Despite a more than $600,000 investment in the process launched back in 2004, a decision made earlierthis week by Pinellas County Commission in Florida effectively put a stop to adding fluoride to its public drinking water, making it the largest urban county in Florida to discontinue the practice. Pinellas County joins a growing list of communities that have rejected fluoridation since 1990, a list now numbering over 250.
Breaking away from fixed traditions more local residents, grass roots organizations and professionals from all sectors, including a growing number of dentists are speaking out against fluoridation — due to the fact that fluoride chemicals added to the water supply as a way to to reduce tooth decay, is actually a money wasting health risk.
What’s Wrong With Fluoride?
Since the 1940s cities across the USA have been adding fluoride to the drinking water purported as a way to prevent tooth decay and promote oral health since that time more than 72 percent of the U.S. population is subject to the use of publically fluoridated water, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Although some holistic dentists favor topical applications of fluoride and some do not, most all have long argued against any form of ingested fluoride, pointing out that research has linked ingested fluoride to cancer and various bone problems, while other studies have shown no benefit to the teeth from ingested fluoride. They also recognize that excessive amounts of fluoride can cause fluorosis and that fluoridating public water supplies equals forced medication of the general public.
Regardless of the fact that the CDC touts the addition of fluoride to drinking was as “Ten Great Public Health Achievements” of the 20th century, critics from all over the world have long pointed out that fluoride can harm the enamel on the teeth of young children, and it puts the general population at risk for a myriad of potential health problems. Although they haven’t backed down from the notion that fluoride is good for people to drink, the American Dental Association (ADA) and the CDC have recently
warned parents to avoid using fluoridated water for preparing infant formula.
Fluoride is actually a waste product created by the aluminum and fertilizer industries which also contains concentrations of arsenic and lead, and so the chemicals used to fluoridate public drinking water are not pharmaceutical grade as one might expect. In fact, the type of fluoride used in our drinking water is so toxic, it is illegal for the general public to dump these sorts of chemicals into natural waterways or release the parent gases into the atmosphere.
Stopping Fluoridation Saves Money & Promotes Public Health
Serving a population of about 700,000, fluoridation in Pinellas County reportedly costs taxpayers about $205,000 a year. Since some 200 million Americans live in communities that fluoridate their water, in a budget strapped economy one can only imagine how much money local governments across the nation could save annually if they opted to halt the practice.
Hoping to launch a similar action in their own community, seven NYC Council members recently sponsored legislation and residents are petitioning Mayor Bloomberg to stop fluoridation as a way to preserve money and health. They estimate that more than $250 million is spent annual on fluoridating the public water supplies in their area.
If you would like to get involved, the Fluoride Action Network offers several ways to call your community to action by writing letters to your U.S. senators and representatives urging them to help put an end to water fluoridation in the United States. You can also send letters to your state legislators calling for an end to local water fluoridation and write letters to the editor of your local newspaper about the need for fluoride policy reform. You can also sign the Petition to President Obama to end all federal
involvement in the promotion, endorsement, and funding for fluoridation of the public’s drinking water.
More Information:
50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation
https://www.fluoridealert.org/50-reasons.pdf
Question Fluoridation
https://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/brochure.pdf