Hi Kate,

Welcome to the list.

 

The fluoride that is put in water is industrial waste silicofluoride chemical. It has not ever been approved for use in toothpaste or as a supplement or as dental treatment or additive for bottled water. It has not ever, anywhere in the world, been approved as a dental decay preventive. It comes from the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum processing industries and is the scrubber waste that is never allowed to be discharged into air, soil or water under US and Canadian environmental regulations. In fact it is illegal to add to drinking water in Canada since Dec. 27, 2006 because the inherent contaminants in the silicofluorides (inorganic fluorides, lead, arsenic) are no longer allowed to be added to drinking water any amount; dilution is no defense. When we pointed this out to some medical officers of health, their response was to change the law back to allow toxins to be added to drinking water so fluoridation can legally continue. My, aren't they just paragons of public health protection. Right now it is continuing illegally but the Attorney General for Canada has not acted in ten months. So we won't hold our breath.

 

The chemicals used for toothpaste (sodium fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate, stannous fluoride) ARE approved for topical (external tooth surface) use only, NOT for swallowing. Thank goodness we have a choice about this. Fluoride supplements are not approved for dental decay prevention but the FDA allows them to be marketed as a diet supplement for breastfed babies. Fluoride supplements are usually sodium fluoride. They are the third leading cause of poisoning death in young children. The FDA allows sodium fluoride to be added to bottled water, and marketed for children ("Nursery Water") but requires a warning not to make formula with it.

 

And yes, brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste and spitting it out results in some ingested and absorbed fluoride, up to half the day's intake in fact (.5 to 2 mg). When you read the recommendations from the Canadian Dental Association on how kids should brush with fluoride, it is clear that the CDA wants kids to swallow toothpaste residue and get dental fluorosis. ("Rinse mouth with a minimum amount of water"). And they want parents to brush the teeth of little kids under age 4 with fluoride toothpaste LYING DOWN ON THEIR BACKS so they are forced to swallow in order to avoid choking.

 

Air pollution, especially dust from smelters and fertilizer plants, cement plants and coal burning power plants, contains airborne fluoride that is immediately absorbed from the lungs into the blood. Strangely (not), there is absolutely no dental benefit from smog even though you can get a steady supply of it from breathing, even better than from drinking it in water.

 

Using fluoridated toothpaste can cause fluoride poisoning. Drinking tap water can cause fluoride poisoning. Taking Cipro or Prozac can cause it too. So can drinking tea, beer, wine, and using tobacco, or eating ethnic foods made with rock salt. Fluoride can suppress the thyroid at very low dosages depending on your vulnerability.

 

Iodine deficiency (which afflicts an estimated 35% of women in the US according to the Centers for Disease Control research) makes fluoride poisoning a virtual certainty at exposure levels ten times lower than the CDC claims is safe.

 

Lots of peer reviewed, published research, including excerpts from the National Research Council 2006 report, at Fluoride Action Network and Second Look. Many other independent sites have tons of references and links to references. There is currently a legal ethics complaint against the Centers for Disease Control for failing to act on current warnings of health harm and putting millions of Americans at increased health risk by not warning them so that they may make an informed decision to avoid fluoridated tap water and toothpaste.

 

Aliss T. (Toronto)

Part of the Grand Rapids fluoridation failure that is never mentioned.