Residents of Flint, Michigan recently had their lives turned upside down by revelations that their tap water has been poisoned with dangerous levels of lead. The staggering health ramifications of lead poisoning, coupled with the scandalous actions of local, state, and federal governments in turning a blind eye to this poisoning, has captured the nation’s collective horror.
Left unspoken, however, in the media’s coverage of the Flint tragedy is the role that Flint’s fluoridation program may have played in intensifying this crisis.
In the following FAN Special Report, we explain why fluoridation may well be magnifying the hazards of Flint’s lead crisis, not only by increasing the corrosivity of water, but by facilitating the uptake of lead into blood and aggravating lead’s toxic effects on the brain.
The lead crisis, and fluoridation’s exacerbation of it, is not just a Flint problem, it’s a national problem, as millions of Americans from all corners of the country are drinking fluoridated water that flows through lead-contaminated pipes on route to the tap.
We hope this report will serve as a useful primer for those looking to understand this important, yet poorly understood, risk to public health.
Regards,
Michael Connett
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network
Los Angeles, CA