The Drug that's Untested for Safety that Virtually Everyone Is Forced to Take

Posted By Dr. Mercola | October 01 2011 |

We have been actively involved with the Fluoride Action Network's initiatives to eliminate fluoride from Canadian and U.S. drinking water supplies, one community at a time. We are making some great strides in this area! Earlier this year, New York City councilor Peter Vallone, Jr. introduced legislation "prohibiting the addition of fluoride to the water supply." A victory there could signal the beginning of the end of water fluoridation in the United States.

On its heels, a new lawsuit has been filed against the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California -- the largest wholesaler of water in Southern California, which services some 18 million consumers -- alleging that the water supplier engaged in deceptive business practices and infringements on consumers' Constitutional rights by adding a fluoridation chemical to their water.

Does Water Fluoridation Violate Your Constitutional Rights?

It is without question a violation of your civil rights to have an unapproved drug added to your water without your consent. Soon we will see whether a court rules it is unconstitutional as well.

For those of you who are new to the fluoride issue, hydrofluosilicic acid, the chemical MWD added to water supplies, is (along with sodium silicofluoride) used to fluoridate the majority of water in the United States. Hydrofluosilicic acid is a highly toxic waste product from the phosphate fertilizer industry. Although its main use is for water fluoridation, it is also used for:

Tanning animal hides and skins	Manufacturing ceramics and glass	Oil well acidizing
Manufacturing hydrogen fluoride	Sterilizing equipment	Electroplating
Mold removal	Preserving wood and hardening masonry	Removing rust and stains from textiles

Why is this chemical added to your drinking water? Public health agencies say it is for the purpose of treating or preventing dental disease, but, as the Citizens for Safe Drinking Water point out, this begs an important question:

Has the hydrofluosilicic acid product used to treat or prevent dental disease been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for such intent or claims?

The simple answer is, NO!

The FDA is quick to rear its regulatory head when it comes to foods like tart cherry juice making claims about preventing disease, but when it comes to fluoride in drinking water, they turn a blind eye. The truth is, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is the government agency that regulates contaminants in your drinking water, has nothing directly to do with regulating additives such as fluoridation chemicals. The regulation of additives has been shunted off to a quasi-independent body called the National Sanitation Foundation, which has strong ties to the water and chemical industries.

However, the EPA does have an indirect role, which could hugely impact fluoridation. If it did an honest job of determining the safe level of fluoride as a contaminant (i.e. the maximum contaminant level goal or MCLG) based on the 2006 report issued by the U.S. National Research Council, this level would be so much lower than the current levels used in water fluoridation (0.7 to 1.2 ppm) that it would force an end to this outdated practice.

However, on Jan 7, 2011 the EPA Office of Water made it clear that its priority was to protect the water fluoridation program, so honest science is unlikely to prevail here.

The FDA should be making the call as to whether or not fluoridation chemicals are "approved" to treat and prevent disease!

As the Citizens for Safe Drinking Water state:

"The lawsuit's filing clarifies that Congress has established that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the only government entity with the authority to approve claims of safety and effectiveness for products intended to treat and prevent disease, and that not only has the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency never had that authority, but in 1988 abandoned authority for safety standards for all direct water additives, including fluoridation chemicals.

While the Plaintiffs do not seek an award for any physical harm, they do point to evidence concerning safety/harm and effectiveness that by law and for consumers' protection requires that the product be thoroughly evaluated, and approval given, for any claims and MWD's intended health impact, before exposing consumers without their consent."

In fact, you may be interested to know that hydrofluosilicic acid has not been tested for safety nor effectiveness, yet water suppliers are allowed to add it to your drinking water to "prevent dental caries" -- without FDA approval! This is the equivalent of mass drugging, without regard for dosage, safety or individual vulnerabilities.

As Dr. Paul Connett, director of The Fluoride Action Network, said:

"… water fluoridation is very bad medicine because once you put it in the water, you can't control the dose. You can't control who gets it. There is no oversight. You're allowing a community to do to everyone what a doctor can do to no one, i.e. force a patient to take a particular medication."

