Sign petition against fluoridation - protect plants and animals!

[dan2]

Everyone sign the petition to protect plant and animal life from fluoridation:

http://petition.powalliance.org/index.html



More info:

 A widely publicized study linking water fluoridation to increased risk of bone cancer (osteosarcoma). See the Washington Post (July 13) and Wall Street Journal (July 22) articles on this at http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/2313.html and http://fluorideaction.net/news/2323.html.

 11 EPA unions, representing thousands of scientists and other EPA professionals, are now calling for an immediate moratorium on water fluoridation. <http://nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/fluroride%20.unions.congress.htm>. Dr. Hirzy can be reached at: 202-885-1780 or by email at: whirzy@american.edu.

 Sixty years of fluoridation has caused widespread exposure to toxic fluorides through our food and beverage chain. The primary chemicals used are largely untested silicofluorides which are waste products of the phosphate fertilizer industry. The fluoridation-osteosarcoma link is of immediate concern because it is life threatening, but there are many other documented health issues, including damage to bone, serious fluoride overexposure in infants, lowering of IQ in children, accumulation in the pineal gland and lowering of thyroid function (see documentation at http://www.fluorideaction.net/health.)


http://www.fluoridealert.org/

[das_nut]

Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?
Mandrake: Well, I can't say I have.
Ripper: Vodka, that's what they drink, isn't it? Never water?
Mandrake: Well, I-I believe that's what they drink, Jack, yes.
Ripper: On no account will a Commie ever drink water, and not without good reason.

Okay, that really wasn't productive. But I'm sure I'm not the only VBer who thought of that scene. :)

On a more serious note, a quick glance at the materials seems that many studies don't show any adverse effects due to regular fluoridation, and some studies that do show an effect, the most important of which seems to be a sevenfold increase in a sort of rare bone cancer in young males. OTOH, it seems that most studies do show that flouridation does prevent cavities, with a few studies showing no such link.

I could see how this should be investigated further. But the linked petition seems to go farther and wants actions based on conclusions that seem to be controversial. I don't think I can support that.

Dental hygiene is more than just a nice appearance. Poor oral health can result in a poor diet as people alter what they eat and how much they eat in order to avoid pain. A poor diet can have serious health effects. These health effects must be weighed against possible health effects due to fluoridation before we can say if we should stop fluoridating the water supply. That requires more research. Not bans.

Just my $.02

Purity of Essence until next time!

[Daral]

Yeah, I tend to see anti-fluoridization concepts as derived more from a general desire for a return to "natural" living, rather than any scientific merit. On that note, I should point out that my father works for the EPA and we've been drinking tapwater for years.