Toothpaste Woes: Fluoride's Dark Side

Parents don't let your children swallow their toothpaste.  Seems like an odd thing to say but young children can ingest almost half of the toothpaste that is put onto their toothbrushes at every brushing.  Did you know that about half a tube of toothpaste can have enough fluoride in it to kill your child?  Did you even know that fluoride is a toxic element?  Did you know it is slightly more toxic than Lead (Pb)? 

I bring this up because studies are starting to show that fluoride is more toxic than scientists have originally thought and that the EPA's maximum contaminant level (MCL) is likely too high to keep us safe from the effects of fluoride toxicity.  The National Research Council (NRC) published in 2006 a report that encourages the EPA to take a second look at their MCL for fluoride which is currently set at 4 ppm (parts per million).  So let me see if I get this straight.  Fluoride is slightly more toxic than Lead and we are adding it to our water supply, toothpaste, mouthwashes to prevent cavities.  The EPA's MCL for fluoride is 4 ppm and 0.015 for Lead (that's 250 times higher than the 'safe' level for lead).  What would the EPA say if we wanted to add Lead to our water?  Oh wait, Lead is one of those things that all water districts test for because of its toxicity!  We don't want Lead in our water but fluoride is ok, right? 

Ok, forgive the sarcastic tone but not enough is being said about fluoride concerns.  How would you get your fluoride to prevent cavities if you didn't have it in your water and toothpaste?  Well, maybe from the raisins (2.34 ppm), Black tea (3.73 ppm), White wine (2.02 ppm), apple flavored juice (1.09 ppm), diet coke (0.60 ppm), hot dogs (0.48 ppm), beer (0.45 ppm), chocolate (0.23 ppm), coffee (0.91 ppm)...starting to get the picture?  So why should we care about fluoride?  What are the possible toxic symptoms?

According to the NRC there is more research to be done to really understand the health impact of fluoride on the general public and to reconsider how much fluoride to put into the water if at all.  Here are some areas of health that are possibly impacted by fluoride:

• The brain: relationship with Alzheimer's, other types of dementia and lowered IQ.
• Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance (a huge killer of Americans)
• Hypothyroidism (worse with low calcium, iodine and selenium)
• Impaired immunity, especially in subgroups of patients with HIV, transplant and bone marrow patients)
• Osteoporosis (makes bones more brittle)
• Discoloration of teeth in children (browning, white spots and cracks in enamel.  See picture above of mild fluoride toxicity)
• Hormone and endocrine disruption
• Pineal gland and melatonin effects (think sleep)
• Impacts sexual maturity, earlier puberty
• Increases absorption of Aluminum (think Alzheimer's) and Lead (Pb), decreases absorption of iodine (think goiter or hypothyroid)
• Fertility concerns
• Increase risk of Down's syndrome
• GI problems
• Impacts liver enzymes and kidney tissue toxicity
• Bone cancer (osteosarcoma) and bladder cancer

Here's what I tell my patients. Ensure that your home water filter is able to remove fluoride from your tap water and know where your bottled water sources from.  25% of bottled water comes from tap water and you should know if the bottled water company filters out the fluoride.  I don't use fluoride toothpaste because I get plenty of fluoride from my diet.  When using mouthwashes that contain fluoride make sure you rinse with water afterward to get the most of the fluoride out of your mouth, although some of it can be absorbed by the skin of your mouth.  Keep informed.  The Fluoride Action Network has a lot of resources for you to read and educate yourself on your exposure.  Scientific American wrote a great article on the health impact of fluoride in January 2008.  Read the excepts from the NRC's recommendations to the EPA. 

Updated January 25, 2008: Wired magazine has a new blog post about fluoride as well.  Their historical information is very useful for understanding some of the politics about fluoridation policy since the 1940's.

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[nyscof]

In a statement released August 9, 2007, over 600 (now 1,300) professionals urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. (http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html)

Signers include a Nobel Prize winner, three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC) panel that reported on fluoride’s toxicology, two officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters, the President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, and hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific and environmental professionals, worldwide.

Signer Dr. Arvid Carlsson, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine, says, “Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete.”

An Online Action Petition to Congress in support of the Professionals' Statement is available on FAN's web site, www.fluorideaction.org.

“The NRC report dramatically changed scientific understanding of fluoride's health risks," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network. "Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in the NRC report,” he added.

An Assistant NY State Attorney General calls the report “the most up-to-date expert authority on the health effects of fluoride exposure.”

The Professionals’ Statement also references:

-- The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be prepared with fluoridated water.
-- The CDC’s concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not systemic.
-- CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now impacts one third of American children.
-- Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.
-- A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone cancer.
-- The silicofluoride chemicals used for fluoridation are contaminated industrial waste and have never been FDA- approved for human ingestion.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG President Ken Cook states, “It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other environmental issues, it's as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water plant.”

Further, researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation, touted as a safe cavity preventive, never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (1)

Partially, as a result of the professionals' statement, at least one city, Cobleskill NY, stopped 54 years of water fluoridation. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/2998.html

Many communities rejected or stopped fluoridation over the years. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm

On October 2, Juneau Alaska voters rejected fluoridation despite the American Dental Association's $150,000 political campaign to return fluoride into the water supply after the legislative body voted it out.

SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net

References:

(1) “Adding fluoride to water supplies,” British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007

[Anna Tala]

thanks for the info on floride (scary)/was hoping for advice for two things that have recently occured w/ me(mid sept)symtoms of gerd and hypothyroid and if there are natural ways i can treat both @ the same time/(was wondering if some remedies could perform double duty) thought the interenet is helpful w/a wealth of information, it can also be overwhelming/prior to sept i had never really thought about my thyroid or knew what gerd was/wow what a difference a couple months make!Thanks again for getting back to me/i emailed you earlier what tests were performed and results of tests. much appreciated. :)