Flashback: Another view on fluoridation

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Sott.net
By Thomas Tharp
Lovely Country Citizen
July 2, 2008

I can't even believe that this is an issue again. Our gub-mint "protectors" are yet again trying to get our water supply fluoridated?

I hold in my hand a tube of Crest toothpaste and I quote from the warning on it: "KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN UNDER 6 YEARS OF AGE. If more than used for brushing is ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED, get medical help or contact a POISON CONTROL CENTER right away. DO NOT SWALLOW."

Sheeple, that should be enough said right there.

Unfortunately, it's not.

Do you know where fluoride comes from?

It is recovered from the scrubbing solution that scours toxins from smokestacks at phosphate fertilizer plants. Water fluoridation has turned a tremendous hazardous-waste disposal expense into a multimillion-dollar profit for fertilizer manufacturers.

Fluorosilicic acid (fluoride) is so toxic that they can't dump it into the ocean or bury it underground in landfills.

The amount that reaches tap water is relatively small, about 1 part per million (ppm), yet the EPA's limit for lead in the water is only 0.015 ppm -- and lead is less toxic than fluorosilicic acid. Arsenic is only a few times more toxic, yet its EPA water limit is about 400 times smaller than fluorosilicic acid's.

I have spoken off the record with people who work at the Carroll-Boone water treatment facilities and they are afraid to handle the stuff, afraid for their health, even their lives, and it's easy to see why.

Lethal dosage

Sodium fluoride is an extremely toxic substance -- just 200 mg of fluoride is enough to kill a young child, and just 3 to 5 grams (a teaspoon) is enough to kill an adult. The fatal period ranges from 5 minutes to 12 hours.

What it does is rob the body of all calcium, in a condition known as hypocalcemia.

Those of you wanting to learn more can simply Google fluoride or go to www.fluoridealert.org for a comprehensive listing of the pros and cons of this toxic chemical.

WebMD.com won't even touch it other than to say "Tell your doctor/dentist immediately if your teeth become stained or pitted. This is often a result of too much fluoride."

Prevention or curse?

Over-exposure to fluoride can cause crumbling of the enamel, permanent damage to teeth and chronic skeletal fluorosis, which can weaken bones and cause arthritis. Isn't this what fluoride is supposed to prevent?

In the scale of toxicity, fluorides fall between arsenic and lead. Nice company huh?

Despite being prescribed by doctors for more than 50 years, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never approved any fluoride product designed for ingestion as safe or effective.

The level of fluoride put into water (1 ppm) is up to 200 times higher than normally found in mothers' milk (0.005 to 0.01 ppm). There are no benefits, only risks, for infants ingesting this heightened level of fluoride at such an early age. You will be using fluoridated water to mix your baby formula if the state gets its way.

Rats fed for one year with 1 ppm fluoride in their water, using either sodium fluoride or aluminum fluoride, had morphological changes to their kidneys and brains, an increased uptake and absorption of aluminum in the brain and the formation of beta amyloid deposits which are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

In the first half of the 20th century, fluoride was prescribed by a number of European doctors to reduce the activity of the thyroid gland for those suffering from hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid).

Hypothyroidism risk

With water fluoridation, we would be forcing people to drink a thyroid-depressing medication which could serve to promote higher levels of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) in the population, and all the subsequent problems related to this disorder including depression, fatigue, weight gain, muscle and joint pains, increased cholesterol levels and heart disease.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, fluoride exposure in fluoridated communities is estimated to range from 1.6 to 6.6 mg/day, which is a range that actually overlaps the dose (2.3 to 4.5 mg/day) shown to decrease the functioning of the human thyroid.

Once fluoride is put in the water it is impossible to control the dose each individual receives. This is because some people drink more water than others, and we also receive fluoride from sources other than the water supply. Other sources of fluoride include food and beverages, like bottled water, soda, tea, beer, etc., processed with fluoridated water if the water gets fluoridated. Guess who uses a lot of water? Restaurants, Tysons and McBride Distributing.

Want some fluoride with that?

Here, have some fluoride with your chicken and beer.

Don't think your bottled water has fluoride in it? Think again.

Here is a partial list of companies that add it without most of us knowing it: Artesian Wells, Inc., Plymouth, Wisc.; Eureka Water Co., Oklahoma City, Okla.; CCDA Waters, LLC (that would be Coca Cola Bottling); Culligan Bottled Water Co. U.S.A.; Mount Olympus Waters, Inc.; Natural Springs Water Group; Nestle Waters North America, Inc.; Premium Waters, Inc.; Puritan Springs Water; DS Waters of America, Inc.; and Crystal Mountain Spring Water and Sierra Springs Water.

An irrational practice

Fluoridation is unethical because individuals are not being asked for their informed consent prior to medication. No doctor in his right mind would write a 'script for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, for a toxic substance which is intended to create bodily change, and tell them: "Take as much as you want, and take it for the rest of your life because some small percentage of children suffer from tooth decay."

That's just asinine, and I have lost a lot of faith and trust in the local physicians who spoke in favor of fluoridation in the last issue of our local newspaper. I am very glad that my family is on well water!

-- Thomas Tharp

P.S.

If you would like to buy non-fluoridated tooth paste, www.tomsofmaine.com is the only source I have found.