Fluoride Threat

You may have heard Dr. Allen or myself speak of the problems with heavy metals and chemicals in tap water.  In light of recent questions and concerns with fluoride, I felt this should be discussed in more detail.  Fluoride is another chemical commonly found in the municipal water supply.  Water contaminated with fluoride is an alarming concern.   The type found in city water is termed silica fluoride which is actually a sister compound to floral acetate (found in rat poison).  Consider this; ¼ gram of toothpaste (about a pea size) has enough fluoride in it to require a call to poison control if ingested.  Check your tube next time, you’ll see this stated on the back.  On average this same amount (1/4 gram) is found in 8 oz. of tap water.  Now consider all the times you, or your children have ingested toothpaste, or an 8 oz glass of tap water.  Hopefully this helps you understand how much of a concern this really is.

How is it that fluoride found its way into our water supply?  Understand that liquid fluoride is very expensive to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner.  It will cost a company $7000 or more per barrel to discard this toxin properly.  Phosphate mining creates fluoride in large quantities as a byproduct.   In order to come up with a solution, an environmental health plan was necessary.  At the time of the needed solution, it was thought that people needed fluoride for health reasons, so they decided to dilute it through the public water supply.  This way it was easily regulated and controlled, as opposed to just dumping it into a lake or ocean.  The trouble is that no research was done on humans to determine how fluoride affected health long term.  The only determined benefit, which is still under much debate today, was for topical use on the teeth to assist in decreasing the occurrence of cavities.  Systemic ingestion of fluoride is a completely different story.

When fluoride enters the bloodstream through drinking water, within 50-90 minutes human skin will become more susceptible to absorbing toxins from the air and household cleaning products (when touched with bare skin).  If you shower in water that has been fluoridated, you absorb much more of it through your skin than you would if drinking it.  When absorbed into the body, the liver and kidneys have a greater absorption of toxins such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, silver, mercury, selenium, chromium, phosphorus, and uranium 238.  Dr. Hirzy, the Senior Vice President of the Environmental Protection Agency is urging Senators to take a second look at taking fluoride out of the public water supplies because of its safety concerns.  The main reasons communities continue to do this are; 1. because most community decision makers are unaware of the problems caused by it, and 2. the federal government subsidizes it by giving grants up to $100,000 for cities to add fluoride to their water supply.  This is a hard offer to pass up for many communities.

Dental fluorosis (white and brown spots on the teeth) is a major concern of fluoridated communities and is becoming more common.  Two thirds of children in these communities show signs of this fluoride toxicity.  Teeth are just bones that can be seen.  When you can see fluorosis on the teeth, you then know that all other bones in the body are similarly affected.  This leaves bones weak and brittle and is also shown to wreak havoc on the thyroid gland.  With the sharp climb of thyroid dysfunction in the last 15 years, this link should be looked at more closely.  Because Fluoride is now known to cross the blood/brain barrier, there are several studies underway showing the adverse effects it has directly on the brain cells.  Researchers are finding children are receiving 3 to 4 times the amount of a ‘safe’ level for an adult on a daily basis.  The American Dental Association is aware of this problem and is working to make new recommendations.

The latest was recommending that moms do not use fluoridated water to make baby formula in order to help prevent fluorosis.  According to physician and state law maker Joey Henslee, MD as stated in his petition to remove fluoride from local communities; “It’s a medication you are getting on a daily basis without even knowing about it”.  Current comparisons between American fluoridated communities and European non-fluoridated communities shows no benefit from fluoridation, but only detriment in several areas.  The point is to be an informed consumer.  Try not to rely on anyone’s opinion (including mine), do your due diligence and then follow through with the right path for you and your family.  If you’re looking for an opinion, however, I would recommend not ever using fluoridated toothpaste (there are several great brands now without it), and would surely have a good water filter on your shower heads and drinking faucets. Understand that not all of them filter Fluoride.  I personally use and highly recommend Natural Action Technologies structured water filters.