Fluoridation Weekly Review #11
– Compiled and edited by Mike Dolan, PhD.
Late stage prenatal fluoride exposure associated with low birth weights – “Women should avoid sources of fluoride exposure during pregnancy”
Children who suffer third trimester exposure to fluoride, as measured in mother’s urine, are at increased risk of experiencing low birth weight, according to a new analysis of the ELEMENT cohort in Mexico.
The study (Ortiz-Garcia et al., 2022) published in the journal Science of the Total Environment,
found a significant association between low birth weights and fetal
fluoride exposure, mainly from ingestion of fluoridated salt. It was
conducted by researchers from institutions including the National
Institute of Public Health in
Mexico, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington.
“Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that maternal fluoride exposure during pregnancy at the levels observed in a community with a public fluoridation program, may affect birth anthropometry [human body measurements].”
In the “Highlights” section summarizing the article, the authors included: “Women should avoid sources of fluoride exposure during pregnancy.”
While the study did find that fluoride exposure during the first trimester may actually increase weight, the authors point out, “The second and third trimesters of pregnancy might be a critical window to the effects of fluoride on birth anthropometry because fetal growth rate increases markedly; specifically, the major length accrual occurs in the second trimester and a large proportion of fetal weight gain occurs during the third trimester.”
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969722035562
On FAN: https://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/42575/spot
Benchmark level for fluoride neurotoxicity being used
The recently proposed benchmark level for fetal fluoride neurotoxicity (Grandjean et al., 2021) is being adopted by the scientific community and used in
the published literature.
The authors of the study finding low birth weight risk from prenatal fluoride exposure (noted above) report, “…20% of these women had urinary fluoride concentrations six times higher than benchmark concentration levels (0.2 mg/L) proposed recently for pregnant women.”
A Benchmark Dose Analysis is used to identify a dose that would likely cause a defined amount of harm, in this case a loss of 1 IQ point. This benchmark (loss of one IQ point) has been used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in other risk assessments. It is well established that a loss of one IQ point leads to a reduction of lifetime earning ability of approximately $18,000. The recent analysis was conducted by Dr. Phillip Grandjean of Harvard’s School of Public Health and known for his previous research on the toxicity of lead, PFOAs, and mercury.
A Benchmark Dose Analysis for Maternal Pregnancy Urine-Fluoride and IQ in Children. Risk Analysis (Grandjean, 2021 et al).
On FAN: https://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/39766/
Dentists not engaged with media on sugar and tooth decay
A survey of over 600 California dentists found that the vast majority
had, “never talked to traditional media or posted to social media about
sugar or sugar policies
for dental caries prevention.”
While most of the dentists believed reducing sugar consumption was
very effective in reducing the risk of tooth decay, and that dentists
had a professional
responsibility to discuss sugar-consumption reduction with their
patients, most also felt it was somewhat or entirely unrealistic to
expect patients to do so, according to the report in the April issue of
the Journal of Dental Research – Clinical & Translational Research (Kearns et al., 2021).
Nearly half of the dentists believed a sugary beverage tax would not beeffective in reducing cavities, with a large percentage refusing to engage with media on the matter.
The authors noted that “oral health experts were largely absent from
media coverage of the 2014 SSB [sugar-sweetened beverage] tax proposals
in Berkeley and
San Francisco.”
In trying to explain the results, the authors, from the University of
California at San Francisco, concluded, “Dentists may be concerned that
expressing policy
opinions publicly may harm their business. Another possibility is that
dentists have been susceptible to sugary food and beverage industry
public relations campaigns. These campaigns have disseminated messages
that SSBs are less harmful to teeth than sticky foods and that SSB taxes
are not effective for dental caries prevention.”
Nearly three-quarters of the dentists did not accept Medicaid in their offices, according to the report.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1177/23800844211003818
Pennsylvania water authority committee recommends repeal
After conducting extensive research, a committee formed by of the State College Water Authority to study their fluoridation program recommended the authority “cease fluoridang” the drinking water due to potential “threats of harm to human health.”
The specially formed committee voted 2-1 on May 19 to ask the
authority board to end fluoridation in the water system serving 70,000,
according to a report in the
Centre Daily Times.
