Fluoride Alert.Org
January 11, 2009
Editor's note: You don't have a right to choose what type of water to drink or use. The majority of drinking water in the U.S. is adulterated with fluoride. The dentists make the decision and lobby the state and local governments to add the chemical into your drinking water because they say it's good for your teeth. But just because they say fluoride is good for the teeth does not mean they have the right to force you to drink it. If fluoride is indeed good for the teeth, people can use supplements or whatever anytime. But why this chemical, which has been found to pose a health risk such as bone cancer in boys, should be added to in the public drinking water systems? Something fishy, but the answer is obvious.
Up until the 1990s, no research had ever been conducted to determine the impact of fluoride on the pineal gland - a small gland located between the two hemispheres of the brain that regulates the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate the onset of puberty and helps protect the body from cell damage caused by free radicals.
It is now known - thanks to the meticulous research of Dr. Jennifer Luke from the University of Surrey in England - that the pineal gland is the primary target of fluoride accumulation within the body.
The soft tissue of the adult pineal gland contains more fluoride than any other soft tissue in the body - a level of fluoride (~300 ppm) capable of inhibiting enzymes.
The pineal gland also contains hard tissue (hyroxyapatite crystals), and this hard tissue accumulates more fluoride (up to 21,000 ppm) than any other hard tissue in the body (e.g. teeth and bone).
After finding that the pineal gland is a major target for fluoride accumulation in humans, Dr. Luke conducted animal experiments to determine if the accumulated fluoride could impact the functioning of the gland - particulalry the gland's regulation of melatonin.
Luke found that animals treated with fluoride had lower levels of circulating melatonin, as reflected by reduced levels of melatonin metabolites in the animals' urine. This reduced level of circulating melatonin was accompanied - as might be expected - by an earlier onset of puberty in the fluoride-treated female animals.
Luke summarized her human and animal findings as follows:
"In conclusion, the human pineal gland contains the highest concentration of fluoride in the body. Fluoride is associated with depressed pineal melatonin synthesis by prepubertal gerbils and an accelerated onset of sexual maturation in the female gerbil. The results strengthen the hypothesis that the pineal has a role in the timing of the onset of puberty. Whether or not fluoride interferes with pineal function in humans requires further investigation."
For more information, go HERE
Study: Fluoridation Benefits Doubtful
New York – January 9 -- Achieving cavity-free status has little to do with fluoride intake, reports a study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry.
The ongoing Iowa Fluoride Study (IFS) begun in 1992, follows a cohort of children from birth. Researchers measure fluoride use and ingestion, count cavities and document fluorosis – white spotted, yellow and/or brown stained teeth – the outward sign of fluoride over-ingestion.
IFS researchers report, "The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical…while fluorosis is clearly more dependent on fluoride intake."
They explain that when fluoridation began in the 1940’s, “it was believed that fluoride needed to be ingested early in life to provide [cavity] prevention…Today, evidence suggests that…the benefits of fluoride are mostly topical.”
Fluoride chemicals are added to 70% of public water supplies at so-called “optimal” levels (0.7 parts per million – 1.2 ppm), once believed to prevent cavities.
The IFS researchers find that “firmly recommending an ‘optimal’ fluoride intake is problematic.” They agree with fluoride researchers Burt and Eklund that the term “optimal fluoride intake” be dropped from common usage.
Quantifying fluoride intake is more complex than it was several decades ago because of the widespread use of fluoridated dental products and increased fluoride content of foods, they report.
“Thus, it is doubtful that parents or clinicians could adequately track children’s fluoride intake and compare it with the recommended level, rendering the concept of an “optimal” or target intake relatively moot,” they write.
In 2003, IFS researchers wrote, "There is no specific nutritional requirement for fluoride." They described the fluoride content of some foods. For example:
n Processed chicken: 4.4 ppm and 10.0 ppm fluoride
n Cereals: 3.8 to 6.3 ppm
n Creamed spinach: 2 ppm
n Soft drinks: up to 1.55 ppm
n Decaffeinated tea: 3.19 ppm
n White grape juice: 4 ppm
n Ready-to-feed infant formula: from 0.15 to 0.30 ppm
"This well-done, long-term study by respected fluoride researchers, and published piecemeal in several scientific journals, tells us that fluoride ingestion, such as fluoridated water and supplements, is causing dental defects with little, if any, benefit," says attorney Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
“Thus, fluoridation damages teeth, wastes money and must be stopped,” says Beeber.
Take action to end fluoridation here: http://congress.FluorideAction.Net
References:
Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Fall 2008, “Considerations on Optimal Fluoride Intake Using Dental Fluorosis and Dental Caries Outcomes – A Longitudinal Study,” by Warren, et al.
Dental Clinics of North America 47(2003), "Current and future role of fluoride in nutrition," by Warren & Levy, 225-243