A letter from the Fluoride Action Network sent to Congress on August 9, 2007, contains a simple request: end fluoridation of U.S. drinking water! The letter describes the long-term risks of fluoride consumption and has been signed by over 600 professionals, including dentists, scientists, three members of the National Research Councils’ 2006 panel on fluoride toxicology, and the recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine.
What is the Fluoride Action Network (FAN)?
The Fluoride Action Network describes itself as “an international coalition seeking to broaden public awareness about the toxicity of fluoride compounds and the health impacts of current fluoride exposures.”
The non-profit group collects and shares information and monitors government policies on fluoride use. It has been an official part of the American Environment Health Studies Project since 2004.
Letter to Congress: End Water Fluoridation
The August 9 letter begins, “eight recent events make action to end water fluoridation urgent.”
The first and most convincing “event” is a 500-page report on fluoride’s toxicology that was published in 2006 by the National Research Panel of the National Academies. The report highlights the hazards and unknowns of long-term fluoride use, and challenges the EPA’s current safe water drinking standard for fluoride (4 ppm).
According to the FAN letter, fluoride's effects "include an increased risk of bone fractures, decreased thyroid function, lowered IQ, arthritic-like conditions, dental fluorosis and, possibly, osteosarcoma." Particularly at risk are children, diabetics, those with kidney concerns, and "above average water drinkers" – which probably includes anyone who is drinking enough water to sustain good health.
More Facts Cited in the FAN Letter
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2005: "32% of American children have dental fluorosis – an abnormal discoloration and mottling of the enamel... caused by fluoride."
- American Dental Association, Nov. 2006: To prevent dental fluorosis, infant formula for children under a year old should be prepared with purified, distilled, or reverse osmosis water, containing no fluoride.
- CDC, 1999 and 2001: Fluoride’s benefit to teeth occurs from topical use, not by ingestion.
- Research studies, 1980’s-present: There is little difference in rates of tooth decay between communities where water is fluoridated and those where it is not.
- York Review (U.K. government), 2000: None of the studies indicating benefits of water fluoridation were “grade A status” – most showed flaws or bias.
- A Harvard University study published May 2006 indicates a five- to seven-fold increase in osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in young men who were exposed to fluoride between the ages of six and nine.
- “The admission by federal agencies, in response to questions from a Congressional subcommittee in 1999-2000, that the industrial-grade waste products used to fluoridate over 90% of America's drinking water supplies (fluorosilicate compounds) have never been subjected to toxicological testing nor received FDA approval for human ingestion.”
For details on these and more facts on the hazards of fluoride in drinking water, see the original letter on the website of the FAN
