-Compiled and edited by Mike Dolan, PhD
New Zealand falls to fluoridation
The New Zealand Parliament voted unanimously November 9 to pass a bill that will allow the Director-General of Health to require water fluoridation in community water systems across the country, according to Radio New Zealand.
The measure is expected to increase the prevalence of fluoridation in the population from 50 percent to 80 percent.
“The science of fluoridation is settled,” said Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall, who pushed the bill through parliament.
Several months ago this reporter emailed each member of the New Zealand parliament to inform them of recent evidence of fluoride’s neurotoxicity, and included an annotated bibliography of these studies with each email. While many of the members responded, none addressed the evidence of neurotoxicity.
During last week’s final vote on the bill several members spoke as if there were no studies that questioned fluoride’s safety.
“I just want to send the message, I suppose, that to be guided by science is fundamentally important in relation to COVID 19, but it’s equally as important when it comes to things like fluoridation and public health, and in that regard, the science of fluoridation is very clear,” said Chris Bishop of the National Party.
“As we’ve heard before, the science is actually settled. It really is. The science is settled, the evidence is compelling. This magic mineral helps reduce tooth decay, and it’s something that we urgently need in all of our communities, but particularly those who are experiencing deprivation, living in poverty,” said Sarah Pallett of the Labour Party.
“I do want to make the point very clear that the science is settled on fluoride,” said Brooke van Velden of the ACT Party.
Compulsory fluoridation was opposed by Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility
In June the New Zealand-based group, Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility, had testified against the Fluoridation of Drinking Water Amendment that gives the country’s Director-General of Health the power to order water fluoridation for currently unfluoridated cities, against the wishes of residents. The bill was approved earlier this month.
The group found the proposed bill “is unreasonable because it gives powers for one public servant in one department to require known bio-accumulative toxins to be put into public water supplies.”
The group also criticized the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, noting the Advisor’s “documentation refers to many studies that consider the data on claimed benefits to be inconclusive and that many newer studies on risks to health were excluded from that documentation.”
New Zealand’s decision to mass fluoridate the remainder of the country comes after a substantial body of evidence has been produced in recent years that finds fluoride added to drinking water to be neurotoxic, yet the physicians group noted, “The issue of potential neurotoxicity of fluoride may have more relevance to endocrine pathways, yet no experts in endocrinology, including neurodevelopmental endocrinology, appeared to participate in either analysing the data or in the peer review process or in the policy formulation process.”
Source: https://psgr.org.nz/component/
Mexican researchers suggest Guanajuato residents harvest rainwater
Three-quarters of a million people in the Cuenca Alta del Río Laja of central Mexico, consuming 2 to 4 mg/liter or higher levels of fluoride in ground water, should harvest rainwater to avoid the toxic effects of the chemical, according to researchers from the National Public Health Institute and the University of Guanajuato, writing in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health October 31.
They report, “Even though fluoride can have beneficial effects by preventing caries, especially when applied topically, chronic ingestion of fluoride in concentrations once considered safe, and even helpful, is now known to cause toxic effects, mainly in early life stages, since fluoride can cross the placenta and the incomplete blood–brain barrier.”
The researchers found that 82 percent of the children in their study had dental fluorosis, a symptom of systemic fluoride poisoning. The children had a mean urinary fluoride level of 2.1 milligrams per liter.
Source: https://doi.org/10.3390/
Biocompatible hydroxyapatite-toothpastes effective against decay
An analysis of clinical trials on the use of hydroxyapatite-containing toothpastes has lead researchers from the University of Toronto and the Dr. Kurt Wolff Company of Germany to conclude that these safe, fluoride-free toothpastes are effective in reducing tooth decay.
Aware of the reported neurotoxic effects of fluoride on the developing brains of children, the authors, Hardy Limeback, Joachim Enax and Frederic Meyer, examined evidence that toothpastes containing biocompatible (biomimetic) hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystals, also called calcium phosphate hydroxide, instead of fluoride could reduce the risk of tooth decay. Their report, in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Dental Hygiene, contains the detailed procedures they used in investigating all known published reports on the subject as well as an extensive list of the fluoride-free, HAP-containing toothpastes available.
In addition to their concern over fluoride’s safety, the authors suggest that the smaller amounts of fluoridated toothpastes recommended by dentists for children, a rice grain- or pea-sized portion, may not be effective.
“There is no direct evidence that these smaller amounts of toothpaste can prevent cavities: the “rice-sized smear” may even be ineffective in preventing caries formation,” they report.
