Environmental Justice
Overview
Current
data shows that water fluoridation disproportionately harms low-income and
minority communities. In response to this data, a growing number
of civil
rights advocates have begun calling for a moratorium on
fluoridation programs. This includes LULAC (the largest Hispanic civil
rights organization), Andrew Young (the former Mayor of Atlanta and Ambassador
to the United Nations), and Reverend Bernice King (the daughter of Dr.
Martin Luther King). Water fluoridation has, in short, become an issue of
environmental justice.
What Is Environmental Justice?
According
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Environmental Justice
is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of
race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies.” The EPA has set this as a “goal for all communities and persons
across this Nation.” Environmental justice will only be achieved
“when
everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health
hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy
environment in which to live, learn, and work.” (EPA 2011).
Low-Income Communities at Heightened Risk of Fluoride Toxicity
Low-income
communities are more susceptible to fluoride’s toxicity for several reasons.
Health conditions that render people more vulnerable to fluoride exposure
(e.g., kidney disease and diabetes) are more prevalent among low-income
populations. Nutrient deficiencies are also more prevalent and voluminous research
spanning back to the 1930s clearly shows that populations with nutrient
deficiencies are harmed by fluoride exposures otherwise safe for the general
population. As but one example, a 1952 study in the Journal of the American Dental Association warned:
“The
data from this and other investigations suggest that malnourished infants and
children, especially if deficient in calcium intake, may suffer from the
effects of water containing fluorine while healthy children would remain
unaffected…Thus low levels of fluoride ingestion which are generally considered
to be safe for the general population may not be safe for malnourished infants
and children. Therefore, the nutritional status must be carefully assessed and
guarded in areas with endemic fluorosis. Nutritional studies should be included
in any comprehensive program of fluoridation of water with special attention to
chronically ailing infants and children.” (Massler & Schour 1952).
Communities of Color Are Being Disproportionately Harmed
In
2005, the Centers for Disease Control published the results of a national survey
of dental fluorosis conducted between 1999 and 2002. The survey’s
results show that black children suffer significantly higher rates of dental
fluorosis than children from other racial groups. Dental fluorosis is a defect
of teeth enamel caused by too much fluoride exposure, which can cause
disfiguring stains and pitting on the teeth. Not only do black children
suffer higher rates of fluorosis, they suffer more severe forms of the
condition. The CDC’s national survey found that the rate of the most
disfiguring form of fluorosis (i.e., moderate/severe fluorosis)
is nearly twice as high in the black community as the white community.
Moderate/severe fluorosis can cause widespread brown stains, and can lead to
erosion and deterioration of the teeth.
Photograph
of Moderate/Severe Dental Fluorosis.
The
CDC’s national survey is not the first time that black children have been found
to suffer higher rates of dental fluorosis. Indeed, the nation’s first pilot
study of water fluoridation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported that black
children suffered dental fluorosis at twice the rate of which white children.
(Russell 1962). Other studies in Texas, New York, Georgia, and Indiana, have
reported similar results. (Martinez-Mier 2010; Kumar 1999, 2000; Williams 1990;
Butler 1985). In the Indiana study, over 12% of the surveyed black children in
fluoridated Indianapolis were found to have “a definite physical defect” of the
teeth as a result of fluoride exposure, whereas no such defect was found among
the surveyed white children. (Martinez-Mier 2010). Similarly, the Georgia study
found that 0ver 16% of the black children in fluoridated Augusta were found to
have moderate/severe
fluorosis, versus 9% of the white children.
Fluoride Risks Factors in the Black Community
Atlanta’s
former Mayor, Andrew Young, has called for an end to water fluoridation.
There
are several possible explanations for why the black community is being
disproportionately impacted by fluoride exposures. According to the Centers for
Disease Control, the increased risk could be the result of either “biologic
susceptibility or greater fluoride intake.” (CDC 2005). Risk factors
for fluoride toxicity in the black community include: high rates of infant
formula use; reduced milk consumption due to a high prevalence of lactose
intolerance; depressed nutrient intake (including calcium and anti-oxidants)
vis-a-vis other racial groups; high levels of lead exposure; and higher rates
of health conditions (e.g., kidney disease and diabetes) that render the
body more vulnerable to fluoride intake. To learn more about these risk factors,
click here.
Civil Rights Leaders Demand Answers
Due
to evidence showing that fluoridation disproportionately harms low-income and
minority populations, Atlanta Civil Rights leaders recently requested that
Georgia legislators repeal the state’s mandatory water fluoridation law.
According to Dr. Gerald Durley, a psychologist, pastor, and environmentalist:
“I
support the holding of Fluoridegate hearings at the state and national level so
we can learn . . . why our government agencies haven’t told the black community
openly that fluorides disproportionately harm black Americans.”
According
to Atlanta’s former mayor, Andrew Young, who served as Ambassador to the U.N.
during the Clinton Administration:
“I
am most deeply concerned for poor families who have babies: if they cannot
afford unfluoridated water for their babies milk formula, do their babies not
count? Of course they do. This is an issue of fairness, civil rights, and
compassion. We must find better ways to prevent cavities, such as helping those
most at risk for cavities obtain access to the services of a dentist.”
In
2011 the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) passed a resolution
opposing fluoridation as “forced mass medication of the public drinking
supplies” because it “violates civil rights.” In its resolution, LULAC “demands
to know why government agencies entrusted with protecting the public health are
more protective of the policy of fluoridation than they are of public health”
(LULAC, 2011).
Fluoridation Is Not “Dental Care”
It
is well known that tooth decay is concentrated in low-income communities. Although public
health officials promote water fluoridation as a means of helping the poor, the
sober truth is that the vast majority of urban areas in the United States have
been fluoridated for decades and yet
this has not prevented the low-income neighborhoods in these areas from
suffering what numerous state and local health officials describe as an “oral
health crisis.” It is has become obvious, therefore, that the addition of cheap
industrial chemicals to the water supply has never been, and will never be, an
effective form of “dental care.” Read more.
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