– Compiled and edited by Mike Dolan, PhD.
Fluoride Exposure From Drinking Water Associated With Higher White Blood Cell Counts In Children
Children with higher levels of fluoride in their blood from consuming fluoridated drinking water had elevated levels of certain white blood cells, a biomarker for inflammation, according to a new report.
Prof. Pamela Den Besten and others from the University of California-San Francisco used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 2013-2014 and 2015-2015 to test if household drinking water fluoride increased the level of fluoride in children’s blood and if it altered the white blood cell (WBC) composition, as had been previously found in rodents.
They report that “plasma fluoride was significantly positively associated with water fluoride concentrations, and white blood cell counts. Among the different types of white blood cells, neutrophils and monocytes were significantly positively associated with plasma fluoride concentrations.”
They further explained, “Neutrophils represent about 70% of all white blood cells, and as they enter the blood stream, neutrophils are recruited to sites of tissue damage, where they are then subsequently cleared by monocytes.
“Our finding of significant positive associations between plasma fluoride and both neutrophils and monocytes suggests an effect of fluoride on tissue-specific inflammatory changes.”
“Our findings of an association between plasma fluoride concentrations and increased WBC counts in U.S. children and adolescents suggest that ingested fluoride may be an environmental risk factor for inflammation for this population. Dental fluorosis, a biomarker for fluoride exposure, has continued to increase in the U.S. suggesting increasing population based fluoride exposure,” the authors conclude.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-022-00911-6
Vermont Water Superintendent Resigns To Protest Fluoridation
The Richmond, Vermont water superintendent whose concern for public health kept the fluoride level in Town water at 0.3 mg per liter, less than half the level recommended by federal and state health bureaucrats, has resigned in protest after the Town decided to increase the fluoride level to 0.7 mg per liter.
In a letter to Town Administrator Josh Arneson, Water and Wastewater Superintendent Kendall Chamberlain wrote, “You have decided to implement a fluoridation policy which I do not believe is legally required, scientifically sound, or authorized by the Water and Sewer Commission, and which, in my opinion, poses unacceptable risks to public health. I cannot in good conscience be a party to this.”
According to press reports Chamberlain had served as water superintendent for 30 years.
His detailed, five-page letter to the Town Administrator takes the latter to task for mistakenly thinking fluoridation is mandated in Richmond and for not being aware of state guidance documents that Chamberlain cited to justify his approach to fluoridation.
In the letter he explained that he felt the 0.3 mg per liter level was justified, and that ultimate responsibility for patient care rested with healthcare providers.
“[I]t has been my judgment since 2011 that the safest and most responsible policy is to fluoridate our water system at or about 0.3 mg/L, which I understand to be at or near the lowest level presently considered to be beneficial to public health, and to rely upon healthcare providers to determine whether any supplementation is advisable for their patients,” he wrote.
Source: Kendall Chamberlin Resignation Letter
1940s Documents Show Sugar Industry Captured Dentistry, Pushed Fluoride
An examination of the records of the American Dental Association has revealed the key role of business interests in converting dentistry from a guild that opposed fluoride and a diet rich in refined carbohydrates to one that favored both, according to a new paper by University of Washington Dental School professor P.P. Hujoel in the Nutrients journal.
Hujoel ties the promotion of water fluoridation and fluoride pills to an alignment of dentistry with the cereal industry, with the result that “Leading global organizations currently recommend fluoride supplementation because they recommend high carbohydrate diets which can cause dental caries. Low-carbohydrate diets prevent dental caries making such fluoride recommendations largely unnecessary.”
Hujoel reports that key personnel and management changes in the dental guild, influenced by the cereal industry, including the replacement of editor of the Journal of the American Dental Association, coincided with the complete reversal of dentistry’s opposition to fluoride.
“Internal documents show that private interests motivated the events which led these expert panels to engage in pivotal scientific reversals. These private interests biased scientific processes and these reversals occurred largely in an absence of supporting evidence,” he wrote.
He highlights a change in the ADA’s view of the safety of topical fluoride applications as a crucial development in the acceptance of the toxin.
