I understand there is confusion in the debate about the merits of water fluoridation in Bennington. I am confident that the following information will eliminate the confusion surrounding both the benefits and the dangers to human health from the addition of fluoride to drinking water.
First, data from the largest tooth decay study ever done in the U.S. (39,207 children ages 5 to 17) shows absolutely no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated, partially fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities. (Yiamouyiannis 1990.) The study was conducted by the National Institute for Dental Research. Figure #1 in this study shows that tooth decay rises continuously with age when there is no fluoride in the water. Tooth decay rises at exactly the same rate when the water supply is either fluoridated or partially fluoridated. All three curves fall together. There is no significant difference, either statistical or clinical, in the data. This information was made available at a press conference at the National Press Club and reported that evening on national TV on the Peter Jennings Show.
After Dr. Yiamouyiannis made his presentation, I made a speech in support of Dr. Yiamouyiannis. as an official of the union of professionals at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
To further emphasize the impotence of the fluoridation program, Table #1 in the above study presents a list of all the cities sampled in decreasing order of the average tooth decay among children in each city. An examination shows that there is no order whatsoever in the list. Perhaps this is why the results of the survey were withheld from the public until they were extracted by a Freedom of Information request and analyzed by Dr. Yiamouyiannnis. (See: http://www.fluorideresearch.org/232/files/FJ1990_v23_n2_p055-067.pdf).
Second, you need go no further than the 2006 report, “Fluoride in Drinking Water,” by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, to find that numerous health effects occur from ingesting fluoride at the normal levels of fluoridation: dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis (arthritis with joint pain and stiffness), decreased thyroid function and detrimental effects on the brain — lowered IQ being one of them. (See my review of the report: (http://www.fluorideresearch.org/393/files/FJ2006_v39_n3_p163-172.pdf)
This information comes from the most prestigious scientific body in the U.S., the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council. It should have resulted in the immediate cessation of water fluoridation. Why it did not and why EPA has refused to act is a lesson in politics not science.
Former chief toxicologist for the Office of Drinking Water, Dr. William Marcus, was a victim of the politics of fluoridation. He wrote an internal memo revealing possible fraud in the animal cancer study by the National Toxicology Program. The press got a hold of it and Dr. Marcus was fired. Two and one half years later he was reinstated by the Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Secretary Reich said Dr. Marcus was fired for purely political reasons. He received all his back pay, vacation time, $50,000 in damages and all his legal fees.
Robert J Carton, Ph.D., former president of the professionals’ union at The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.; former Chief of Environmental Compliance, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Md.,
J. William Hirzy, Ph.D., former president of the professionals’ union at The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington D.C.; former Chemist in Residence, American University.
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