News Coverage
It's a drug - with potentially harmful side effects
Published June 2, 2005
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists it as a "hazard." The Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry warns that high levels of exposure
can harm your health. It is used to treat human health but remains largely
untested by the Food and Drug Administration.
The substance we're talking about is fluoride.
Why would we want this in our drinking water?
While the benefits of topically applied fluoride (i.e. applying it directly
to your teeth) have long been accepted, there is evidence that ingested
fluoride is detrimental. The New Jersey Public Health Council of the
Department of Health and Senior Services is considering a proposal to
mandate that all public water supplies in New Jersey be fluoridated.
Since the 1950s, fluoride has been marketed as the panacea of oral health.
But our society has generally lost its naivete about wonder drugs. Most
drugs have side effects. Fluoride is a drug that also has potentially
harmful side effects.
Discolored, mottled or pitted teeth can be linked to fluoride use. This
condition, called dental fluorosis, is one of the most common symptoms of
fluoride overdose. While bleaching of teeth can reduce the appearance of
dental fluorosis in mild cases, others with fluorosis must resort to
expensive veneers or crowns to change the appearance. The incidence of
dental fluorosis is increasing in the United States.
Dental fluorosis is not the only health implication. The EPA notes that
higher intakes of fluoride can result in skeletal fluorosis. EPA Health
Hazard Information also reports that chronic oral exposure to high
concentrations of fluoride can cause pulmonary effects, renal and thyroid
injury, anemia, hypersensitivity, and dermatological reactions.
If a woman consumes high levels of fluoride during pregnancy, her child's
teeth can be affected with dental fluorosis. In addition, fluoride can
accumulate in the brain and pineal gland. The Greater Boston Physicians for
Social Responsibility's report "In Harms Way: Toxic Threats to Child
Development" reveals that fluoride is a possible hormone disrupter and might
advance premature puberty as well as cause developmental problems. This list
of potential side effects should be enough to stop mandatory fluoridation.
Furthermore, maintaining a "safe" level of fluoride for everybody's size and
weight could prove impossible given the plethora of sources and its ability
to accumulate in our bodies. People may be living in communities with
fluoridated water or high levels of naturally occurring fluoride, as well as
working or living near industries that use fluoride-containing substances.
Children are exposed to more fluoride because they tend to swallow their
toothpaste and mouth rinses, and ingest "well intended" fluoride supplements
and vitamins. Various sodas, juices, cereals, prepared foods and even some
sugar and salt products contain fluoride. At your supermarket, you may find
that some water bottling companies are now adding fluoride.
It is also alarming that the fluoride most often added to public water
supplies is not pharmaceutical grade, but a waste product of the phosphate
fertilizer industry, called silicofluorides. These chemicals can be
contaminated with various impurities. And a Dartmouth study has reported
evidence that silicofluorides enhance the body's ability to absorb lead. To
make matters worse, fluoride is corrosive and may unleash lead in water
pipes and fixtures.
We are a nation already exposed to thousands of chemicals in our daily
lives. We shouldn't be adding fluoride and its
