A growing body of evidence reveals the harmful impact of ingesting fluoride in drinking water, including brittle bones and discolored teeth particularly for seniors, children and pregnant women.
On May 15 Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. hosted the city’s first anti-fluoride rally and press conference, where he stood with a coalition of medical professionals, researchers and students on the steps of City Hall to call for the end of fluoride in the city’s drinking water.
He was joined by Dr. Yolanda Whyte, pediatrician from Atlanta; Director of Holistic Dentists in Tribeca Dr. Lewis Gross who also served as an assistant professor of Oral Pathology at Columbia University, Paul Beeber, a leading antifluoride advocate, Carol Kopf, longtime anti-fluoride advocate and founding member of the Fluoride Action Network and fifth grade students from P.S. 122 in Astoria who have spent the year studying fluoridation, and crafted the slogan, “no fluoridation without representation!”
To answer everyone’s first question, “Isn’t it good for your teeth?” most medical and scientific professionals agree that fluoride is beneficial when topically applied to teeth. However, it should not be ingested.
Last year, Vallone drafted legislation to ban the addition of fluoride from the city’s municipal water supply.
“This legislation will have an immediate and critical impact – the city will save between seven and 10 million dollars per year, and New Yorkers will no longer ingest a toxic chemical every time they take a sip of water, take a shower or wash a piece of fruit,” said Vallone. “While four out of five dentists may be enough to pick a gum, all should agree before we force-medicate the public.”
Most countries in Western Europe have stopped fluoridating, along with multiple municipalities in the U.S., including Suffolk and Nassau counties and Albany.
Fluoride is a toxic substance that accumulates in bones and tissues with only 50 percent of it being excreted. A 2008 study revealed that a third of children and 41 percent of 12 to 15 year olds have dental fluorosis, a disturbing indicator of chronic fluoride poisoning. This condition typically starts with dark stains on the teeth, but as it progresses they become pitted, brown and disfigured. In addition, medical experts are also very concerned about the non-visible signs throughout the body caused by fluoridation.