By Dr. Jay Levy, D.D.S., Contributing Columnist
As a practicing Portland dentist and one who has enjoyed
reading and supporting Street Roots for years, it was very disappointing to
read the Street Roots article and editorial regarding water fluoridation. This
is especially true since Street Roots did not even contact any of the doctors,
nurses, chiropractors, acupuncturists, pharmacists, mid-wives and other medical
professionals that are actively working with Clean Water Portland to protect
Portlanders from the risks of adding fluoridation chemicals to our drinking water. In just a few weeks Portlanders will receive
their ballots in this special election that will decide the future of our
drinking water for decades to come.
From the Sierra Club’s Columbia Group and the Oregon
Acupuncture Association to EPA’s Scientists’ Union and Food & Water Watch,
major health, conservation and consumer groups are opposing fluoridation
because of the well-documented risks and the fact that there are much more
effective alternatives, such as increasing access to care, that we should
pursue with the millions of dollars in increased water rates it would cost to
add fluoridation chemicals to our water.
Fluoridation may sound good if you only hear half the story,
but its health effects are real and would fall most heavily on sensitive sub-populations
with diseases common among the homeless such as diabetes, kidney disease and
thyroid disorders. There is a reason
your fluoridated toothpaste tube says, “Do Not Swallow,” and the reason is that
even the FDA is well aware of the real risks from fluoride ingestion.
While fluoridation is well-intentioned, most promoters
cannot tell you the name of the chemical that would actually be used to
“fluoridate” our water and have little idea of where it comes from or
scientifically reported risks. These facts are worth knowing before you get
your ballot this May.
Fluoridation chemicals are industrial byproducts from
fertilizer production… Really.
The idea that we would knowingly add an industrial byproduct
from fertilizer production to some of the best drinking water in the world
seems unbelievable. But it does not take more than a little time at a local
library or a few minutes on-line to read page 15 of the National Academy of
Sciences “Fluoride in Drinking Water” report to see for yourself that fluoridation
means adding “byproducts from the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer” to our
water.
The Portland Water Bureau admits fluoridation would mean
adding the chemical fluorosilicic acid (FSA) to our drinking water. FSA is not
a mineral like calcium fluoride. FSA is not even pharmaceutical grade fluoride
like what is found in toothpaste. Instead, FSA comes in chemical tanker trucks
and is so corrosive and acidic the Water Bureau has admitted it would also have
to add a caustic neutralizer to our water to minimize the amount of lead FSA
would leach from our water pipes. Even the lead fluoridation promoters don’t
dispute that the FSA is an industrial byproduct that contains known toxics such
as arsenic, lead, and even mercury, they just claim that the levels of these
toxics are too low to matter.
But for me and many other medical professionals the idea of
adding more chemicals and more toxic contaminants to the water Portlanders and
our kids drink does not make sense.
The recent science supports there are reasonable risks from
fluoridation chemicals.
Recent scientific studies from the National Academy of
Sciences, top researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and others have
now documented a spectrum of risks related to fluoridation ranging from neurological
impacts on childhood IQ and excessive fluoride exposure in infants using
fluoridated infant formula, to increased risks of bone cancer in boys.
Fluoridation promoters dismiss the hundreds of scientific
studies showing serious risks related to very low concentration fluoride
exposure. They even claim the National Academy of Sciences report titled
“Fluoride in Drinking Water” is “irrelevant” to water fluoridation despite the
fact it was this report that triggered the federal government in 2011 to call for
a 40 percent reduction in maximum level of fluoridation chemicals that can be
added to drinking water. This same
report, lead to widespread warnings by federal and state health authorities
against the regular use of fluoridated water to mix infant formula due to the
threat of excessive fluoride exposure.
As the National Academy of Sciences reported:
“it is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere
with the functions of the brain…. (p. 222).
“Fluoride appears to have the potential to initiate or
promote cancers…” (p. 336).
“The possible association of cytogenetic effects with
fluoride exposure suggests that Down’s syndrome is a biologically plausible
outcome of exposure.” (p. 197).
“There is no question that fluoride can affect the cells
involved in providing immune responses.”
(p. 295).
Claims that fluoridation chemicals are so safe every
Portlander and their kids should have to drink them regardless of whether they
choose are not scientifically supported.
This is why 97percent of Western Europe is un-fluoridated
and why Portland should vote this May to remain free of fluoridation chemicals.
Dr. Jay Levy is with Clean
Water Portland
Read the counterpoint argument on fluoride here.
This article appears in 2013-04-26.