"Second Thoughts about Fluoride," reports Scientific American

New York -  January 2, 2008 -- "Some recent studies suggest that over-
consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting
teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland," reports Scientific
American editors (January 2008). "Scientific attitudes toward
fluoridation may be starting to shift," writes author Dan Fagin.

"Fluoride, the most consumed drug in the USA, is deliberately added to
2/3 of public water supplies theoretically to reduce tooth decay, but
with no scientifically-valid evidence  proving safety or
effectiveness," says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State
Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.

Fagin, award-wining environmental reporter and Director of New York
University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program,
writes, "There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily
intake of fluoride." Some researchers even wonder whether the 1 mg/L
added into drinking water is too much, reports Fagin.

After 3 years of scrutinizing hundreds of studies, a National Research
Council (NRC) committee "concluded that fluoride can subtly alter
endocrine function, especially in the thyroid - the gland that
produces hormones regulating growth and metabolism," reports Fagin.

Fagin quotes John Doull, professor emeritus of pharmacology and
toxicology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who chaired the
NRC committee thusly, "The thyroid changes do worry me."

Fluoride in foods, beverages, medicines and dental products can result
in fluoride over-consumption, visible in young children as dental
fluorosis - white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth. We can't
normally see fluoride's effects to the rest of the body.

Reports Fagin, "a series of epidemiological studies in China have
associated high fluoride exposures with lower IQ."

"(E)pidemiological studies and tests on lab animals suggest that high
fluoride exposure increases the risk of bone fracture, especially in
vulnerable populations such as the elderly and diabetics," writes
Fagin.

Fagin interviewed Steven Levy, director of the Iowa Fluoride Study
which tracked about 700 Iowa children for sixteen years. Nine-year-old
"Iowa children who lived in communities where the water was
fluoridated were 50 percent more likely to have mild fluorosis... than
[nine-year-old] children living in nonfluoridated areas of the state,"
writes Fagin. Levy will study fluoride's effects on their bones.

Over 1200 professionals urge Congress to cease water fluoridation and
conduct Congressional hearings because scientific evidence indicates
fluoridation is ineffective and has serious health risks. Support
them; write your representative here:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2477/t/2782/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21960

(or http://www.FluorideAction.Net )

"(G)enetic, environmental and even cultural factors appear to leave
some people much more susceptible to the effects of fluoride," writes
Fagin

"What the [NRC] committee found is that we've gone with the status quo
regarding fluoride ... for too long... and now we need to take a fresh
look," Doull says, " In the scientific community, people tend to think
that its settled... But when we looked at the studies that have been
done, we found that many of these questions are unsettled and we have
much less information than we should, considering how long this
[fluoridation] has been going on. I think that's why fluoridation is
still being challenged so many years after it began, In the face of
ignorance, controversy is rampant."

More excerpts here:

http://www.fluorideaction.net/sc.am.jan.2008.html

    Just found the article buried on my desk.  I just skimmed it--the main
points seem to be that fluoride has become so ubiquitous in the
environment that the risk of ingesting a large amount has increased.
The dental osteogenic, neurologic and endocrine effects of overdose are
discussed;  statistics are given for decrease in caries rates in both
countries that do and do not fluoridate.  The politics are also
discussed.  At first glance it looks like a fairly balanced article.
I'll read it when I get the chance and comment further.

Steve

I remember hearing about these little sea creatures in NYC water. If
they're a millimeter long as this article says, they should be visible,
seems I'll eventually see one. I find the correlation that you've
observed very interesting, Steve. Here's the article I just looked
up..sounds gross!

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/01/nyregion/01water.html?ex=1401422400&en=da0367b
358aeb5b1&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND

The problem is that once science comes up with a "good thing", like flouride
in limited amounts for tooth decay, companies go crazy and start adding it
to everything. So you get the absolutely surreal concept of adding flouride
to soda to try to prevent the tooth decay that the soda is causing.

Now that researchers seem to be confirming the benefits of Omega-3 Fatty
Acids, you will see companies adding it to everything, including Whoppers
and Big Macs :)  Eventually they'll wonder why some people are showing signs
of having too much Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

    I should state my own bias, which is that Scientific American overall
seems somewhat "dumbed down" recently compared to what it was fairly
recently (I haven't been a regular reader in several years, but have
subscribed on and off since the mid-1960s.
    Having said that, I think this article gives an excellent overview of
the current state of thinking about fluoride and fluoridation.
    The major points are that while the consensus is that fluoride
historically has made a major impact on the incidence of tooth decay.
However, fluoride has become so ubiquitous in the environment that
current guidelines for fluoridation and supplementation may need
re-evaluation.  There are many sources of fluoride in the environment,
and the sum total of these sources is difficult to determine, but is
likely to exceed what were considered safe levels in the past.  As a
result of multiple sources of fluoride in the environment, one no longer
sees the caries reduction from water fluoridation that were seen in the
past.
    The mechanisms by which fluoride reduces tooth decay are summarized.
The toxicology is not (with the exception of fluorosis and skeletal
effects), but otherpossible toxic effects are reviewed--osteosarcoma,
neurologic and endocrine (thyroid) effects.  The evidence for these is
spottier, but given the increasing chances that significant populations
are receiving more than the recommended dose, these need to be looked
into further.

    I see little or nothing to criticize in this article--I think it's a
good overview of the issues for a general reading audience.

Steve