Second Thoughts about Flouride Reports Scientific American

From http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS108377+02-Jan-2008+PRN20080102

'Second Thoughts about Fluoride,' Reports Scientific American
PR Newswire January 2, 2008
"Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland," reports Scientific American editors (January 2008). "Scientific attitudes toward fluoridation may be starting to shift," writes author Dan Fagin."Fluoride, the most consumed drug in the USA, is deliberately added to 2/3 ofpublic water supplies theoretically to reduce tooth decay, but with noscientifically-valid evidence proving safety or effectiveness," says lawyerPaul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. Fagin, award-wining environmental reporter and Director of New YorkUniversity's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program, writes,"There is no universally accepted optimal level for daily intake of fluoride."Some researchers even wonder whether the 1 mg/L added into drinking water istoo much, reports Fagin.After 3 years of scrutinizing hundreds of studies, a National Research Council(NRC) committee "concluded that fluoride can subtly alter endocrine function,especially in the thyroid -- the gland that produces hormones regulatinggrowth and metabolism," reports Fagin.
Fagin quotes John Doull, professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology atthe University of Kansas Medical Center, who chaired the NRC committee thusly, "The thyroid changes do worry me."
Fluoride in foods, beverages, medicines and dental products can result influoride over-consumption, visible in young children as dental fluorosis --white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth. We can't normally seefluoride's effects to the rest of the body.
Reports Fagin, "a series of epidemiological studies in China have associatedhigh fluoride exposures with lower IQ.""(E)pidemiological studies and tests on lab animals suggest that high fluorideexposure increases the risk of bone fracture, especially in vulnerablepopulations such as the elderly and diabetics," writes Fagin.Fagin interviewed Steven Levy, director of the Iowa Fluoride Study whichtracked about 700 Iowa children for sixteen years. Nine-year-old "Iowachildren who lived in communities where the water was fluoridated were 50percent more likely to have mild fluorosis... than [nine-year-old] childrenliving in nonfluoridated areas of the state," writes Fagin. Levy will studyfluoride's effects on their bones.

Over 1200 professionals urge Congress to cease water fluoridation and conductCongressional hearings because scientific evidence indicates fluoridation isineffective and has serious health risks. Support them; write yourrepresentative here:

salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2477/t/2782/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21960
ContactPaul Beeber, Esq.

www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

www.FluorideAction.Nettinyurl.com/6kqtu

516-433-8882nyscof@aol.com