Engineering professor and board member Rachel Brennan argued the authority should follow the precautionary principle, and assume the level of fluoride added to drinking water causes harm until “more compelling safety and efficacy data are available,” according to the report.
Brennan noted, “97% of western Europe drinks non-fluoridated water.
And, she said, despite that, their tooth decay rates over the past 50
years have declined just
like they have in the U.S. “From a logical, data analysis perspective,
this indicates that water fluoridation plays a relatively minor role in
the improvement of dental
health in areas that have access to fluoridated topical treatments.”
BREAKING: The water authority board voted
unanimously (6-0) on Thursday night (July 21st) to cease fluoridation.
FAN will be providing in-depth coverage of this decision, along with
video from the hearing in a bulletin in the coming days. Stay tuned!
Source:
https://www.scbwa.org/sites/default/files/docs_forms_media/fluoride_subcommitte_presentation_scbwa_19_may_2022.pdf
New Zealand mayor says Government must pay for fluoridation system
In a sign that water fluoridation may be delayed in resistant cities and councils in New Zealand, the mayor of Whang?rei, Sheryl Mai, recently told the district council that central government must pay to install equipment and to fund the program annually.
“If you (the Government) don't fund us, we will not be complying, and we are expecting funding for the ongoing operating costs too,” Mai said of the fluoride mandate, as reported in the New Zealand Herald.
Equipment installation for the Whang?rei district is expected to cost $3 million while annual operating costs are expected to be $100,000 according to the report.
The Whang?rei district voted against fluoridation in 2002 with 62 percent of voters opposing the chemical intervention.
In November of 2021, the New Zealand parliament voted to give the the
Director-General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield authority to force
communities to add fluoridation chemicals to the public drinking water.
The law specifically exempts local officials from having to consult with
the public before adding the chemical. Communities that refuse to
comply will be fined $200,000 up front, and face an additional $10,000
per day fine if non compliance continues. So far, the Government has not
offered communities funding assistance, which means that ratepayers and
residents will likely foot the massive construction, chemical, and
maintenance costs.
New Zealand Fluoridation Law:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2016/0208/latest/LMS479944.html#LMS480321
Fluoride Free New Zealand encourages Councils to resist “government dictates’
Denouncing the government for acquiescing “to the fluoridation lobby
that was losing, and has now totally lost, the scientific argument about
fluoridation,” the
Fluoride Free New Zealand activist group is encouraging local councils
to resist the new fluoridation mandates being imposed by the
Director-General of Health.
Noting that local governments will have to pay $150 million to
implement the scheme, the group writes, “We strongly encourage all
affected councils to join in
legal action against these ‘decisions’.”
“Alternative and proven targeted approaches to improving dental health could be implemented at a small fraction of that aggregate national cost.
“Meanwhile, the evidence of harm is now even more overwhelming than the evidence we had against Lead when we banned leaded petrol,” the group writes.
The complete statement can be read at the group’s website:
https://fluoridefree.org.nz/government-dictates-to-communities-again/
FAN submittal contains comprehensive account of fluoride neurotoxicity research
In response to the British government’s request for “consultation” regarding its plan to fluoridate drinking water, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) has submitted a comprehensive statement on fluoride’s neurotoxicity that should serve as the definitive guide to the subject.
The document, prepared by Ellen Connett and submitted June 3 to the UK Department of Health & Social Care, contains extensive details of 74 scientific research reports that found an association between fluoride exposure and reduced intelligence.
The report also includes critical commentary on nine studies that did
not find an association with lowered intelligence, and contains
summaries of the National
Toxicology Program’s investigation of fluoride’s neurotoxicity and the
ongoing federal lawsuit in which FAN has sued the Environmental
Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act for not
properly regulating fluoride exposures.
The document is available at the FAN website:
https://fluoridealert.org/content/fans-submission-to-uk-have-your-say-on-extending-water-fluoridation-schemes/
•• Michael Dolan can be contacted at <mdolan.ecsn@outlook.com>
•• The archives of The Fluoridation Review are available at: https://
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