From: [log in to unmask] For those of you who don't receive the Fluoride Action Network bulletins, Dr. Paul Connett (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]) is asking for more professionals (PhD, MD, DMD, DDS, JD, ND, DO etc. or who have other medical qualification (e.g. RN), or Water Department employees or who have a full-time appointment with an environmental organization) to sign the below Professionals' statement to end water fluoridation. If you or someone you know is willing to do so, please send names and credentials to Dr. Connett with a copy to us (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]) . Thanks Carol K New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK <http://www.fluorideaction.net/>http://www.FluorideAction.net FAN Bulletin 830: Professionals opposed to fluoridation July 5, 2007 Dear All, In an effort to silence once and for all the claim by fluoridation promoters that those opposed to fluoridation are merely a bunch of untrained people peddling "junk science" we are in the process of gathering signers onto a Professionals’ statement calling for an end to water fluoridation (see below). We think this statement will be helpful for any individual or group fighting fluoridation (but please wait until the official release date of August 1 before you use it publicly), as well as giving us much more clout when we are trying to bring this issue to the attention of Members of Congress, the media and national organizations. We have been thrilled with the response we have already received in just a few days of effort. We already have over 80 professionals from different fields (medical, dental, academic, legal and environmental). We have a terrific representation from around the world (important as we discover the insidious efforts to get fluoridation in countries as far apart as the Isle of Man and Yemen). So far we have signers from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the US. We have already have many distinguished members of the medical and dental community signing on, including a former Federal Minister of Health from Australia, as well as leading figures from the environmental movement including Ken Cook (EWG), Pat Costner, Peter Montague, Brent Foster and many others. And last, but not least, also signing are three members (Dr. Robert Issacson, Dr. Hardy Limeback and Dr. Kathleen Thiessen) from the incredibly important NRC panel which published the groundbreaking review of fluoride’s toxicity last year (NRC, 2006). These join familiar names who have been engaged in this issue for many years: Dr. Albert Burgstahler, Dr. Robert Carton, Dr. William Hirzy, Dr. Bruce Spittle, Dr. Mark Diesendorf, Dr. David Kennedy, Dr. Tohru Murakami, Dr. Bill Osmunson, John Remington Graham and Mag. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Rudolf Ziegelbecker, to name just a few. We have many other invitations in the works, but while we are waiting we would like to recruit the efforts of all of you on this bulletin list. Do you a have a higher degree (PhD, MD, DMD, DDS, JD, ND, DO etc) or other medical qualification (e.g. RN), or do you work for Water Department or do you hold a full-time appointment with an environmental organization? Actually as you read through the list of current signers below you will get the idea of what we are looking for. Or do you know someone else who fits the bill? If you, or any of your contacts, would like to sign on, then all you, or they, have to do is to send me an email <[log in to unmask]> with your Full name, degree, position in a relevant organization, town, state and country of residence. You may also wish to add one sentence as to why you oppose this practice. See examples below the signers. For me this ever growing list will be the rock on which we will build the rest of our campaign to rid the world of this foolish practice. Thanks you for any help you can give on this. Paul Connett PS Over 50,000 people have now viewed "The Fluoride Deception" and nearly another 20,000 have viewed the six other fluoride videos on Google video. These are all easily accessible via our home page <http://www.fluorideaction.net/>http://www.FluorideAction.net and don’t forget to keep clicking on "Latest News" on the home page for articles from around the country and around the world on this subject. Health, Scientific and Environmental Professionals call for an End to Water Fluoridation Introduction: Water fluoridation involves adding various fluoride chemicals to the public water supply at a concentration of 1 ppm (1 part per million or 1 milligram per liter), ostensibly to fight tooth decay. 1 ppm may seem small, but it is actually 250 times greater than the level of fluoride in mother’s milk, 0.004 ppm. Once fluoride is put into the public water supply, the dose cannot be controlled and it goes to "patients" without their consent, thus violating both medical ethics and the individual’s human rights. It also goes to subsets of the population that we now know are particularly vulnerable to fluoride‘s toxic effects - including the very young, the very old, the infirm, people with poor kidney function and others with poor nutrition. While strongly supported by the US public health establishment, most countries have rejected this practice, including the vast majority of European nations. They are not willing to force medication on those who do not want it, and they feel that many health concerns have not been resolved (see a list of official statements from various countries on this at <http://fluoridealert.org/govt-statements.htm>http://fluoridealert.org/govt-statements.htm ). According to World Health Organization (WHO) data available online, dental health for 12 year olds in non-fluoridated countries is as good, if not better, than those countries which fluoridate. These observations in countries are duplicated in studies comparing communities within a country. Since the 1980s there has been an ever growing number of research articles and reviews which indicate that there is little difference in tooth decay between communities which are fluoridated and those which are not (Leverett, 1982; Colquhoun, 1984; 1985 and 1987; Diesendorf, 1986; Gray, 1987; Brunelle and Carlos, 1990; Spencer et al. 1996; deLiefde, 1998; Locker, 1999; Armfield and Spencer, 2004 and Pizzo et al., 2007. An alphabetical listing of the full citations can be found at <http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/biblio.html>http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/biblio.html ). Any minor difference due to fluoride status is usually dwarfed by the difference in income levels. Poverty is the major factor related to tooth decay, not lack of fluoride. Government officials endlessly promote fluoridation while steadfastly refusing to publicly debate the issue, or provide the scientific evidence to support their claims. Professionals’ statement: We the undersigned call for an end to water fluoridation. SEVEN recent events make action to end this practice urgent. 1. The publication in 2006 of a 500 page review of all relevant health effects and exposure information on fluoride by a distinguished panel appointed by the National Research Council (the research arm of the National Academy of Sciences). The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested this review to determine if a new drinking water standard is required. Contrary to news media coverage, the NRC report went far beyond concluding that the current EPA standard of 4 ppm (i.e. the maximum contaminant level goal) is unsafe and should be lowered. The panel identified many important research studies in which animals or humans drinking water close to, at, or even lower than 1 ppm, showed numerous systemic adverse health effects. These included: bone fractures, decreased thyroid function, impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes), brain cell damage, lowered IQ in children, kidney damage, arthritic-like conditions, symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Considering the substantial variation in individual water intake, and the wide range of human sensitivity to any toxic substance, fluoridation at 1 ppm provides no margin of safety to protect against these adverse health effects. 2. The publication in 2004 of the book "The Fluoride Deception" by award-winning investigative reporter Christopher Bryson. This meticulously researched book documents that industrial interests, concerned about liabilities from fluoride pollution and fluoride’s heath effects on workers, played a significant role in the early promotion of fluoridation in the 1950’s. Bryson also details the brutal suppression of scientists who have challenged the establishment on the safety of this practice. A videotaped interview with Bryson can be accessed on Google video at: <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7319752042352089988&q=the+fluoride+deception&hl=en>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7319752042352089988&q=the+fluoride+deception&hl=en 3. The evidence provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2005 that 32% of American children have a condition called dental fluorosis a discoloration and mottling of the enamel caused by fluoride exposuure. Clearly, our children are now being overdosed with fluoride from wwater, swallowed toothpaste and many other sources. Fluoridated water is the easiest source to eliminate. 4. The American Dental Association’s distribution, on November 9, 2006, of an Advisory to its membership recommending that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula due to the elevated risk of dental fluorosis. This admission by the ADA that fluoridated water is not appropriate for infants is reason alone for fluoridation to be immediately halted. 5. The concession by the CDC in 1999, and again in 2001, that the predominant benefit of fluoride in reducing tooth decay is TOPICAL and not SYSTEMIC. To the extent fluoride works to reduce or prevent tooth decay, it works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside the body. It makes no sense to drink it and expose the rest of the body to the long term risks of fluoride ingestion when fluoridated toothpaste is so readily available. 