Neurotoxicity Report a Great Success For FAN in 2023
The recognition by the National Toxicology Program that fluoride is neurotoxic to the developing brains of children, the outcome of a process that began long ago with Mullenix, et al’s 1994 report on the neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats, and continued with the 2006 National Academies’ report on naturally occurring fluoride in water, was a highpoint of FAN’s campaign to end water fluoridation in 2023
Here are some notes on the report, derived from the authors’ responses to reviewers’ comments, several of which reveal the important role the Fluoride Action Network played in the process.
Fluoride established as neurotoxic, and the public, particularly FAN, made it happen
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) authors make it clear in the Introduction to their report that the people played a key role in this momentous development – the recognition that just twice the “optimum” concentration of fluoride in drinking water is neurotoxic to children.
They write, “The National Toxicology Program conducted a systematic review of the published scientific literature because of public concern regarding the potential association between fluoride exposure and adverse neurodevelopmental and cognitive health effects.”
Their conclusion permanently improves the conversation on fluoridation.
“This review finds, with moderate confidence, that higher fluoride exposure (e.g., represented by populations whose total fluoride exposure approximates or exceeds the World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality of 1.5 mg/L of fluoride) is consistently associated with lower IQ in children,” write the authors.
NTP report enshrines “total fluoride exposure”
The report’s authors establish total fluoride exposure as the standard of measurement, and note that this approach makes their findings relevant to community water fluoridation.
They write, “This sentence and similar sentences throughout the monograph reflect revisions to clarify that our moderate confidence conclusion is primarily based on studies with total fluoride exposure that approximates or exceeds what is generally associated with consumption of optimally fluoridated water in the United States.”
Declan Waugh’s hard work pays off
The Irish scientist Declan Waugh, in addition to his excellent work organizing opposition to fluoridation in the Irish Republic, has synthesized a great deal of primary research results in a series of papers that document fluoride’s harm to human physiology.
His hard work paid off as the NTP authors cite his paper in justifying their focus on thyroid function.
In the report, one reviewer writes, “It’s very confusing to read through repeated descriptions of topics which are not being reviewed. As an example, it’s disconcerting to repeatedly see that thyroid function is an outcome of interest (without an explanation as to why this is of interest to a review of neurodevelopmental and cognitive health effects).”
In response the authors added a footnote:
“1The current review has evaluated the fluoride literature with an eye toward potential thyroid effects because a large literature base has accumulated examining the interaction of fluoride with iodine uptake by the thyroid gland and consequential effects on synthesis of thyroid hormones, which are recognized to play significant roles in neurodevelopment in utero and during early childhood. This literature, along with a detailed proposed mechanism of action, was recently reviewed by Waugh (2019).”
His report is:
Waugh DT. 2019. Fluoride exposure induces inhibition of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) contributing to impaired iodine absorption and iodine deficiency: Molecular mechanisms of inhibition and implications for public health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 16(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16061086
Ellen Connett’s hard work pays off
In their discussion of the protocols used to search the literature for relevant reports, the NTP authors note, “A secondary goal was to examine whether the non-English-language studies on the Fluoride Action Network website (http://fluoridealert.org/)—a site used as another resource to identify potentially relevant studies because it is known to index fluoride publications—had been selectively presented to list only studies reporting effects of fluoride.”
This led one reviewer to grouse, “This is the first time the “Flouride Action” (sic) website is mentioned… It may be helpful to the reader to provide some rationale for why this website was specifically targeted.”
To which the authors respond, “This sentence reflects revisions to introduce the Fluoride Action Network and to clarify that the site was used as another resource because it is known to index fluoride publications.”
That it is so known is thanks to Ellen Connett, who has worked tirelessly, day after day, for 20 plus years collecting the fluoride literature for FAN’s monumental website.
The authors also note that one of the databases they used was Web of Science, a database that indexes the journal Fluoride, something the taxpayer-funded PubMed refuses to do, in a blatant instance of intellectual suppression.
Chinese team member confirms accuracy of FAN’s Chinese translations
In response to a reviewer’s comment that questioned the accuracy of the Fluoride Action Network’s translation of original Chinese language reports, the authors note, “[I]n order to assess whether the lack of information relevant to key risk-of-bias concerns was the result of a loss in translation, the original Chinese publications and the translated versions of the five studies that had the most potential for being included in the low risk-of-bias group of studies were reviewed by a team member with Chinese as first language to determine whether the translations were accurate and whether any of the risk-of-bias concerns could be addressed… For all five studies, the translations were determined to be accurate, and there was no impact of the translations on the key risk-of-bias concerns.”
Source: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/noncancer/ongoing/fluoride
Fluoride in Smokeless Tobacco a Suspected Factor in Oral Submucus Fibrosis
Aware that the premalignant condition known as oral submucus fibrosis (OSMF), which has a substantial malignant transformation risk of 1.9%–9%, often affects patients from high-fluoride areas of India, researchers from several Indian, British and American universities, analyzed a variety of areca nut and smokeless tobacco products, and found high levels of fluoride in many of them.
The nut and tobacco products were found to have between 5 and more than 50 mg per kg of fluoride, according to their report in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery November 10.
“Overall, the highest mean fluoride content was found in catechu, followed by tobacco, then gutkha and pan masala, areca nut products, and soil. Although fluoride was present in soil, the water source had normal levels,” write the authors.
Catechu is an extract of the heartwood of the plant Acacia catechu, extensively used with betel leaf in the preparation of smokeless tobacco products. Gutkha is a combination of pan masala and smokeless tobacco. Pan masala itself is a combination of catechu, slaked lime and areca nut.
The authors added, “One noteworthy aspect of the study was analysis of the fluoride content in processed areca nuts and raw areca nuts harvested directly from trees. While fluoride was detected in both, the raw nuts showed relatively lower levels than processed nuts. This highlights the potential impact of processing techniques in increasing fluoride concentrations in commercially available areca products. The insight may be valuable for future studies that investigate specific factors that contribute to the accumulation of fluoride in these products.”
“The findings demonstrate substantial fluoride levels in popular types of smokeless tobacco, and highlight an overlooked source of exposure among consumers of gutkha, pan masala and similar oral tobacco-products. The fluoride content warrants an investigation of potential links with the occurrence and severity of OSMF,” they conclude.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjoms.2023.11.002
Lebanon, Oregon Referendum on Fluoridation on November Ballot
The Lebanon City Council voted 4 to 2 on December 13 to include a referendum on the continuation of water fluoridation on the November ballot, marking a successful activist strategy to return the decision to the public.
The people of Lebanon had voted to reject fluoridation three times, but “The city’s medical community eventually lobbied successfully to have the council approve its use in 2000,” according to the Albany Democrat-Herald December 14.
Activist Corbin Tolen told the newspaper that he had abandoned the signature-collecting approach to focus on electing candidates to the council who would return the vote to the public.
“And I’m glad we did that because we are actually having council members who’re listening to the public and doing this,” he told the newspaper.
Lebanon is a city of nearly 20,000 east of Corvalis.
•• Michael Dolan can be contacted at <mdolan.ecsn@outlook.com>
•• The archives of The Fluoridation Review are available at: https://
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