Today, even promoters of fluoridation concede that the major benefits are topical; fluoride works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside of your body, so why swallow it? There is practically no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries, and no difference between states that have a high- or low percentage of their water fluoridated. So, why are we still fluoridating water? When is enough, enough?

What are the Risks of Consuming Fluoridated Water?

Fluoride is a toxic agent that is biologically active in the human body where it accumulates in sensitive tissues over time, wreaks havoc with enzymes and produces a number of dysfunctions—including neurological dysfunction.

Further, as Dr. Connett states:

"According to the CDC, 41 percent of American adolescents aged 12-15 have been overexposed to fluoride because you have this telltale sign of dental fluorosis, which in its mildest form is little white specs. But when it gets more serious, it affects more of the surface of your teeth and it becomes colored; yellow, brown and orange mottling of the teeth."

For an extensive listing of scientific studies on fluoride, see this link. Research into the health effects of fluoride have identified a multitude of other health hazards, including:

Increased lead absorption	Brain damage, and lowered IQ	Lowered thyroid function	Inhibited formation of antibodies
Disrupted synthesis of collagen	Arthritis	Genetic damage and cell death	Disrupted immune function
Hyperactivity and/or lethargy	Dementia	Bone cancer (osteosarcoma)	Increased tumor and cancer rate
Muscle disorders	Bone fractures	Inactivation of 62 enzymes	Damaged sperm and increased infertility

Despite this known toxicity, the United States is only one of seven countries in the entire developed world that fluoridates more than 50 percent of its water supply. (The other six are: Australia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.)

In Europe, Ireland is the only country that fluoridates more than 50 percent of its drinking water, and England fluoridates 10 percent. Most of mainland Europe is not fluoridated, and yet, according to World Health Organization data, their teeth are just as good as, if not better than, Americans'.

Minorities are at Even Greater Risk

As the Citizens for Safe Drinking Water stated regarding the recent MWD lawsuit:

"Plaintiffs point to MWD's misrepresentations and omission of any notice of contraindications, government recognition of susceptible populations, and scientific evidence of disproportionate harm to children, Latinos, and African Americans, from the particular harmful side effects from the hydrofluosilicic acid drug selected by MWD, above other forms of fluoride."

The reason why certain ethnic minorities may be disproportionately harmed is because fluoride's toxicity appears to be exacerbated by:

• Inadequate nutrition, including lower intakes of iodine and calcium. Certain racial groups are more likely to be lactose intolerant than others and may therefore consume less dairy (a primary source of calcium) and more water. 
  
  Included among these are Central and East Asians, Native Americans, African Americans, Southern Indians. Thus these groups may be more heavily exposed to fluoride in water and other beverages than are Caucasian Americans, and their calcium intakes may be compromised, which may further exacerbate toxicity.
• Kidney dysfunction and diabetes, which are more prevalent among minorities than whites.
• Inadequate supplies of vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, and selenium

According to CDC statistics, African American mothers are also the least likely to breastfeed their infants, compared to other ethnic groups. And while breast milk is very low in fluoride, infants fed formula mixed with fluoridated water may receive harmful amounts of fluoride—as much as 200 times more fluoride than a breastfed baby.

Two Atlanta Civil Rights leaders, Andrew Young and Reverend Dr. Gerald Durley, recently called for the state of Georgia's mandatory water fluoridation law to be repealed, based on the fact that it disproportionately harms minorities and the poor. But as it stands, vulnerable populations like these can do little to opt-out of the widespread water fluoridation in the United States.

Remember, fluoride is a drug. You can't get fluoride without a prescription! Yet it's being added to your water supply on a mandatory basis at various levels that may or may not be safe for various individuals, especially children, the sick, certain minorities, and the elderly. Water fluoridation is a major assault on your freedom of choice -- to be drugged or not.

What Will Happen if the Court Rules Water Fluoridation is Unconstitutional?

According to the Citizens for Safe Drinking Water:

"This case does not seek to halt fluoridation, nor challenge the public policy of water fluoridation … This case addresses the bait and switch activities of MWD to conceal pertinent information and use a drug not approved for any of the manners of administration that consumers are exposed to."

