- In what many are regarding as a first
step in the long-awaited correction of a 60-year old nationwide medical
mistake, a study by the National Academies' National Research Council (NRC),
sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has found
that the current maximum levels of fluoride allowed by the EPA in drinking
water should be lowered due to concerns over adverse health effects.
The current maximum contaminant level of fluoride is 4 mg/L and the secondary
maximum contaminant level is 2 mg/L. The NRC found that these levels
are too high, "not protective" of the population and the Council
urged further studies.
-
- Although the press release of this fluoride
report states, "The report does not examine the health risks or benefits
of the artificially fluoridated water that millions of Americans drink"
the 576-page report cites numerous studies that describe adverse health
effects associated with water fluoridation, and after reviewing this evidence,
the committee concluded unanimously that the maximum contaminant level
of fluoride in drinking water should be lowered. (1, 2)
-
- The press release makes reference to
tooth enamel discoloration as a side effect of excessive fluoride consumption,
a risk factor for bone fractures and possibly bone cancer. Again,
however, the 576-page report contains numerous studies showing an association
between fluoride ingestion and a variety of other health problems that
are now prevalent and widespread in The United States, where now two-thirds
of the people are exposed to fluoridated drinking water. Among those
now-prevalent conditions found in Americans of all backgrounds, are thyroid
malfunction and GI problems.
-
- Numerous studies are reviewed in the
NRC report that indicate subclinical or malfunctioning thyroid is "associated
with increased cholesterol concentrations, increased incidence of depression,
diminished response to standard psychiatric treatment, cognitive dysfunction,
and in pregnant women, decreased IQ of their offspring." (Page
198.) Additionally, their study reveals that a number of authors
have reported enamel disorders in juveniles suffering from hypothyroidism.
Yet, the possibility that dental fluorosis might actually be late-appearing
signs of thyroid fluorosis and malfunction has not yet been studied in
this country.
-
- The NRC also reported on pages 231 and
236 that fluoride can "stimulate secretion of acid in the stomachreduce
blood flow away from the stomach liningdilate blood vesselsincrease redness
of the stomach liningand cause cell death and desquamation of the GI tract
epithelium."
-
- In referencing a 1961 study pertaining
to GI complaints, the NRC tentatively states on page 230, "Perhaps
it is safe to say that less than 1% of the population complains of GI symptoms
after fluoridation is initiated (Feltman and Kosel, 1961)." The
"less than 1%" figure based on the 1961 Feltman and Kosel report
does not seem reasonable at the present, however, because we have new and
better evidence than in the past of widespread gastric problems including
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and acid reflux.
-
- A population-based study in Olmsted County,
Minnesota, published in a 1997 issue of Gastroenterology also decried a
lack of available data on GERD. "Gastroesophageal reflux is
considered a common condition, but detailed population-based data on reflux
in the United States are lacking." The findings of their study
in Olmsted were, "The prevalence per 100 of heartburn and/or acid
regurgitation experienced at least weekly was 19.8." Olmsted
County was fluoridated 1959, and according to the CDC's records, most of
Olmsted is now fluoridated at 1.20 mg/L. (3, 4, 5,)
-
- The IMS Health's list of top ranking
pharmaceuticals sales for 2005 also indicates a much greater prevalence
of national GI problems. Two drugs that decrease stomach acid, Prevacid
and Nexium, were among the top ten bestsellers, with sales for the combined
products totaling 9.7 billion US dollars during 2005. The top seller
for 2005 according to this report was Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering agent,
with sales of 12.9 billion US dollars. (6)
-
- According to the American Association
of Clinical Endocrinologists, approximately 27,000,000 Americans have thyroid
disorders, but only about half of them are aware of it. In the RxList
website's, "Top 300 Prescriptions for 2004 by Number of US Prescriptions
Dispensed," Synthroid, a thyroid drug, is ranked as the fifth most
popular prescription, with a total of 44,056,176 prescriptions dispensed
during that year. Lipitor, had the second highest number of prescriptions
dispensed, at 69,766,431. The NRC states on Page 2 of their report
that in 2000, there were approximately 162,000,000 people receiving water
artificially fluoridated at levels of 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L. (7, 8)
-
- One report studied by the NRC on page
194 showed "statistically significant changes in TSH concentrations
(increased), T3 concentrations (decreased)," following "prolonged
consumption of 'high-fluoride,'" at 2.3 mg/L. On page 195, another
study examined children in a high fluoride and low iodine area. The
"high" fluoride level in this study was "0.88 mg/L."
