{"id":1444,"date":"2011-12-27T11:33:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T17:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realfoodhouston.com\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2011-12-27T15:44:37","modified_gmt":"2011-12-27T21:44:37","slug":"how-much-fluoride-is-too-much-fluoride-who-really-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/2011\/12\/27\/how-much-fluoride-is-too-much-fluoride-who-really-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Fluoride is Too Much Fluoride: Who Really Benefits?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"severe_dental_fluorosis\"<\/a>There is\u00a0widespread\u00a0debate about how much fluoride is\u00a0safe to\u00a0consume and whether municipal water systems should be fluoridated.\u00a0 I noticed recently\u00a0that\u00a0Sri Lanka<\/a>\u00a0marked National Water Safety Week by providing water filters to more than 400 families who were consuming water with too much fluoride.\u00a0 How much fluoride did Sri Lanka think was too much?\u00a0 The families\u00a0were taking in more than 0.8 mg\/liter (mg\/l).\u00a0\u00a0It’s interesting to note that the U.S. EPA has set the Recommended Maximum Contaminant Level (RMCL)<\/a> of fluoride in drinking water at 4 mg\/l, over\u00a0four times<\/strong><\/em> the amount thought to be unhealthy by the Sri Lankans.<\/p>\n

The Health and Human Services (HHS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year\u00a0proposed lowering the\u00a0recommended level of fluoride to be added<\/em><\/strong> to drinking water from the\u00a0previous recommended range of between 0.7 to 1.2 mg\/l to a new recommended maximum of 0.7 mg\/l.\u00a0 This\u00a0new recommended amount of additional<\/em><\/strong> fluoride\u00a0is only slightly less than 0.8 mg\/l,\u00a0 the total amount found to be so unhealthy in Sri Lanka that families were provided with water filters.\u00a0 Local drinking water often naturally\u00a0contains some\u00a0fluoride, so\u00a0adding\u00a00.7 mg\/l could cause\u00a0fluoride levels to be over 0.8, and even way over\u00a0in many areas.<\/p>\n

What is\u00a0the normal level of naturally occurring fluoride in water?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Seawater contains about 1 mg\/liter, while rivers and lakes contain less than 0.5 mg\/l.\u00a0 Fluoride content in groundwaters can vary depending on the nature of the rocks and minerals found in the area.\u00a0\u00a0Drinking water is the single largest source of fluoride for most people; however, with fluoridation of municipal water supplies beginning in the mid-1900s and other sources of fluoride–such as fluoride supplements,\u00a0toothpaste,\u00a0fluoride dental treatments, industrial air emissions, foods (e.g., tea),\u00a0and teflon cookware–the total fluoride intake has been increasing.<\/p>\n

