As your readers know, King County Water District 54 is working with the City of Des Moines, South King Fire and Rescue, and developers to upgrade our delivery system to meet their needs for redevelopment of existing properties.
The District stands firm that “Growth should pay for Growth,” not the existing ratepayers where about a third of them are over age 65.
The water from District 54 comes directly from wells and is uniquely free of additives. In compliance with Department of Health testing, our water does not require chlorine and the citizens of District 54 have always chosen to remain fluoride free.
During our meetings, it came to me that all I knew about fluoride was what I had been told since I was a child. I really had no idea what fluoride was, where it came from or how it got added to so many of our water districts.
I set out to find the answers. I did not expect to have be belief system changed when I “Googled” fluoride.
The fluoride added to water is hydrofluorosilicic acid, an industrial waste product recovered from the smokestack scrubbers during production of phosphate fertilizer. It is not FDA approved and is not pharmaceutical (purified) grade. It contains trace amounts of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and radium.
In August, a formal complaint including claims of ethics violations was filed with the Center for Disease Control’s Oral Health Division and the CDC director. The complaint specifically questions why CDC’s own data on disproportionate harm from ingested fluoride in minority groups (seniors, infants, diabetes, kidney patients, HIV infected) is not being communicated to these communities. The complaint also contains photos of a condition called dental fluorosis, a staining and pitting of teeth indicative of overexposure to fluoride.
At the same time over 600 doctors, dentists and other professionals had signed a statement that is being delivered to members of Congress calling for a halt to water fluoridation and to hold congressional hearings on fluoridation. As of October, there were more than 1,100 professionals’ signatures.
The complaint and the professionals’ statement broadening public awareness about fluoride can be found at www.fluorideaction.net.
There you can also send an on-line message to Congress in support of the professionals’ statement calling for an end to water fluoridation and a new congressional hearing.