The hope is that, if water fluoridation is found to violate your Constitutional rights, the other fluoridated communities around the United States that use the same "unapproved drug" and "deceptive practices" will take note, and hopefully trigger a cascading effect around the nation. As for claims that water fluoridation is safe, Citizens for Safe Drinking Water states:

"Don't tell us, or the media, or even the courts. Tell the FDA through the approval process and don't deliver hydrofluosilicic acid to us without our consent until you do."

According to a 2006 report from the National Research Council, extensive amounts of research is inconclusive, or still missing and needs to be conducted to evaluate whole-body impact of fluoride … Not only that, but their scientific review also identified research suggesting a variety of harmful effects, from skeletal fluorosis, bone fractures, and, potentially, even cancer.

With that in mind, the FDA will have a hard, if not impossible, time approving water fluoridation chemicals as safe for ALL community residents, including infants and adults, the sick and the healthy.

You Can Get Involved to Help End Water Fluoridation

I'm fond of sharing the 200-year-old observation by German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer on the shifting of human views on truth:

1. First, it is ridiculed.
2. Second, it is violently opposed.
3. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident

When it comes to water fluoridation, I believe we're finally entering the final stage of this shift, and it's just a matter of time before the dangers of this practice—the forceful drugging of citizens with a neurotoxic agent—will become "self-evident."

Along these lines, the Fluoride Action Network has a game plan to END water fluoridation in both Canada and the United States. Our fluoride initiative will primarily focus on Canada since 60 percent of Canada is already non-fluoridated. Now that the city of Calgary has stopped fluoridating over 1.1 million people, and several other communities have stopped fluoridation in both Alberta and Ontario, we believe the United States will be forced to follow.

If you want to get involved and become a positive catalyst toward this change, join the anti-fluoride movement in Canada and the United States by contacting the representative for your area below.

Contact Information for Canadian Communities:

• If you live in Ontario, Canada, please join the ongoing effort by contacting Diane Sprules at diane.sprules@cogeco.ca.
• The point-of-contact for Toronto, Canada is Aliss Terpstra. You may email her at aliss@nutrimom.ca.

Contact Information for American Communities:

We're also going to address three US communities: New York City, Austin, and San Diego:

• New York City, NY: The anti-fluoridation movement has a great champion in New York City councilor Peter Vallone, Jr. who introduced legislation on January 18 "prohibiting the addition of fluoride to the water supply." A victory there could signal the beginning of the end of fluoridation in the U.S. If you live in the New York area I beg you to participate in this effort as your contribution could have a MAJOR difference. Remember that one person can make a difference.
  
  The point person for this area is Carol Kopf, at the New York Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF). Email her atNYSCOF@aol.com . Please contact her if you're interested in helping with this effort.
• Austin, Texas: Join the effort by contacting Rae Nadler-Olenick at either: info@fluoridefreeaustin.com orfluoride.info@yahoo.com, or by regular mail or telephone: 
  
  

  POB 7486
  Austin, Texas 78713
  Phone: (512) 371-3786

• San Diego, California: Contact Patty Ducey-Brooks, publisher of the Presidio Sentinel at pbrooks936@aol.com.

In addition, you can:

• Make a tax-deductible donation to the Fluoride Action Network, to help them fight for your rights to fluoride-free food and water.
• Check out FAN's Action Page, as they are working on multiple fronts to rid our food and water supplies of fluoride.
• For timely updates, join the Fluoride Action Network Facebook page.

For more information you can view the video "Professional Perspectives on Water Fluoridation," in which 15 scientists explain why water fluoridation should be ended. After watching this preview, I urge you to order a hard copy for yourself. I have ordered several hundred copies of this important DVD and am making them available at a 50 percent discount ($10 plus shipping and handling).

The Fluoride Action Network has given its permission for you to then make unlimited copies of this DVD, so you can share it freely with colleagues and decision makers. So please, order a copy and share it widely so you can support this important work.