The children were found to have a "lower mean IQ," as well as
deviations in TSH and T3 levels. An additional study by Shusheela
et al. (2005), found "well-defined hormonal derangements" in
children with fluorosis from drinking water with "1.1 - 14.3 mg/L"
fluoride. On page 196, the NRC states that "studies showing
no effect of fluoride on thyroid function did not measure actual hormone
concentrationsdid not report iodine intakes," and used lower fluoride
doses than other studies.
-
- "Thus," NRC stated on page
197, "several lines of information" were reviewed that indicated
fluoride exposure had an effect on thyroid function. The effects
included decreased production of thyroid hormone, disruption of conversion
of T4 to T3, and effects on blood transport - the details of which remain
unclear. Also mentioned was the fact that some studies were not available
in English.
-
- The historic impact of this extraordinary
report is immeasurable. I contacted Dr. Hardy Limeback - BSc, PhD,
DDS, Associate Professor and Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of
Toronto - one of the twelve members of the NRC who had co-authored the
report. I asked if there were any comments he might have.
-
- His reply was, "I, for one, would
look at the graph at the top of page194 and ask, 'Are undernourished black
children in fluoridated cities (1 ppm) more susceptible to thyroid problems
than those living in non-fluoridated cities, as that graph might suggest?'
Perhaps. As far as I know, we have no data for this problem in North
America."
-
- Perhaps, indeed, this might explain the
pandemic of obesity and type-2 diabetes seen in low-income, ethnic neighborhoods
in the United States.
-
- Since current recommendations suggest
that babies up to six months of age receive no fluoride at all, Dr. Luise
Light, former USDA Director of Dietary Guidance and Nutrition Education,
proposed other questions that concerned parents should now ask: "How
do we avoid giving babies fluoridated water if it's in our municipal water
systems? Does this mean we have to buy special water to make our babies'
food and drinks? And what about the water we bathe them in?"
-
- Because the EPA has now been advised
of the potentially adverse effects fluoride has on the entire body when
administered systemically in unknowable doses via drinking water, it would
be in the interest of this nation if diligent members of the EPA would
now locate and have translated the extensive German studies dating back
to the 1930s. That was when German scientists discovered that fluorides
could be used as an effective agent to block thyroid function in patients
suffering from overactive thyroids. Of particular national interest
would be translations of the German studies in which hundreds of patients
with overactive thyroids had their thyroid function blocked by being bathed
in fluoridated water.
-
- The EPA should call for an immediate
moratorium on water fluoridation until scientists and healthcare professionals
can determine - at last - what the true health impacts have been and will
continue to be as a result of fluoridating a nation of people through their
drinking water.
-
- __________
-
- Mary Sparrowdancer is the author of The
Love Song of the Universe, (2001, Hampton Roads), and is a science and
health writer with training in clinical laboratory sciences, including
bacteriology, electroencephalography, hematology and microscopic evaluation.
www.sparrowdancer.com
- Mary co-authors a health newsletter with
Dr. Luise Light, author of "What to Eat," (2006, McGraw-Hill).
Luise is former USDA Director of Dietary Guidance and Nutrition Education,
and was the creator of the real fruit and vegetable Food Pyramid.
- www.luiselight.com
-
- References
-
- 1.
National Academies Press - "Fluoride in Drinking Water," Full
Report. Table of Contents. March 2006
- http://darwin.nap.edu/books/030910128X/html/
-
- 2.
News Release - National Academies - "EPA Standard for Fluoride in
Drinking Water Is Not Protective; Tooth Enamel Loss, Bone Fractures of
Concern at High Levels" March 2006
- http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/030910128X?OpenDocument
-
- 3.
