Fluoride in tap water is hazardous to health, research shows

In 2006 the National Research Council (NRC) came out with its groundbreaking fluoride report produced by a panel of experts who reviewed hundreds of fluoride toxicological studies revealing that consuming even small amounts of fluoride from tap water can be hazardous to your health.

While dental groups and individual dentists claim this report has nothing to do with fluoridation, the following has occurred because the NRC report has everything to do with fluoridation (the addition of fluoride chemicals into public water supplies attempting to reduce tooth decay).

Both the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cited the NRC report when they advised that fluoridated water should not be used to make infant formula.

The National Kidney Foundation, citing the NRC report, withdrew its support of fluoridation and replaced it with this warning:"Individuals with CKD [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk of fluoride exposure."

A January 2008 Scientific American article reported that after 3 years of scrutinizing hundreds of studies, the NRC expert panel "concluded that fluoride can subtly alter endocrine function, especially in the thyroid - the gland that produces hormones regulating growth and metabolism," reports its author Dan Fagin.

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

"Many Americans are exposed to fluoride in the ranges associated with thyroid effects, especially for people with iodine deficiency,"- said Kathleen Thiessen, PhD, co-author of the government-sponsored NRC report. "The recent decline in iodine intake in the U.S could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals,"- says Thiessen. She and at least two other panel members publicly call for an end to water fluoridation.

"A low level of thyroid hormone can increase the risk of cardiac disease, high cholesterol, depression and, in pregnant woman, decreased intelligence of offspring,"- said Thiessen.

A meta-analysis of fluoride/IQ studies e-published 8/10/08 "found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ ( published in Biological Trace Element Research el al.).

An Institute for Children's Environmental Health report published February 2008 and revised July 2008 said "The primary question remains as to whether exposures to fluoride via multiple routes of exposure, from drinking water, food and dental-care products, may result in a high enough cumulative exposure to contribute to developmental effects"-emerging science suggests we need to further study the dose at which fluoridation may increase risks of neurodevelopment disorders, cancer and skeletal or dental fluorosis, particularly for sensitive individuals."

Over 1,800 professionals signed a statement urging Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted.

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