Compiled by Michael F. Dolan, PhD
Former NTP Director Praises Recent Report on Fluoride’s Prenatal Neurotoxicity
Former director of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Dr. Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D, calls a recent US study on the adverse effects of prenatal fluoride exposure valid, adding that “one should not have to ingest” fluoride.
The study, “Maternal Urinary Fluoride and Child Neurobehavior at Age 36 Months,” published May 20th in JAMA Open Network, was the first report on the dangers of fluoridated drinking water to receive widespread press coverage in many years.
The study concluded, “This cohort study found that prenatal fluoride exposure was associated with an increased risk for neurobehavioral problems among children residing in the US. These findings suggest that there may be a need to establish recommendations for limiting exposure to fluoride from all sources during the prenatal period, a time when the developing brain is known to be especially vulnerable to injury from environmental insults.”
Downtown News magazine of Michigan reported, “Toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, a retired scientist and former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program, reviewed the study and said it is a valid one.”
The article quoted Dr. Birnbaum saying, “I believe the study focused on a large enough sampling of the population of the United States, and it’s coming up with the same kind of results that have been seen in multiple other studies from Canada, Mexico, and China,” Birnbaum said. “The study indicates that fluoride can be hazardous to the developing brain. Fluoride can be applied topically at a dentist’s office, and that is how it works to prevent cavities. One should not have to ingest it (in water).”
Birnbaum continued: “Yes, putting fluoride in water does ensure that everyone in a population has fluoride exposure, but it also affects the developing fetus and an infant. And we are learning that this fluoride is not just going to our teeth, it is impacting brain development.”
Dr. Birnbaum has made previous statements warning parents about fluoride’s neurotoxicity and calling for an end to fluoridation.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.11987
Surgeon General, Concerned Over Neurotoxicity Report, Failed to Sign Endorsement Letter in 2020
A little-noticed crack in the federal health bureaucracy’s support for water fluoridation developed in 2020 when then Surgeon General Jerome Adams declined to sign a letter with past Surgeons General endorsing fluoridation on its 75th anniversary due to concern that the National Toxicology Program (NTP) had concluded low-level fluoride is neurotoxic to children, according to contemporary emails acquired by FAN’s attorneys using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
As revealed in a recent issue of the media publication The Defender, Adams’ Assistant Surgeon General and Chief Dental Officer Timothy J. Ricks fought a losing battle to obtain Adams’ signature on the letter, eventually conceding that he was not sure if he would sign the statement himself.
In an August 22, 2020 email to Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz, Ricks reported diminished enthusiasm for fluoridation in the bureaucracy, writing, “There is a significant anti-fluoride movement going on in this country right now, more organized than ever before. The president of the largest dental public health organization in the U.S. has contributed to anti-fluoride research…With all of that plus NIH on the fence about fluoride – NIDCR doesn’t want to rock the boat with NIEHS – and the CDC seemingly blindly supporting fluoridation, if I were the Surgeon General I’m not sure I would sign a statement of support right now!”
The agencies mentioned in the email were the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Ricks himself was not given permission to sign a comparable pro-fluoridation letter with past Chief Dental Officers of the Public Health Service.
The emails were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the plaintiffs in the current federal Toxic Substances Control Act lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, and are published on The Defender website.
The emails indicate that Ricks and others found comfort in seeing that the NTP report reached firm conclusions only on fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of water, just twice the amount deliberately added to water supplies on the Public Health Service’s recommendation, but showed no concern that the 1.5 mg/L concentration is less than the EPA’s current maximum contaminant level of 4.0 mg/L and well within total fluoride exposure levels experienced by many residents, including pregnant women, living in fluoridated communities.
Hotchkiss, Colorado Ends Water Fluoridation
The Board of Trustees of Hotchkiss, Colorado, a small town 200 kilometers west of Colorado Springs, voted to implement a one-year moratorium on water fluoridation at its March 14 meeting after considering evidence of the chemical’s neurotoxic effect on the developing brains of children.
According to a report in The High Country Shopper, “Trustee Patrick Webb pointed out that studies have shown fluoride to be a toxin and it can be damaging to the development of children’s brains. Many U.S. cities and countries around the world have banned adding fluoride to their water supply. He continued, “I don’t know if we want to have any part in adding this to our water.””
