Arguments put forth by Citizens for Safe Drinking Water in Carroll/Boone County and the Fluoride Action Network for discontinuing fluoridation of drinking water supplies:
Currently no companies in the U.S. produce the fluoridation chemicals, possibly because of legal liability. The product has to be imported from overseas. The company supplying fluoridation chemicals to Carroll Boone Water District is Prayon, a phosphate company headquartered in Belgium. Fluoridation chemicals are not pharmaceutical grade, and are a hazardous waste byproduct from manufacturing phosphate fertilizer.
The product is called Fluopray SSF. That company’s on-line sodium fluorosilicate product specification data sheet states the product contains an average of 10 parts per million of heavy metals, including lead and aluminum, and up to 50 ppm.
We don’t need additional lead and other heavy metals added to our drinking water, especially as scientific studies have shown that contaminants in the fluoridation chemicals can vary widely batch to batch. An article in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health said the contaminant levels of lead, arsenic, barium and aluminum in fluoride additives could vary widely from batch to batch. The study concluded, “Such contaminant content creates a regulatory blind spot that jeopardizes any safe use of fluoride additives.”
Before we were forced to fluoridate in Eureka Springs, all water operators at Carroll Boone Water District were opposed to fluoridation. One reason is the risk it poses to workers. But the overriding reason was that these water operators said they have an important responsibility to provide clean, safe drinking water and don’t feel that is compatible with adding hazardous waste to drinking water.
One of the basic problems with water fluoridation is that it’s a mass medication of the public without their consent. When you put fluoride in the water, you have no way of knowing how much each individual receives. One person may drink a lot of water, and another no water at all. Infants and elders need no fluoride at all, and in fact are at risk for health problems from consuming too much fluoride.
Fluoride is building up in the environment. Fluoride is a chemical that persists in the environment and bioaccumulates, meaning levels build going up the food chain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),“In the United States, water and processed beverages (soft drinks and fruit juices) can provide approximately 75 percent of a person’s fluoride intake.”
Fluoridated water shouldn’t be used to make baby formula, and young children should only use a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste and not swallow it. But the state fails to warn parents about this. And there is evidence that many children in the U.S. are being over exposed to fluoride, which leads to dental fluorosis, which causes tooth enamel to become mottled and discolored.
The CDC has done a study that shows 41 percent of adolescents in the U.S. have dental fluorosis, which mottles teeth and can make them rot. The study showed the incidence of dental fluorosis has doubled since the 1980s. “In 1986-1987, 22.6% of adolescents aged 12-15 had dental fluorosis, whereas in 1999-2004, 40.7% of adolescents aged 12-15 had dental fluorosis,” the study said.
Studies have also shown much higher rates of dental fluorosis in African American and Hispanic children.
After this study came out, the recommended rate for adding fluoride to the drinking water was cut in half. But many question whether any amount at all needs to be added to drinking water when fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwashes are readily available and there can be high levels of fluoride in food and drink. Research indicates Americans are being over-fluoridated.
Teeth of children are not the only thing at risk from water fluoridation. According to an article in Environmental Health in 2015 titled, “Exposure to fluoridated water and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder prevalence among children and adolescents in the United States,” parents reported higher rates of medically-diagnosed ADHD in their children in states in which a greater proportion of people receive fluoridated water from public water supplies.
Fluoride has been officially identified as a being a neurotoxin, a substance hazardous to the brain, by Lancet, one of the older and more prestigious medical publications in the world. A British study published in Epidemiological Community Health found fluoride levels in drinking water in England were associated with hypothyroidism at twice the levels seen in non-fluoridated communities.
Also, many of the studies that were done regarding the usefulness of fluoridation in preventing cavities in children were done before fluoridated toothpaste was available and have been found to be flawed. Cochrane, an international group that reviews all types of scientific studies, has concluded, “We assessed each (fluoride) study for the quality of the methods used and how thoroughly the results were reported. We had concerns about the methods used, or the reporting of the results, in the vast majority (97%) of the studies. There is very little contemporary evidence, meeting the review’s inclusion criteria, that has evaluated the effectiveness of water fluoridation for the prevention of caries.”