To the editor:
On Monday, a letter to the editor appeared (“Daily News is spreading misinformation,” Jan. 4, 2024) that accused Karen Favazza Spencer of being a conspiracy theorist regarding community water fluoridation (CWF). And that she was spreading misinformation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In November 2023, Branson, Missouri, repealed the addition of fluoridation chemicals to the public water supply, joining over 300 U.S. communities that have rejected or ended CWF since 2010.
Here in Massachusetts, our second-largest city, Worcester, has rejected CWF since 1963, most recently in 2001. Perhaps, it’s because there are five colleges out there, some very good hospitals, and a lot of smart people. Nearby Amesbury has also rejected CWF.
These communities have grown tired of adding fluorosilic acid (FSA) to their water supplies. It is collected in the scrubber systems of phosphate fertilizer plants in China and also in Florida, home of a fluoride-lobbying group named the American Fluoridation Society.
They have also grown tired of exposing employees who are tasked with handling this dangerous substance and adding it to their drinking water. The protective gear they have to wear to do this is expensive.
The National Toxicology Program recently reported that 52 of 55 studies found decreases in children’s IQs associated with CWF.
Scientific studies have also shown CWF is not good for people with kidney disease or diabetes, and it is under study as a possible contributor to Alzheimer’s and dementia. Some studies have also shown that it reduces the IQs more in young boys than in young girls. And that it increases fluorosis in the teeth of young people. It’s on the rise. So why are we still mandating that it continue in Newburyport?
I have no problem with dentists asking us if we want topical fluoride applied to our teeth after a cleaning. My dentist is wonderful. He offers us a choice. But young children drinking Newburyport tap water have no choice. Neither do our elderly people with kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s or dementia. And those in nursing homes.
Scientific studies are not conspiracy theories. Science deniers are the real conspiracy theorists. The truth is out there. Will our local government ever acknowledge that CWF is a bad idea? The federal government may beat them to it.
ED ANDERSON
Newburyport
*Original full-text article online at: https://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/letter-anti-fluoride-column-isnt-spreading-conspiracies/article_7add6892-afc1-11ee-92b6-bf9576993473.html
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