\"mild_fluorosis\"<\/a>How\u00a0does fluoride harm us?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Too much\u00a0fluoride damages the body in several ways, ranging from mild fluorosis of the teeth\u00a0to crippling skeletal fluorosis to injury to our endocrine system.\u00a0 Fluorosis\u00a0is staining and pitting of the teeth and overgrowth and weakening of the bones.\u00a0 In\u00a0mild cases,\u00a0fluorosis is noticable only to a dentist as faint white spots on the teeth (See photo at left for mild dental fluorosis; severe dental fluorosis is shown at the top of the page.).\u00a0\u00a0\"child<\/a>In more severe cases, skeletal fluorosis is a progressive condition that can eventually\u00a0cause changes in the structure of bones and ligaments and\u00a0lead to arthritis and crippling.\u00a0\u00a0According to a 1985\u00a0EPA report<\/a>, fluorosis can occur with levels of fluoride in drinking water\u00a0as low as 0.2 mg\/l , and pitting and staining of enamal can occur at\u00a00.7 mg\/l.\u00a0 \"severe_crippling_fluorosis\"<\/a>The EPA has said that the minimum dose necessary to cause crippling skeletal fluorosis is 20 mg\/l per day for 20 years.\u00a0 Crippling could<\/em> occur at even lower levels,\u00a0since the minimum necessary dose is not well documented.\u00a0 The appearance of fluorosis in children is an indicator that they took\u00a0in too much fluoride\u00a0in their early years, and contrary to the claim that mild fluorosis is simply cosmetic, it is unlikely that only tooth cells are damaged by the level of fluoride.\u00a0 The damage is more likely widespread throughout the body.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As shown in the chart below left, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported<\/a> that children aged 12-15 in 1999-2004 had higher rates of dental fluorosis compared to children of the same age in 1986-1987.\u00a0 \"CDC_chart_prevalence_fluorosis\"<\/a>40.6% of children aged 12-15 in 1999-2004 had evidence of fluorosis.\u00a0 The rates of mild and moderate to severe classifications of fluorosis have more than doubled since 1987.\u00a0 Fluorosis in children is increasing–they are getting too much fluoride.<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to fluorosis, studies have found other damage to our bodies.\u00a0 An animal\u00a0study<\/a> from the University of Surrey found\u00a0that\u00a0high concentrations of fluoride in the pineal gland led to depressed melatonin production and an accelerated onset of puberty in gerbils.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Other animal studies<\/a> have found that fluoride can cause damage to the “sciatic nerve, spinal cord, and hippocamus and neocortex of the brain.”\u00a0 Fluoride causes bone mass growth<\/a>,\u00a0the new bone is inferior to normal bone, and “fluoride changes the collagen structure of preexisting bone too.”\u00a0 A study<\/a> by dental surgeon, Dr. Geoffrey Smith, has shown that long term exposure to even 1 mg\/l of fluoride<\/em> in drinking water could “calcify ligaments and tendons, causing arthritic pains.”\u00a0 At least 18 human studies<\/a> in China, India, Iran, and Mexico\u00a0have found that\u00a0children with high fluoride levels have\u00a0decreased IQ scores.\u00a0 The\u00a0impact to IQ of high fluoride\u00a0has been documented after controlling for lead exposure, iodine exposure, parental education\u00a0income status, and other factors. In one study that\u00a0found lowered IQ scores in 7-11 year-old children with dental fluorosis,\u00a0the level of fluoride in the urine of the children with fluorosis\u00a0was about the same as children\u00a0drinking water from fluoridated systems.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, the children with lowered IQ had the same amount of fluoride in their urine\u00a0as\u00a0children who drink water from municipally fluoridated systems.\u00a0\u00a0It helps to understand how serious is the\u00a0effect of fluoride on IQ, if you remember that fluoride is more toxic than lead<\/em>.\u00a0 It doesn’t take much fluoride to cause lowered IQ.\u00a0 Now<\/em> we begin to see why the Sri Lankans provided water filters to families taking in more than 0.8 mg\/l of fluoride, a level very similar to U.S. EPA recommended levels of additional<\/em> fluoride.<\/p>\n

How did the EPA\u00a0determine that 4 mg\/l was a safe maximum level of fluoride?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 The 4 mg level was raised in 1985 from the previous dose considered safe of 1.4 to 2.4 mg\/l.\u00a0In 1993 an EPA scientist\u00a0said<\/a> that\u00a0information used by the EPA to justify raising the safe level of fluoride to 4.0 mg\/l\u00a0was “falsified by the Department of Health and Human Services and the EPA to protect a long-standing public health policy.”\u00a0 The scientist further said that “EPA professionals were never asked to conduct a thorough, independent analysis of the fluoride literatures.”\u00a0 The decision was based only on one health effect–skeletal fluorosis–and ignored the possiblity of healthy people drinking large quantities of water at 4 mg\/l.\u00a0 The EPA “relied on a report from the Surgeon General which claimed to represent the work of an expert panel.” However, “the concerns of this panel for\u00a0the effects of fluoride on the bones of children, for its effects\u00a0on the heart, for dental fluorosis, and for the overall lack\u00a0of scientific data on the effects of fluoride in US drinking\u00a0 water were deleted.”<\/p>\n

