LAYTON –Once the fluoride initiative is defeated here in Utah, those who worked hard to bring about its demise can’t go home and “sit on their laurels,” a California dentist who is against fluoridating water told a group of about 75 people here last week.
Dr. David Kennedy, a retired dentist from San Diego, who now travels the country warning about the dangers of fluoridation, took the position that it would be defeated during his address.
County commissions in Davis, Weber and Utah counties may place fluoride on the November ballot, but opponents are working hard to stop the initiative from being placed on the ballot or passing should it wind up there.
Kennedy told a group of mainly anti-fluoride activists the issue is of national importance. Assuming the measure will be defeated, either before it hits the ballot, or on election day, Kennedy told them they have to keep sharing their views.
Lacing his address with startling statistics, Kennedy shared that fluoride not only is a poison, but that it causes fluorosis and can even cause crippling skeletal fluorosis. He also contends fluoride does nothing to reduce cavities if ingested, only if applied topically.
He said worldwide, children with the highest tooth decay live in areas with high fluoridation levels and low calcium intake, adding that tooth decay drops in industrial nations because of better nutrition and refrigeration. He said those particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride are the elderly and malnourished.
Kennedy spoke at the private, Millennial Quest School here. The address drew both pro and anti-fluoride supporters, although most agreed with Kennedy and were anxious to hear what they already believed.
Alluding to the fears of the 1950s when many Americans believed adding fluoride to water was something the communists were doing to take over the world, Kennedy drew chuckle by saying, “It absolutely is not a Communist plot.”
Instead, Kennedy said China is now ridding its water systems of fluoride because they believe it has crippled 1.6 million Chinese citizens.
He said the Chinese have found that youngsters drinking fluoridated water have lower IQ’s than those not drinking it, and they have found that fluoride accumulates in the spine, causing calcification of bones.
He said that instead of making bones stronger, as proponents say, elderly people who have ingested large amounts of fluoride have an increased risk of hip fractures. “Fluoride has not been approved as a drug for hip fractures.”
Kennedy said fluoride is present nearly everywhere and any American eating a normal diet and drinking bottled water, soda pop or fruit juice made from concentrate is getting fluoride in everything.
He said fluoride has been used as a pesticide and can be found in fresh and canned produce. He said fluoride doesn’t leave the water if boiled down, instead it is concentrated. “I don’t know how you can be fluoride deficient.”
Kennedy said over 1,600 scientists within the Environmental Protection Agency support the anti-fluoride stand.
He said Dr. William Marcus, at one time with the EPA, found fluoride to be a carcinogen. Studies in rats have shown the link between fluoride and liver cancer, bone cancer, cancer of the thyroid and others. Kennedy said the incidence of these cancers have risen dramatically since cities began adding fluoride to water systems in 1945.
“The way to stop fluoride is to stop the myths. Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes.”
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