“Webb felt that since fluoridated water wasn’t required by the state and it was documented to be harmful to young children, the town should put a one-year moratorium on adding fluoride to its water. There was some discussion as to whether or not residents must vote on this change. With that in mind, trustees unanimously approved the moratorium with the stipulation that it would be brought back to the board if it required voter approval,” according to the paper.
Brooksville, FL Ends Water Fluoridation
The Brooksville, FL City Council voted 5-0 on April 1 to end fluoridation in that city with Mayor Blake Bell saying the use of fluoride is about medicating people without their knowledge, according to the Sun Coast News.
Brooksville, the county seat of Hernando County, is a city of nearly 8,000, west of Orlando.
“Public Works Director Richard Weeks admitted that the city hasn’t been adding fluoride for the past few months because of repairs being made to the system.
“As of right now, there is no fluoride in the water because the machine, all the pumps are under repair,” Weeks said. “So there is no fluoride,” according to the newspaper.
Wilton, NY Authority Won’t Fluoridate Their Water
Citing “freedom of choice,” the town of Wilton, New York’s Water and Sewer Authority board voted — for the second time in recent weeks — against adding fluoride to the town’s drinking supply.
The Wilton Water and Sewer Authority (WWSA) Board is disinclined to adopt fluoridation, feeling fluoride therapy should be a personal decision.
The chair of the Board Dave MacDougall said that the authority “strongly believes that our customers and their health care providers should have the right to make their own decisions on fluoride consumption,” according to the newspaper.
“We know that there are folks within the community that are very opposed to it, MacDougall said. “We have customers that don’t want anything added to the water, even the chemicals that we are require to put in,” reported the newspaper.
“You can argue the pros and cons of the health benefits but there are a lot of people who argue freedom of choice and don’t put in extra chemicals or medical treatments into my water. That’s my choice to consume fluoride and they are very serious about it. And the board tends to agree,” said MacDougall.
Peter Lindner, a resident advocate for fluoridation, rejected MacDougall’s claim that fluoridation was medication, saying, “if people are against fluoridated water, they could buy bottled water,” according to the paper.
The WWSA board voted unanimously on March 19 not to fluoridate the town’s water. But due to a minor procedural error, that vote was considered informal. The board voted again on fluoridation during a public meeting on May 21st after hearing from local residents, pro-fluoridation lobbyists, and representatives of the Fluoride Action Network.
British Fluoridation Consultation Ignores Chemical’s Neurotoxicity
A new attempt by the British government to expand water fluoridation beyond the ten percent of the population currently living under the policy misleadingly suggests a concentration of 1.5 milligrams per liter is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) while ignoring a landmark report from the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) that concluded the same concentration of fluoride in drinking water has a neurotoxic effect on the developing brains of children.
The consultation document reads, “The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum level of 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per litre of water (mg/L). There is strong scientific evidence that water fluoridation schemes can help reduce tooth decay and is a safe and effective intervention.”
By using the word “recommends” here the Department of Health & Social Care misleads the reader into thinking such a level of fluoride is safe. The WHO considers 1.5 mg/L to be a maximum contaminant level, not a recommended therapeutic level.
The conclusion from the NTP neurotoxicity report reads, “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.”
In reviewing the need for dental services in the Northeast of England the consultation document makes no mention of recommended alterations to consumers’ diets so as to reduce the risk of tooth decay.
Source: Community water fluoridation expansion in the north east of England – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Only 14% of British Dentists Accept NHS Patients
A smaller percentage of dentists in the UK accept public health insurance patients than the comparable percentage in the U.S., but politicians push adding fluoride to drinking water as a solution, according to a new report from Cornwall.
While an incredibly low 33 percent of dentists accept at least one Medicaid patient in their practices in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Health, the percentage of British dentists accepting National Health Service (NHS) patients is just 14 percent, according to a report on the Cornwall Live website April 19.
Cornwall Councilor Philip Desmonde said, “The bad news is inadequate or non-existent NHS dental treatment for children of school age. This is leading to far too many children going to hospital for tooth extraction.”
He added that only 14 per cent of dentists carried out NHS work nationally. “This is scandalous. Forty-two per cent of dentists work only 30 hours per week or less. There is a very clear resource problem,” said Councilor Desmonde, according to the website.
The Council voted to add the fluoride on an amendment by Councilor Andy Virr, who is also an emergency department consultant at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, according to the website.
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