The Hazards of Flouride in Food & Water

By Jeff Green, Natural Solutions

They say that hindsight is 20/20 vision. Today, as the devastating effects of chemicals in our water, food and environment surface, we need to look back and see where things went wrong. In fact, it turns out that most chemicals were introduced into the environment without adequate testing, often by means of publicity blitzes that misled the public.

Fluoride is a case in point. When the House Committee on Science recently asked for studies proving the safety or effectiveness of the substances that are used in 90 percent of the nation’s fluoridation programs, the Environmental Protection Agency responded that it could not identify any long-term studies proving that fluoride is safe. Research over the past few years, however, has shown that fluoridation of water presents a danger, not an advantage, for our health.

Why we are at risk
Over 50 years ago, when public policy makers proposed fluoridation of drinking water, they presented valid-sounding arguments. Many communities rushed to add fluoride to their public drinking water, presuming that the additive would fight tooth decay. Now, that argument itself is decaying.

Policy makers, heavily influenced by industry lobbyists, had bought a bill of goods, and without proper toxicological studies had standardized what they considered to be an effective amount of fluoride. The standard was based on a hypothetical average amount of water that a person drinks each day. But they failed to consider the effect of ingesting larger amounts or to take into account other sources of fluoride–including fluoride in our foods.

According to the July 2000 cover story in the Journal of the American Dental Association, what limited benefit may be attributed to fluoride, if any, probably comes from direct application to the tooth. Even then, swallowed fluoride can cause fluorosis, a darkening or mottling of the tooth and erosion of the enamel.

More significantly, fluoride has been tied to serious health problems. This is compounded when the source of fluoride is hazardous waste from the phosphate fertilizer industry. The actual substances in most fluoridation programs are residues captured from the air quality control smokestack scrubbers of fertilizer producers in central Florida. This clever but less-than-ethical business ploy, which forces toxic waste upon an unsuspecting public in the name of good health, is thought by many to be just the tip of the iceberg.

According to Dr. Hardy Limeback, head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry at the University of Toronto, this waste contains not just fluoride but also lead, arsenic and radium–all carcinogenic–and these are dumped untreated into our drinking water. Furthermore, ingesting fluoride may increase the transport of these heavy metals across the blood-brain and gut-blood barriers.

According to studies of more than 400,000 children in three states, the presence of fluoride chemicals results in a doubling of the incidence of the danger level of lead in children’s blood, which is correlated with increased learning disabilities, hyperactivity and violence. A highly significant animal study found an increased incidence of aluminum in the brain from fluoride exposures equal to the concentrations found in fluoridated drinking water, resulting in kidney disease and brain lesions similar to those of humans with Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Limeback had been Canada�s leading authority and primary promoter of fluoridation for about 30 years. Now, he actively warns people of the dangers of fluoride, advising mothers never to make baby formula with fluoridated tap water and never to let children under 3 use toothpaste with fluoride. Similarly, both the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have had to revise their recommendations and ask parents not to prepare baby formulas with fluoridated water.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Emily D.

9:15PM PDT on Oct 2, 2011

Say NO to flouride!!!
And i ONLY use flouride free toothpaste, and never ever had a cavity!!

send a green star

Past Member .

8:08PM PDT on Sep 5, 2010

It's what I have been saying all along! Fluoride is toxic, a poison, and produced as a byproduct from the fertilizer industry. It has no business in our water supply. Please keep getting the word out. People need to wake up and save their health!!

Water Damage Restoration

Trevor J.

11:53PM PDT on May 18, 2010

Why is it that every anti fluoride petition has been taken down? What is Care 2 for fluoridation?

andrew h.

11:40AM PST on Mar 9, 2010

Fluoride in toothpaste is not good for you at all (health and IQ - see below) Fluoride accumulates in the Pineal gland (also known as the third eye spiritually). The Pineal which produces melatonin in your body to help defend your health accumulates fluoride - this is NOT good) , and the fluoride does reduce IQ. These are just some of the health impacts of fluoride: See fluoridealert.org (especially the video) for free.

Jesse C.

4:33PM PST on Dec 3, 2009

On behalf of me and my constituents I invite everyone in the room to dawn their tinfoil helmets and hide under my coffee table

Ray L.

7:49PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

I seem to recall that the original push for flouridated water included the aluminum industry, at the time enjoying phenomenal growth with the rise of, as Ike put it, the "military-industrial complex." Apparently the specific form of flouride being touted was a waste product from aluminum manufacture. Nice deal if you can not only get the public to buy your waste, but make them drink it.

Rachel B.

1:27PM PDT on Oct 31, 2009

It needs to be understood that exclusive utilization of reverse osmosis and distilled water presents a health risk of its own. Our bodies derive much of their mineral and element requirements from water. Unless solids such as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, etc. are added back into the water, our bodies are robbed. Cities using an R/O filtration system for their municipal supply do just that.

Jamie C.

11:10AM PDT on Oct 28, 2009

Fluoride is rat poison. Its very reactive and toxic. It causes bone problems and nerve damage. We put this stuff everywhere like it is a golden bullet. We need to stop putting it in water. Its only benefit is topical not systematic. We shouldnt be drinking it period.

Jeffrey M.

9:57AM PDT on Oct 28, 2009

Thank you for this article. After the barrage of Care2 articles of late encouraging people to buy filters and stop buying bottles of water, it is nice to see Care2 finally acknowledging the very reason I insist on bottled water. While I am aware of the environmental damage inherent in the process of bottling and shipping water long distances, all one can do is take care of their body the best way they can and continue to recycle.

ARTLADY O.

8:46PM PDT on Oct 27, 2009

We have a whole house water filter, but we drink Kangen water which not only removes all of the bad things from water, it also provides alkaline water which is what the body requires.