The authors conclude:
“Based on the evidence published to date one can conclude the following:
1. Biomimetic HAP particles rebuild tooth mineral.
2. HAP reverses and remineralizes early carious lesions by providing the ions (calcium and phosphate) required for remineralization.
3. HAP provides additional calcium and phosphate in saliva and biofilm for improved remineralization conditions in the oral cavity. Adding calcium and phosphate to biofilm is an important mechanism for remineralization.
4. HAP works differently from fluoride and works at least as well as fluoride in preventing dental decay in the primary and secondary dentitions.”
Regarding concerns about fluoride’s safety they write, “A simple and convenient solution to the problem is to substitute fluoride in toothpastes targeted for young children with an effective and safe anticaries agent.”
Source: https://files.cdha.ca/
Wildwood, FL will not pursue water fluoridation
Commissioners in Wildwood, Florida voted 3 to 2 on Monday November 15 not to invite the County Public Health Director to discuss adding fluoride to the town’s water supply.
Several commissioners said the use of fluoride should be targeted on children in the schools, and that the chemical should not be added to the water supply, according to a report in the Village News.
“Utility director Mark Odell said using fluoride involves handling a very dangerous chemical and is “not worth the risk” of injecting too much fluoride in the water supply, which can cause health problems. He said a lesser amount of fluoride already is found in Florida’s aquifer,” according to the report.
Wildwood, located 50 miles northwest of Orlando, is in Sumter County, which is entirely non-fluoridated.
Source: Wildwood commissioners clash over adding fluoride to drinking water, November 15, 2021.
Less than 32 percent of residents in Michigan receive artificially fluoridated water
Of the 6.5 million Michigan residents receiving fluoridated water, only 2.3 million receive water at the optimally fluoridated level of 0.7 parts per million, according to a report in the Lansing-based Capital News Service November 19.
Chelsea Wuth, an associate public information officer with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the disparity is due to machinery breakdowns or supply shortages, according to the report.
Wuth also noted that rural water systems may not be able to afford fluoridation.
“It can be expensive for some rural communities or difficult if residents have a large number of wells,” Wuth said in the report.
“Many cities may have budget issues and have a hard time just keeping their required services,” she said.
While not mentioned in the report, it seems likely some of the residents are consuming water with low levels of naturally occurring fluoride contamination.
Source: Some communities in Michigan opt out of fluoridation, November 19,2021.
Rubbertown residents fear release of hydrogen fluoride pollution from Chemours plant
An effort by the Chemours chemical company to reduce the release of the greenhouse super pollutant hydrofluorocarbon-23 from its plant in the Rubbertown industrial district of Louisville, KY may pollute the local air with 1,600 pounds per year of chloroform, hydrochloric acid, chlorine and hydrogen fluoride, according to a report November 22 in the Louisville Courier.
The company’s plan is to capture the hydrofluorocarbon, transport it to West Virginia, and destroy it there. The technology used, however, will likely result in the local air pollution.
“Wilma Subra, a chemist who has long consulted with communities in the country near chemical and industrial hazards, including the Rubbertown area, said that it would be beneficial for Louisville officials to require that Chemours put controls on the new equipment so no new air pollutants are released,” according to the report.
Source : Chemours’ plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions could produce hazardous air pollutants, November 22, 2021.
Writers request government pay to repair dental fluorosis
Writing in the British Dental Journal for November 12, R.I. Bland and G.M. Bland of Wrea Green, UK ask that the government both fund training programs for dentists so that they may recognize the expected increase in dental fluorosis, and pay for the cosmetic repair work to restore fluorotic teeth.
“We are convinced there will be an increase in the number of parents seeking advice and treatment for the condition. We would like to see the Department of Health offer training to practitioners in the diagnosis and treatment of fluorosis, particularly to those dentists and therapists currently operating outside of those areas that have fluoridated water supplies. Many of these practitioners will not have been trained in the minimally invasive techniques that are currently recommended to treat the condition,” they write.
They further ask, “Will NHS dental practices be able to offer treatment for dental fluorosis of aesthetic concern? We envisage a potential widening of dental health inequality where those parents who can afford to will pay privately for the treatment of this condition, and for those that cannot, their children will be sadly left untreated.”
Source: Fee for fluorosis, November 12, 2021.
Tiger nut protects rats from fluoride-induced kidney and liver damage
A large dose of the edible tuber of the sedge Cyperus esculentus (CE), called tiger nut, reduces the prevalence of cell damage in the kidneys and livers of rats poisoned by sodium fluoride (NaF), report investigators from the Federal University of Nigeria in Phytomedicine Plus November 11.
