Fluoride is a good word to use if you want to start an argument in today’s world. Is it good or bad? Does it prevent cavities or not? We often hear from the news echo chambers that there are studies showing that fluoride prevents cavities. Has anyone looked up those studies, and what do they really say? Who did those studies?
I may have mentioned before that I don’t rush to accept opinions just because they are from an industry-backed expert (especially if they are paid by industry) or just because they have letters like P, H and D after their names. One subset of experts I do listen to with keen interest are experts or PhDs who have retired or have bullet-proof tenure—who don’t have to worry about disruptions to their paycheck or other threats, or who speak up even when it costs them. This video features several such experts.
Boyd Haley, PhD, professor emeritus from the University of Kentucky, discusses infant mortality in the U.S. The U.S. is number forty-two in the world. In other words, forty-one countries have lower infant mortality than the U.S. Sweden, at the top of the list, has dramatically lower infant mortality. They don’t medicate the water with fluoride over there either. That, by itself, doesn’t prove anything, but studies done by the EPA are more definitive.
Robert Carton, PhD, retired EPA scientist, recounts decision-making on what is a safe level of fluoride in the water. One colleague was forced to doctor a report to support doubling the recommended “safe” amount of fluoride. Further study showed the amount should actually be cut in half rather than doubled. Management ignored that. The EPA never determined the safe level. A planned lawsuit never made it to court. Another former EPA scientist, J. William Hirzy, PhD, found that EPA contractors ignored critical data in their report. When he reported that to management, they ignored that, too.
Dr. William Marcus, PhD, retired senior scientist advisor for EPA, noticed in a report on fluoride safety that the conclusion did not match the data. When that information was made public and it became known that he had a memo stating that fluoride was a probable carcinogen, the EPA fired him. He was the senior scientist advisor—the go-to expert—and they fired him for doing his job. Marcus took his whistleblowing case to court and proved that the EPA had forged time cards trying to show he submitted fraudulent time charges, showing that he was fired for nothing more than ruining their fun with fluoride. He won. His job was reinstated with back pay, court costs were paid and he went back to work. There was an appeal, and he won that, too. The troublemakers who got him fired continued to harass him, so he launched and won another lawsuit. It was clear to him that the EPA went way over the line due to pressure from industry. This was a senior EPA scientist, not some blogger working from his mother’s basement.
Fluoride has gotten everywhere. It is absorbed by plants, contaminated fruits and fruit juices and is in wine. It is in some bottled water, but you might not see that mentioned on the label. The label does tell you how much fat is in the water. Does anyone really not know there is no fat in water?
Fluorosis damages teeth and is caused by fluoride (hence the name). Other side effects of fluoride are lowered IQ and bone cancer. Marcus points out that LSAT scores are lower today than they were in the 1950s before fluoride became so widespread. There is also evidence that genetic variations in people with African or Hispanic ancestry make them more susceptible to the ill effects of fluoride. The FDA has never approved fluoride for ingestion for reducing tooth decay. The American Dental Association, National Academy of Sciences, American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics all agree that baby formula made with tap water far exceeds the amount of fluoride that causes harm. The EPA doesn’t care about any of this. If you don’t either, perhaps you have been drinking too much tap water. The thumb is UP.
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2019
*Original article online at https://www.westonaprice.org/fluoridegate-an-american-tragedy/
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