Why Fluoridation is Wrong for Long Island, New York

1) No Long Islander is fluoride deficient. The USDA website lists current levelsof fluoride in common foods. A more readable chart  is here.

a) Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study:  from 1/3 to ½ of

    US school children display fluoride overdose symptoms – dental  fluorosis    – white spotted, yellow or brown and sometimes pitted enamel.

2) The EPA increased fluoride residues allowed on foods since
     approving Dow Chemical Company's sulfuryl fluoride
      (ProFume) as a post-harvest fumigant. Even NYS Attorney
     General Eliot Spitzer wrote the   EPA and said, "...the  

     tolerances established by EPA are not sufficiently protective

     against adverse health effects,"

3)  Non-fluoridated Nassau & Suffolk cavity rates are equal to or  

     lower than 73% fluoridated NYS and many fluoridated NYS

     counties and  US States

4)  Fluoridation hasn’t leveled decay rates between poor & non-poor.

5)  Impure industrial waste products are used for water fluoridation.

     a) What effect would this have on the LI environment?

     b) Silicofluorides contain trace amounts of impurities such as
         arsenic, lead, mercury and more.

     c) Silicofluorides have never been safety tested in humans or
         animals

     d) Silicofluorides are linked to children’s higher blood lead levels.

     e) High blood lead levels are linked to higher rates of tooth decay

6)  The FDA never tested the safety or efficacy of fluoride ingestion. 

a)  Fluoride was “grandfathered in” because it was on the market pre-1938 when drug safety testing laws were first enacted.

b)  Pre-1938, fluoride was only sold as a rat poison.

7)  Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor required for healthy teeth.

8)  Fluoride ingestion confers no benefits.

     a) The CDC says: “fluoride's predominant effect is posteruptive and
         topical”   
    

9) Fluoride ingestion, like all drugs, delivers health risks.

     a) Reviews of the fluoride literature by National Institutes of Health and UK researchers report fluoride studies scientifically invalid

     b) National Academies of Science fluoride panel reveals health
         risks at 1 ppm

10)  From 1 – 5% of the population is allergic to or intolerant of fluoride

11) "If you add fluoridated water to your infant's baby formula, you may  be putting your child at risk of developing dental fluorosis,"

       according to the Academy of General Dentistry 

       a) The American Dental Association Agrees      

       b) The Centers For Disease Control Agrees

12)  The adequate intake (AI) of fluoride for a six month old baby is
        only 0.01 mg/F per day.  If the AI is exceeded babies risk

        moderate dental fluorosis which is defined as  Light to very dark
       brown staining occurs on the enamel, along with the parchment-

        white coloration of fluorosis. This is  what moderate dental
        fluorosis looks like.

13) Fluoridation makes no difference in NYS's decay rates and no
      difference between low and high income.

14) Dentists are not fluoride experts
 

For more general information about fluoridation, see Fluoridation 101:

For more science that shows the harm and ineffectiveness of fluoridation see the Fluoride Journal, Second Look, Fluoride Action Network.