Is Fluoride Safe?

People use ground water for drinking in some parts of the world. In several countries around the globe, ground water is known to be contaminated with fluoride. This is true of many States in India like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and it becomes necessary to defluoridate water. Several States in the USA, on the other hand, have been fluoridating water for several years now. The daily ingestion of fluoride also comes from toothpastes, mouth washes, canned beverages, cereals (processed in a fluoridated area), baby food, cigarettes, sea foods and teflon pans. What many don’t know is that the salts used to fluoridate our water supply — sodium fluoride and fluorosalicic acid — are by-products from aluminum and fertilizer industries that are used in rat poison and insecticides. No epidemiological study has been able to prove the effectiveness of fluoride against tooth decay. It is now believed that the cause of the death of hundreds of people in 1930 in the Meuse valley in Belgium could have been due to gaseous fluorine compounds, made deadlier by the foggy weather, emanating from certain factories in the region.

The following is an excellent video that says fluoridation of water is an industry-backed program to dispose off toxic waste. It also provides many useful information.

Consuming excess sugar and refined carbohydrates have been the cause for dental decay, which is why many primitive societies that didn’t eat them did not have high incidences of dental decay like we have now. Drinking fluoridated water causes dental fluorosis in the long-term, even with the approved level to fluoridate the public water supply, which is about 1 part fluoride for every million parts of water (1 ppm) by weight. Fluorine compounds cause parts of the teeth to calcify and make the enamel brittle, chalky-white and porous. The toxic substance gets absorbed and accumulates in calcified tissues like bone and teeth over a period; and as little as 2 mg/day can  produce crippling skeletal fluorosis. According to the US Public Health Service, fluoride can lead to crippling arthritic deformities of the spine and major joints of the body.

Fluoride is more poisonous than lead and just slightly less poisonous than arsenic.  Fluoride weakens the immune system and can cause allergic type reactions including dermatitis, eczema and hives. It is likely to aggravate kidney disease and diabetes and weaken thyroid activity. It also causes the breakdown of collagen, and result in wrinkling skin.

There are other health problems associated with fluoride. National Cancer Institute has found that fluoride is a carcinogen. Bone cancer has been linked to fluoridated water.

Parents, encouraged by doctors, massage with toothpastes the gums of less-than-one-year babies who can’t even spit it out properly. Many baby do’s and don’ts have been well explained in the video below

According to Dr. John Yiamouyiannis (president of the Safe Water Foundation and a leading authority on the biological effects of fluoride), we should use a “reverse osmosis” filtration system on the water faucet, as well as choose toothpastes that don’t contain fluoride.

Reference:

Fluoride Action Network: http://www.fluoridealert.org/ (gives fluoride levels in various foods)
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303222823
http://www.fluoride-journal.com/98-31-2/312103.htm