Medscape - Gastroenterology, 1997, "Prevalence and clinical spectrum
of gastroesophageal reflux: a population-based study in Olmsted County,
Minnesota." March 2006.
-
- http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/9136821
-
- 4.
Rochester, MN - Olmstead Fluoridation record: 1959. March 2006.
https://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/attorney/ordinances/pdf/ORD140.pdf
-
- 5.
CDC - My Water's Fluoride, Olmstead County. March 2006.
-
- http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/MWF/SearchResultsV.asp
-
- 6.
IMS Health - "Leading Products by Global Pharmaceutical Sales, 2005"
- March 2006
- http://www.imshealth.com/ims/portal/front/articleC/0,2777,6599_77478579_77479663,00.html
-
- 7.
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists - "Thyroid Awareness
Month, 2003." March 2006
-
http://www.aace.com/public/awareness/tam/2003/facts.php
-
- 8.
RxList - Internet Drug Index - "The Top 300 Prescriptions for 2004
by Number of US Prescriptions Dispensed." March 2006
-
http://www.rxlist.com/top200.htm
-
- GERMAN TRANSLATIONS
-
- 9.
Schuld, Andreas, Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children -
- A.
"History of Fluoride" - "Around the same time (1932) Gorlitzer
von Mundy, being aware that fluorides also get absorbed through the skin,
began fluoride treatments of hyperthyroid patients in Austria by prescribing
20 minute baths containing 30ccm (0.03l) HF per 200 liters of water. He
reported on his successful treatment spanning over 30 years and involving
over 600 patients at a 1962 symposium on fluoride toxicityin Bern, also
attended by other world-leading experts includingGeorge Waldbott."
- B.
Gorlitzer von Mundy V - "Ein neuer Weg zur Behandlung der Thyreotoxikose
mit Fluorwasserstoffsäure" Med Klin 21:&17-719 (1932)
- (reports on the first successful use
of baths containing HF in the treatment of hyperthyroidism)
- C.
Gautier - Bull Soc Chim 14:241 (1914); cited in: Kraft K -"Beiträge
zur Biochemie des Fluors I.Über den Antagonismus zwischen Fluor und
Thyroxin." Hoppe-Seglers Z.Physiol. Chem 245:58 -65 (1937)
- D.
May W - "Behandlung der Hypothyreosen einschließlich des schweren
genuinen Morbus Basedow mit Fluor" Klin Wochenschr 16:562-564 (1937)
March 2006
- Schuld, Andreas, PFPC -
http://www.bruha.com/pfpc/html/thyroid_history.html
-
-
- 10.
Meiers, Peter - (Historian) -
- A.
"Guenther Schiemann, Wolfgang Winkelmueller, Wilhelm Roselius: 'Verfahren
zur Darstellung von Kondensationsprodukten kernfluorierter Arylaldehyde',
German Patent DE 621,862; filed July 1, 1932; pat. Nov. 14, 1935."
- Patent for fluoride medication used to treat hyperthyroidism.
- B.
Kurt Kraft, Ferdinand Dengel: "Verfahren zur Herstellung kernsubstituierter
Phenylessigsäuren," German Patent DE 819,696; filed Feb. 3, 1943;
pat. Nov. 5, 1951 (A compound similar to fluorotyrosine, i.e. 3-Fluoro-4-hydroxyphenylacetic
acid, was patented by Kraft and Dengel of Knoll, pharmaceutical company
of Ludwigshafen, and became known under the names of "Capacin," "Kapacin," and
"Wiflucin" [marketed by Knoll] as a treatment
against hyperthyroidism. - s.a. The Merck Index, 9th edition, Merck &
Co., Rahway, N.J., 1976) March 2006
- Meiers, Peter - http://www.fluoride-history.de/
-
-
- Mary Sparrowdancer may be reached at
sparrowdancer1@earthlink.net
-
- Read Mary Sparrowdancer's Major Report On Fluoride
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