How did fluoridation of the water supply get started?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 A report<\/a> by the Arthritis Trust of America says that the “father of fluoridation,” Dr. Trendley Dean, developed the “hypothesis that fluoridation was safe and would protect teeth from cavities.”\u00a0 He conducted\u00a0his first trial in 1945 in Grand Rapids, Michigan; however,\u00a0he later\u00a0admitted twice in court that statistics from the\u00a0early studies were invalid.\u00a0 Based on the results of Dr. Dean’s Michigan trials, Canadian doctor,\u00a0Richard Foulkes, wrote\u00a0an extensive report recommending\u00a0fluoridation\u00a0that \u00a0“convinced Canada to add fluoride to their municipal water systems.”\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Foulkes later recanted his recommendation saying that Dr. Dean’s\u00a0statistics were invalid and that critiques of his studies had shown “poor experimental design, poor or negligible statistical analysis and failure to take into account large variations in caries found in the control towns.”\u00a0\u00a0\"Fluoridation_decay_correlation_chart\"<\/a> As illustrated in the chart to the left, K. K. Cheng, professor\u00a0of epidemiology at the University of Birmingham,\u00a0found in a 2007 study<\/a> that the\u00a0prevalence of dental caries in\u00a0European countries\u00a0“had fallen greatly in the past three decades, and national rates of caries are now universally low. This trend has occurred regardless of the concentration of fluoride in water or the use of fluoridated salt<\/strong><\/em>, and it probably reflects use of fluoridated toothpastes and other factors, including perhaps aspects of nutrition.”\u00a0 [emphasis mine]\u00a0 And even the CDC has said<\/a> that fluoride’s\u00a0ability to prevent tooth decay\u00a0occurs primarily after<\/em> tooth eruption and\u00a0that most of the benefit is from topical<\/em> applications\u00a0for both adults and children.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, even if<\/em> you believe that fluoride is helpful to prevent tooth decay–and that is not<\/em> clear from the evidence–the CDC says\u00a0drinking fluoridated water<\/em> is not the way to do it.<\/p>\n

If fluoridation of the water supply does not benefit those who drink the water, why do we have it, and who does it benefit?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Dr. Smith says<\/a> that \u201cThe only ones definitely known to benefit from fluoridation are chemical companies and fluoridation equipment firms.\u201d\u00a0 Initially, fluoride was a toxic waste product<\/a> from the manufacture of the atomic bomb and the aluminum industry, and later it was a by-product of phosphate fertilizers.\u00a0\u00a0 Since the fluoride by-product killed herds of cattle and crops when released into the air, there was concern for liability if fluoridation were declared harmful to human health.\u00a0 One report<\/a> says that there were several institutions and laboratories that were involved in white-washing fluoride \u201cto avoid potentially crippling lawsuits\u201d for the government as well as the industries.\u00a0 Fluoride was, therefore, declared \u201cnot only safe, but beneficial.\u201d\u00a0 Another problem is that the fluoride added to municipal water systems is not pharmaceutical grade as is the fluoride used in medicines; the municipal fluoridation uses the toxic industrial waste products.\u00a0 If municipal water systems didn\u2019t buy this toxic waste product, the industry would have a costly environmental disposal problem.\u00a0 Still another consequence of widespread municipal water fluoridation not often mentioned is that maybe 99.9% of the added fluoride is not drunk but flushed into the sewage system and finds its way into deposits in rivers, bays, and groundwaters.\u00a0 Dumping loads of toxic poisons into the the streams, lakes, and oceans will speed up the decline of fish and other sealife.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the photographs of the visible evidence of the harm caused by fluoride.\u00a0 Think about the harm to organs and bones that may not be as readily visible.\u00a0 Note that scientists have not found substantiation that fluoridated water prevents tooth decay.\u00a0 Remember that fluoridating municipal drinking water forces many people to take in fluoride whether they want to or not.\u00a0 Then decide if we should fluoridate our drinking water.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think there is enough (any?) evidence of benefit to justify the enormous risk of permanent bodily damage to our children.<\/p>\n

Postscript: While researching fluoridation I found this interesting video<\/a> taken with a hidden camera inside a water treatment plant in Austin, TX , where the municipal water supply is fluoridated.\u00a0 The film shows the effects of fluoride corrosion on the pipes and paint in the facility.<\/p>\n

For more information on the dangers of fluoride, look up the Fluoride Action Network<\/a>.
\nAlso, there’s\u00a0an excellent new post about fluoride\u00a0by Cheeseslave<\/a> on Top 10 Dangers of Fluoride<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is\u00a0widespread\u00a0debate about how much fluoride is\u00a0safe to\u00a0consume and whether municipal water systems should be fluoridated.\u00a0 I noticed recently\u00a0that\u00a0Sri Lanka\u00a0marked National Water Safety Week by providing water filters to more than 400 families who were consuming water with too much …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[79,63,80],"tags":[83,82,81,64,84,85],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fluoride","category-food-safety","category-health","tag-cdc","tag-epc","tag-fluoride-2","tag-food-safety-2","tag-health-2","tag-poison"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p70SEj-ni","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":101,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1589,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions\/1589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realfoodhouston.com\/wp-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}