This section is dedicated to the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) long involvement with the issue of fluoride's toxicity. The NTP is the scientific research arm for U.S. regulatory agencies. It comes under the aegis of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The NIEHS, in turn, comes under the umbrella of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). -Updated May 2, 2023 (EC).
On May 4, 2023, the NTP’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) held a public meeting, via webcast, to present the results of its review of NTP’s fluoride Monograph and Meta-Analysis and to hear public oral comments. Written comments from the public were solicited and the deadline date was April 28. The documents under the BSC’s consideration are available here. A list of the members of the BSC are here. The BSC voted unanimously to accept the recommendations of their working group in support of the work performed by the NTP after resolving a statistical error on IQ that Paul Connett commented on (see comments below). The full webcast, approximately 3 hours long, is available below:
Links to the oral and written comments are presented below.
Oral comments: highlights and timestamps:
* Comments from Michael Connett (TSCA Attorney) 1:08:00
* Comments from Chris Neurath (AEHSP) 1:16:27
* Comments from David Kennedy (PDHA) 1:22:44
* Comments from Paul Connett (FAN) 1:31:29
* Comments from Rick North (Citizen) 1:38:14
* Comments from Bill Osmunson (WASW) 1:43:48
* Comments from Bill Hirzy (NTEU) 1:49:50
* Comments from Jack Kall (IAOMT) 1:56:18
* Comments from Howard Pollick (ADA) 2:02:19
* BSC Motion To Accept Report 2:38:17
* BSC Vote 2:41:56
* Clarification to add Paul Connett suggestion to fix error of SMD/IQ points 2:45:32
— Originally listed as: Makyba Charles-Ayinde, on behalf of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
— Later in the day of May 2nd, the description changed to:
Christopher H. Fox, DMD, DMSc, and Alexandre Vieira, DDS, MS, PhD, on behalf of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.ayinde.aadocr.2023.pdf
— Originally listed as: Robert J. Burns, on behalf of the American Dental Association
— Later in the day of May 2nd, the description changed to:
George R. Shepley, DDS, and Raymond A. Cohlmia, DDS, on behalf of the American Dental Association
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.ada_.2023.pdf
Brian R. Berridge, Private Citizen
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp.bsc_.submission.berridge.2023.pdf
Paul Connett, on behalf of the Fluoride Action Network
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.connett-paul.2023..pdf 1
William Hirzy, on behalf of the National Federation of Federal Employees Local 2050
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.hirzy_.2023..pdf
Jack Kall, on behalf of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAMOT)
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.kall_.2023.pdf
William Maas, Private Citizen
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.maas_.2023..pdf
Mark Moss, Private Citizen
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.moss_.2023.pdf
John F. Mueller Jr., Private Citizen
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.mueller.2023.pdf
Chris Neurath, on behalf of the American Environmental Health Studies Project
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.neurath.2023.pdf
Rick North, Private Citizen
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.north_.2023.pdf
Bill Osmunson, on behalf of Washington Action for Safe Water, King County Citizens Against Fluoridation, Smiles of Bellevue
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.osmunson.2023.pdf
— Originally listed as: Makyba Charles-Ayinde, on behalf of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
— Later in the day of May 2nd, the description changed to:
Christopher H. Fox, DMD, DMSc, and Alexandre Vieira, DDS, MS, PhD, on behalf of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.ayinde.aadocr.2023.pdf
— Originally listed as: Robert J. Burns, on behalf of the American Dental Association
— Later in the day of May 2nd, the description changed to:
George R. Shepley, DDS, and Raymond A. Cohlmia, DDS, on behalf of the American Dental Association
http://fluoridealert.org/wp-content/uploads/ntp-bsc-submission.ada_.2023.pdf
These comments are also online at NTP-NIEHS – click on Materials at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/events/bsc/index.cfm
The charge of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) was to evaluate the adequacy of NTP* responses to external peer review and/or federal agency comments received during the development of the State of the Science Monograph and the Meta-Analysis Manuscript.
The BSC will not provide independent peer review of the State of the Science Monograph or Meta-Analysis Manuscript.
The BSC may offer perspectives and suggest revisions that might improve the quality of either document.
*NTP Staff within the Division of Translational Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences developed the State of the Science Monograph and the Meta-Analysis Manuscript on behalf of the NTP.