Water Fluoridation

Water Fluoridation

Background:

As you read on, remember that the body is made up of 70-80% water.  After Air, Water is the most abundant substance on the planet.  You can only live for 4 days without water.  Water assists the main purifying systems in the body.  Water flushes out toxins through the digestive process, and also through that amazing filtering mechanism that is the kidneys.  Water is also necessary to help your body keep the concentration of chemicals in your bloodstream at a homeostatic level.  Through sweating, we keep our core temperature level, and eliminate skin toxins.  If water then, is the stuff of life, consider for optimum health, the purer the ground substance, the less strain on the rest of the body in terms of toxic elimination.

The ramifications then, are even greater, for anyone who is already ill, or has a compromised immune system.

Fluoride:

Is a toxin, and comes with toxic (skull and crossbones) warnings in all countries.  The amount considered ‘safe’ for human consumption varies between countries.  0.7-1.2 ppm seems to be a generally accepted level among countries whose Health Authority have not banned water fluoridation.  Once again, we find this level is an overall level, and does not take into account the amount of natural fluoride your body might ingest as part of air intake and food intake.  It is highly likely that your own consumption of fluoride is already above these levels, without the additional load implied by fluoridating the water supply.

The justification for fluoridating any country’s water supply has hinged on one fact only, that of preventing dental cavities.

There is sufficient evidence that a small amount of topical fluoride may indeed help prevent cavities.  Fluoride incapacitates enzymes produced by bacteria that live in the mouth, thereby reducing their enamel invading properties.  But at very low concentrations, this ability to block enzyme activity is what makes Fluoride so toxic to the human body.  For every enzyme inhibited or destroyed through bonding with Fluoride, a major metabolic function is affected, as those of you who have done biology studies will recall, enzymes are the catalyst in every bodily process.

The key in the previous paragraph is topical fluoride.  This means a controlled amount applied to the very spot where dental cavities may be lurking.  And this is the only positive application of fluoride that any scientific studies will support.  So when you put toothpaste on your children’s toothbrush, be sure to make it a pea-sized amount, and ensure that children do not swallow the toothpaste.  Most of the world’s dental associations do not recommend that children under 3 are exposed to fluoride toothpaste, nor fluoridated water, or fluoridated infant formulas.  Also keep in mind that researchers have found that even if not swallowed, fluoride is quickly absorbed through the lining of the mouth and gums into the general circulation (Lancet, 1991; 337: 1213). 

Half the fluoride we ingest cannot be excreted and is deposited in our bones.  It does increase bone mass, but also makes bones more brittle leading to osteoporosis.

You would probably assume that the fluoride added to water comes from a laboratory and is produced under controlled conditions.  Whereas the reality is that it is a waste product of the fertiliser industry, and has on occasion been found to contain arsenic, mercury and lead.  It is illegal to dump this silicofluoride into the ocean, or landfill, yet it is perfectly acceptable to dump it into the community water supply……are alarm bells ringing yet?

Quick Facts:

• Singapore Water is FLUORIDATED
• http://www.dayen.com.sg/biz_waterpro.htm is the website of the company who undertakes the water treatment for PUB and ENV. 
• In water where fluoride is found naturally occurring, it is in the form of calcium fluoride, which is a completely different substance to that added to our drinking water.
• Fluoride added to water is in the format of Silicofluoride, and is a waste product from Phosphate Fertiliser and Glass Manufacturing.
• Fluoride is also a major component of Rat Poison.
• It is illegal to dump Silicofluoride in the Ocean, or in Landfills.
• Silicofluorides increase the absorption of lead when a person is exposed.
• For a synopsis of the book ‘The Great Fluoride Deception’ by Christopher Bryson see the website: http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/04fal/reviews2.asp
• Fluoridation has been banned in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Holland, due to lack of evidence that dental cavities are prevented by water fluoridation.  France and Italy have never fluoridated.  The UK is only 10% fluoridated.  The top 5 countries for LOW DENTAL CAVITY rates are amongst the never fluoridated, and stopped fluoridating.
• http://www.fluoridealert.org/absurdity.htm - a reasonable website, although anti-fluoride, the contributors check out to be well qualified in their field, and therefore their opinions must rate at least as highly as the government officials who made the decision to fluoridate your water.

Proven Toxic Effects of Fluoridation of Water Supplies:

• Reduced IQ.  A Chinese community (Sima, Shanxi Province) with a 4.12 ppm water fluoridation has an average IQ of 97.7 whereby a nearby community (Xinghua, Shanxi Province) with a fluoridation level of 0.91ppm has an average IQ of 105.2 (Fluoride, 1996; 29: 190-2)
• Dental Fluorosis – mottling, softening and increased porosity and brittleness of tooth enamel
• Skeletal Fluorosis –  severe and permanent bone and joint deformity
• Mouth Ulcers which don’t respond to antibiotics, or local medication, but clear up promptly when fluoride is eliminated from toothpaste and water (Ann Allergy; 1967; 25: 388-91)
• The largest ever official survey of 39,000 children found virtually no difference between tooth decay in fluoridated vs non-fluoridated areas (J Dent Res, 1990; 69: 7234-7)
• Fluoride accumulates in Brain Tissue, and younger people are more vulnerable than older ones.  Children are less efficient at excreting Fluoride, and so retain more of it.  Studies reveal hyperactivity and learning deficits, and behavioural problems (fluoride affects the hippocampus in the brain, which integrates input from the environment, memory and motivational stimuli to produce behavioural decisions and modify memory).
• Higher incidence of Osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer) in high fluoridation areas.
• Fluoride is detrimental to the Immune system. The white blood cell count is affected by fluoride at concentrations 2000 times less than the levels used in water (Commun Dent Health 1998; 15:121)
• Fluoride can cause bone cancer (Int J Cancer, 1991; 48:733-7).  Uterine Cancer rates have risen in fluoridated areas (J Epidemiol, 1996; 6:184-91)  20% increase in thyroid cancers (BR Dent J, 1975; 138:221-4)

Suspected Toxic Effects of Fluoride Toxicity:

• Increase in Violent, Aggressive and Autistic Behaviours-Silicofluoride increases Lead absorption.  Lead blocks the action of Calcium in fostering the production of brain neuro-transmitters.  Dopamine and Serotonin suppress violent, aggressive and autistic behaviour, yet fluoride and lead block the production of these chemicals in the brain.  Highly fluoridated water has been a feature, since 1954, of Paducah, Kentucky and Fayetteville, Tennessee and Littleton, Colorado.  Each of these locations has seen recent scenes of extreme school violence and death.
• Some hospitals have developed methods of filtering fluoride from human breast milk to protect the baby.  If it is safe, why is this considered necessary?
• It displaces iodine in the diet, so may be involved in diseases of the thyroid
• Contributes to bones becoming more brittle and therefore prone to fracture later in life.  The US with the highest worldwide use of fluoridated water, also has the dubious honour of the highest worldwide hip fracture rate per head of population.
• Linked to gastro-intestinal problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.