplies theoretically to reduce tooth decay, but with no scientifically-valid evidence proving safety or effectiveness," says lawyer Paul Beeber, president of the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. Meanwhile, according to environmental reporter and director of New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program Dan Fagin, "There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily intake of fluoride."

After analyzing hundreds of fluoride studies, researchers found that fluoride:
Alters endocrine function, especially in the thyroid
Causes dental fluorosis in young children
May lower IQ
May increase the risk of bone fractures

Because scientific evidence suggests that water fluoridation is ineffective and dangerous to health, over 1,200 professional are now urging Congress to stop water fluoridation.

SOURCE

Labels: chemicals, fight back, fluoride, toxic, water

A statement asking Congress to end water fluoridation in the United States has been released by the Fluoride Action Network (FAN). Over 600 professionals, including a Nobel Prize winner, officers in the Union that represents Environmental Protection Agency professionals, and members of the National Research Council panel on fluoride's toxicology, have signed the statement.The report urges Congressional members to “recognize that fluoridation is outdated, has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, violates sound medical ethics, and denies freedom of choice.”It cites eight recent events that call for an urgent end to water fluoridation. Among them:
A 500-page review of fluoride’s toxicology by the National Research Council of the National Academies, published in 2006.
Evidence from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found 32 percent of U.S. children have dental fluorosis, which is caused by fluoride.
The American Dental Association’s 2006 policy change, which recommends not giving fluoridated water to infants for the first 12 months of life.
A Harvard University study that found a five- to seven-fold increased risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) among young men who were exposed to fluoride between the ages of 6 and 8.
The CDC’s recognition that fluoride is beneficial in reducing tooth decay when it’s applied topically, not taken systemically.
The statement calls for members of Congress to sponsor a new Congressional Hearing on Fluoridation that requires those who continue to support water fluoridation to provide scientific basis, under oath, for their continued recommendations.According to one of the statement’s signers, Dr. Arvid Carlsson, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine, "Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete."
Fluoride Action Network August 9, 2007
Medical News Today August 10, 2007

Labels: fluoride, toxic, water

After more than half a century of denial, the American Dental Association has finally capitulated to the facts and issued warnings on the dangers of fluoride.
Adding fluoride to drinking water (to prevent tooth decay) has been standard practice in many countries for 60 years. But the practice has come under scrutiny, as fluoride has been banned by more and more European countries.
Unfortunately, too much fluoride can lead to fluorosis, a discoloring of the teeth and breakdown of enamel -- itself a result diametrically opposed to the dental health it supposedly is meant to prevent -- and more serious developmental problems such as lower IQ. Excessive use of fluoride also increases the risk of osteoporosis and can damage the nervous system.

Labels: dangerous products, fluoride, teeth