Is your fluoridated drinking water trying to kill you? It’s not such a farfetched idea when you consider the facts. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral used to fight tooth decay in children. Fluoride is also used to poison rats.

A little pinch of rat poison

The defenders of fluoridation, the practice of adding a small amount of fluoride to drinking water in order to fight tooth decay, shoo away doubts about the use of fluoride by explaining that it’s a matter of dosage. The amount of fluoride used to fight cavities is minute, whereas the amount of fluoride in rat poison is considerable.

This is tantamount to saying to parents: “We’re not adding much rat poison to your children’s drinking water, just a little pinch here and there.”

The fluoride influx begins

How did fluoridation get started? At the beginning of the 20th Century, a dentist noticed that the people of Colorado Springs all had ugly stains on their teeth. It was subsequently discovered that this was caused by high levels of fluoride in their water supply. But at the same time, researchers found that area residents had fewer cavities than the norm. This led to the conclusion that small doses of fluoride might prevent tooth decay without causing discoloring, and as a result, between the early 1940s and the late 1950s, fluoridation flooded into American communities, often with little or no public debate.

By the time people started asking hard questions about fluoride, it was too late. Today, two thirds of the United States population drinks fluoridated water.

Fluoride’s long-term effects

While many things are in dispute regarding fluoride, the effects of an overdose are not. They include drooling, tremors, weakness, convulsions, labored breathing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and shock. And that’s just for a short-term overdose. According to the FAN letter, fluoride’s long-term 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.2

Serious concerns about fluoridation Major worries regarding fluoridation include:

There is no scientific body of work that examines how much fluoride is in the environment and food supply of the average American, a key point raised by Ralph Nader. That means there’s no way of knowing just how much fluoride your child is ingesting on any given day. Since we’ve already established that only the dosage differentiates toothpaste from rat poison, this is a pretty important question.

If you read your toothpaste label, you will see a warning demanding you contact a doctor immediately if you accidentally swallow some toothpaste. This can only mean that toothpaste, which your child puts in her mouth, contains a toxic substance.

The EPA’s professional union (including scientists and engineers) is on the record opposing the fluoridation of water. According to their statement, “Our members’ review of the body of evidence over the last eleven years, including animal and human epidemiology studies, indicate a causal link between fluoride/fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment, and bone pathology. As the professionals who are charged with assessing the safety of drinking water, we conclude that the health and welfare of the public is not served by the addition of this substance to the public water supply.” 1

Water: pure and safe

According to one anti-fluoride researcher, Dr. John Lee, “The goal of our public water facilities should be to provide water that is as pure and safe as possible and not as a vehicle for universal pharmacological treatments regardless of age, the health status of the individual, or the presumed benefit, which, in the case of fluoride, is highly questionable, to say the least.”3

What do you think? Shouldn’t water just be water?

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