“A pivotal reversal which helped to open the gates to the fluoride-supplemented high carbohydrate dietary guidelines occurred in 1947. In 1944, 1945 and 1946, the ADA’s official policy as published yearly in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) was to discourage topical fluorides because in part “the full extent of their possible harmful effects” were not known. In 1947, the ADA CDT [Council on Dental Therapeutics]—as will now be shown—reversed on their position on fluorides in the absence of apparent new data on safety. The new position became that topical fluoride applied by dentists had “relative safety”, was effective, and could be recommended for a “highly susceptible population.” It was a watershed moment for fluoride as a universal therapeutic,” he wrote.
Hujoel highlights the role of the president of the Kellogg Foundation, who became the first chairman of the guild’s new Council on Dental Health in1942.
“This Kellogg president was not an insignificant person; he supervised 2.2 billion dollars inflation-adjusted donations from Kellogg (reported as 290 million dollars in 1970) during his subsequent 27-year tenure as president of the Kellogg Foundation….In an ADA Council on Dental Health meeting, the Kellogg president commented in a fluoride-related discussion how “the thyroid problem in Michigan has been almost completely overcome by compulsory addition of iodine to salt”, to which a committee
member replied “that would solve the problem (i.e., dental caries)—compulsion”. It is one of the early references to the view that dental caries could be the result of a fluoride deficiency, just like thyroid problems could be the result of an iodine deficiency, and that dental caries could be solved “with compulsory addition” of fluoride to the diet. One member of the ADA Research Committee wondered whether the introduction of fluoride in the water would “initiate any diseases” to which another committee member replied: “The beneficence is sufficient to warrant the chance.”
Source: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14204263
Canary Islands Study Finds Cold Brew Coffees Can Make Significant Contribution Of Fluoride To Diet There
In an example of how fluoride in water can cause processed foods and drinks to have high levels of fluoride, researches from the University of La Laguna report the fluoride content of several ready-to-drink cold brew coffee preparations sold there, and note that regular consumption of these products adds a significant amount of fluoride to the diet.
They note, “According to European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), fluoride is not an essential nutrient and therefore no recommended intake can be given for the proper development of physiological functions. The harmful effects on health have been reported, as exposure to high concentrations of this ion over time produces different pathologies, including dental fluorosis, in which brownish stains are formed due to the hypomineralization of the enamel, thus losing its protective capacity against bacteria, which leads to the appearance of caries. On the other hand, in skeletal fluorosis, fluoride accumulates in bone tissue, causing an increase in bone density. Fluoride damage can be even more severe, with reported damage to soft tissues such as the kidney, liver, brain and even reproductive organs. Several studies confirm the relationship between the consumption of water supplies with high fluoride concentrations during pregnancy and the birth of babies with lower IQs.”
Using the European Food Safety Authority recommendation of a maximum intake of 7 mg of fluoride per day, the authors concluded, “The consumption of three servings poses no health risk; however, it confers a significant value of fluoride contribution to the diet.”
Source: https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101615
Mouse Study Finds Intestinal Damage From Fluoride Enhanced In Estrogen Deficient
Writing out of concern over what they call the “fluoride contamination crisis,” investigators from Henan University of Science and Technology report that mice who are deficient in estrogen because their ovaries were removed, when given sodium fluoride in drinking water, suffered greater damage to their intestinal lining.
”Collectively, fluoride exposure impaired the small intestinal mucosal barrier by inducing damage to intestinal epithelial cells and inhibiting intestinal epithelial cell proliferation. Disorders in the junctional complex protein expression blocked the synergy between intercellular communication and aggravated mucosal injury,” they report in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety October 14.
Their microscopical examination of the intestinal cells found perturbations of the junctions connecting cells, which has profound implications for intestinal function. They also report fluoride-induced changes in the production of the proteins used in the cell junctions.
“Our study suggested that the combination of fluoride and estrogen deficiency aggravated intestinal mucosal damage and toxicity, which provides new explanations for the development and severity of intestinal disease in postmenopausal women with high-fluoride areas,” they concluded.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114181
•• Michael Dolan can be contacted at <mdolan.ecsn@outlook.com>
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