At the children’s dental clinic that Dr. John Blake runs in Long Beach, toddlers come in all the time with problems so severe they need root canals. Children as young as 2 or 3 show up with blackened teeth and swollen faces, unable to eat because of the pain and in need of whole mouth […]
News Archive
Welcome to the Fluoride Action Network News Archive. The FAN News Archive serves as an historical repository for fluoride news stories, positive or negative. Since FAN catalogs all news stories on fluoride, our news section remains a reliable database of all published fluoride news.
Our news database is categorized by country, state/province, and industry. This collection of articles is constantly being updated with the most recent global news on fluoride-related issues and events.
Study: Fluoride-free toothpaste won’t prevent cavities
Dental health experts worry that more people are using toothpaste that skips the most important ingredient — fluoride — and leaves them at a greater risk of cavities. Most toothpastes already contain fluoride. While health authorities recognize fluoride as a cavity blocker, the internet is dotted with claims, often from “natural” toothpaste marketers and alternative […]
AQMD panel wants safety measures, but no ban, to cope with hazardous refinery chemical
Air quality regulators have backed away from a proposal to ban use of a toxic chemical at two Southern California refineries, citing the potential loss of jobs and economic harm. Instead, they are researching potential new safety measures to keep an accidental release of hydrofluoric acid from endangering people who live in densely populated neighborhoods […]
Torrance: Developments in the debate over hydrofluoric acid
In this Feb. 17 photo, nearly 300 Torrance residents march in support of a ban on a toxic chemical used at the Torrance refinery. (Photo by Scott Varley, Contributor) When the Torrance refinery exploded in February 2015, showering residential neighborhoods with industrial ash, the event ignited a three-year public debate over hydrofluoric acid that continues […]
Chemical used at two South Bay refineries could be banned in five years, new rule proposal suggests
The local pollution watchdog has for the first time proposed phasing out a potentially deadly chemical used in refineries in Torrance and Wilmington and dropped another option altogether that would have allowed the plants to keep using it by installing additional safety systems. The new proposal was outlined in a online presentation released by the […]
San Diego: City Ordinance Banning Fluoridation of Water Supply Preempted by Statute
State law precludes the City of San Diego from abiding by its ordinance barring the addition of fluoride to the public water supply, Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday, declining to repudiate a decision to that effect by another district. David Kennedy—a dentist who, departing from the view held by […]
Torrance refinery owner increased lobbying significantly in face of potential ban of toxic chemical used at plant
This chart, using federal data, shows how quickly PBF Energy annual lobby budget has grown in recent years Source: The non-profit Center for Responsive Politics The owner of the Torrance refinery spent more than $600,000 on lobbying last year, more than three times as much as it spent in 2016, according to federal records compiled […]
Teachers’ outcry halts fumigation of Watsonville elementary
Note from FAN: Sulfuryl Fluoride is a highly neurotoxic fumigant (see health effects). The molecular formula is: WATSONVILLE >> Plans to tent and fumigate termite-infested Ohlone Elementary were canceled Wednesday after dozens of teachers and staff signed a letter voicing concerns about students’ health. Sensitivity to pesticide exposure is high among Pajaro Valley residents who […]
Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach support ban of hydrofluoric acid from Torrance refinery
On Tuesday night, the Manhattan Beach City Council, in a unanimous vote, joined Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, as well as the county Board of Supervisors, to approve signing onto a letter to the Southcoast Air Quality Management District opposing the use of MHF at the Torrance Refinery. All three beach cities want the hydrofluoric […]
HF: Redondo Beach City Council votes to support ban on refinery chemical
Nearly 300 residents march inprotest to the PBF Energy refinery in Torrance on Saturdday, Feb 17, 2018. It has been three years since the refinery explosion rocked the neighborhod and now residents are calling for a ban on the use of hydrofluoric acid at the refinery. (Photo by Scott Varley, Contributor) The Redondo Beach City […]