“Histological observation showed swelling glomeruli and renal tubules lesion while the liver sections showed an extensive histopathological change in NaF exposed rats. However, the intervention of CE alleviated the severity of histopathological lesions induced by NaF,” write the scientists.
Source: https://fluoridealert.org/
Compilation of methods to remove fluoride from drinking water
Many tens of millions of people around the world are chronically poisoned by naturally occurring fluoride in their drinking water. This list represents some of methods published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature for removing fluoride from drinking water.
Acinetobacter sp. H12 (J Haz Mat, 2020: 124255), almond shell activated carbon (Fluoride 54: 269), aluminum-modified food waste biochar (Micro Meso Mat, Nov. 14, 2020), aluminosilicate clay, hydrothermally treated (Wat. Res. Ind. Mar, 13, 2021), Avocado seeds (Water Cons Sci Eng, Sept. 20, 2020), Bacillus licheniformis (J Haz Mat., Oct. 26, 2020), Bauhina variegate, activated pods (Env. Poll. 2020: 115969), carbon adsorbents, magnetic (J. Environ. Mgt. 286: 112173), cellulose nanocomposite (J Environ Sci 102: 301), chitosan hydrogel (J Haz. Mat. 114: 126070), clinoptilolite (Wat. Env. Res, Oct. 9, 2020), coal fly ash (Groundwater Sust. Dev. Nov. 5, 2021, 100699), coffee grounds and iron sludge (Water 13: 1512), duckweed (Landolita punctata) (Engen. Agri. 41: 171), electrocoagulation (Sci Total Env 753: 142108), fenugreek leaf zirconium nanoparticles (Ind. J. Chem. Tech. 27: 248), fluorapatite, induced crystallization of (J. Water Proc. Eng. 41: 102082), goethite (mesoporous), electrocoagulation using mild steel electrode (J. Ind. Chem. Soc., Mar. 17, 2021), (J. Env. Chem. Eng. Feb. 26, 2021), groundnut shell (J Pharm Res Intl 32: 124), hexamethyldisiloxane (Talanta 15: 969), hydroxyapatite nanocomposite (ACS EST Eng. Aug. 25, 2020), lanthanum-doped activated carbon (Water Sci & Tech 2020: 2020435), lanthanum iron oxide nanoparticle (J Env. Chem. Eng. Mar. 5, 2021), manganese-iron-cesium (MFC) complex metal oxide absorbent (Sustainability 13: 883), manganese oxide bentonite-smectite (Groundwater Sust. Dev. Aug. 2021; 100623), manganese oxide, iron-modified (App Surf. Sci. March 7, 2021), Moringa oleifera and ultrafiltration (Water Soil Poll., 232: 222), mussel shells, thermally treated (Chemosph 2020: 128328), paper waste, activated (Microchem J, Oct. 18, 2020), pine biochar (Biointerface Res Appl Chem 12: 4307), Pseudomonas sp. WZ39 via calcium precipitation (J. Haz. Mat., April 17, 2021), red algae (Mod. Earth Syst Environ, Oct. 23, 2021), rice husk ash (J Pharm Res Intl 32: 124), saponin capped silver nanocrystal (Spectrochimica Acta Part A 249: 119306), saw dust impregnated with ferric hydroxide and activated alumina (Ground Wat. Sust. Dev.2020:100490), straw ash (Groundwater Sust. Dev. June 16, 2021), tamarind seed coat (Wat. Suppl., 2021), volcanic rock materials (Molecules 26: 977), watermelon rind biochar (Sep. Pur. Tech, June 9, 2021), wattle humus (Env. Sci. Poll. Res., June 19, 2021), wheat straw biochar loaded with aluminum/lanthanum hydroxides (Environ. Technol., Mar. 13, 2021), zinc oxide nanoparticles (Fluoride, Oct. 7, 2020), zirconia-chitosan beads (Ind J Chem 59A: 1067), zirconium-coated pumice (Materials 14, 6145).
Also see: https://fluoridealert.org/
Compilation of fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities and towns
Editorial note: To avoid filling these lists with small water systems, we limit listings to systems with at least 400 consumers unless the system is a municipal one. In cases where the source of the fluoride is not indicated, as for example at the CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride website, it will be assumed that it is added. [Disclaimer: The following list of fluoridated cities and towns has been compiled from health department lists that may be several years old. Readers should always consult the particular water system to determine its current fluoridation status.]
Due to the length, FAN has provided the following links to this information:
Australia • Canada • New Zealand • Spain
USA: Alaska • Arizona • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Indiana • Kansas • Maine • Massachusetts • Montana • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New York • Oregon • Rhode Island • South Dakota • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming
The archives of The Fluoridation Review are available at: https://
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