6. The publication in May 2006 of a peer-reviewed, case-controlled study from Harvard University which showed a 5-7 fold increase in osteosarcoma (a frequently fatal bone cancer) in young men associated with exposure to fluoridated water during their 6th, 7th and 8th years (Bassin et al., Cancer Causes and Control, 2006). This study was surrounded by scandal as Elise Bassin’s PhD thesis adviser, Professor Chester Douglass, was accused by the watchdog Environmental Working Group of attempting to suppress these findings for several years. See video at <http://fluorideaction.net/>http://FluorideAction.net 7. The admission by federal agencies, in response to questions from a Congressional subcommittee in 1999-2000, that the industrial grade waste products used to fluoridate over 90% of America's drinking water supplies (fluorosilicate compounds) have never been subjected to toxicological testing or FDA approved for human ingestion. See: <http://keepersofthewell.org/>http://keepersofthewell.org/ To bring an end to fluoridation: We call upon Members of Congress to sponsor and/or support a new Congressional Hearing on Water Fluoridation so that those in government agencies who continue to support the procedure, particularly the Oral Health Division of the CDC, will be compelled to provide the scientific basis for their ongoing, aggressive promotion of fluoridation with millions of taxpayer dollars. They must be cross-examined under oath if the public is ever to fully learn the truth about this unnecessary and harmful practice. We call upon local elected officials in fluoridated communities to exercise due diligence in this matter and read the basic scientific literature themselves. It is not enough to blindly accept assurances from biased agencies whose reputations depend on maintaining the status quo and whose employees are required to promote fluoridation. If you are not confident about claims that fluoridation is safe and effective, you should not be forcing this practice on those who don’t want it and may be harmed by it. We call upon members of the media to do a professional job investigating this issue. Do not assume that the opposition’s arguments are invalid because of the reams of endorsements that promoters use to put your intelligence on hold. It is irresponsible to just quote the Dr. Strangelove film and a few sentences from each side. If author Christopher Bryson can spend 10 years researching this issue, surely other investigative journalists can spend more than 10 minutes sorting out fact from fiction in this matter. We call upon State health agencies, at the very least, to use their health networks to thoroughly publicize, at all levels, the ADA recommendation that fluoridated water not be used in the preparation of infant formula. We call upon medical and dental professionals to get up-to-date on this issue. Professionals should use their own high level education to look beyond the outdated blanket endorsements from promoting agencies. Specifically, we call upon them to review the NRC (2006) report and the other literature cited in the introduction above. We call upon members of environmental and other activist groups to get involved. In addition to health concerns, fluoridation is "pollution by dilution" of the ecosystems with tons of industrial waste products each year. This problem is one that's easy to end -- once we have the political will -- by just turning off the taps. Getting that political will can be greatly accelerated by your organization educating its membership as to the newer developments identified above and by joining in the movement to end fluoridation. Despite 60 years of fluoridation, tooth decay remains rampant in many long-fluoridated areas of the US. The untold millions of dollars that are now spent on equipment, chemicals, monitoring, and promotion of fluoridation could be much better invested on nutrition education and targeted dental care for children from low income families who are known to suffer the greatest amount of tooth decay. The vast majority of other countries have done this. It is time for the US to recognize that the fluoridation program has failed to deliver its promise, poses unnecessary risks, and violates freedom of choice and medical ethics. Fluoridation must be ended now. Signed: Kenji Akiniwa, DDS, Akiniwa Dental Clinic, Editor, The Journal of the Japanese Society for Fluoride Research, Tokyo, Japan Phillip M. Allen, MD, PhD, pathologist (retired), Wichita, KS Robert Anderson, PhD, Tauranga, New Zealand Sergio Apollonio, President, Malagrotta Committee, Rome, Italy Billie Barewald, RN, Chair, Mountain View Citizens for Safe Drinking Water Mountain View, CA James Beck, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Medical Biophysics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada Steve Breyman, PhD, Executive Director, Citizens' Environmental Coalition, Albany, NY and Director, Ecological Economics, Values & Policy Program, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Dennis Briggs, PhD Ernesto Burgio, Pediatrician, Vice President, Scientific Committee ISDE (International Society of Doctors for Environment), Palermo, Italy Larry Bowden, DMD, Aesthetic Dentistry of Lake Oswego, OR Albert W. Burgstahler, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Co-author with George L. Waldbott, MD, and H. Lewis McKinney, PhD, of "Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma" (Coronado Press, 1978) and editor since 1998 of the international quarterly journal Fluoride, published by the International Society for Fluoride Research (www.fluorideresearch.org). Noel Campbell, BDSc, LDS, FACNEM, FASID, Visiting Professor, Hope Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia Neil J. Carman, PhD, Clean air program director, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, Austin, TX Robert J. Carton, PhD, former Chief of Environmental Compliance, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD and former president of EPA professionals’ union. Paul Connett, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University and Executive Director of the Fluoride Action Network, Canton, NY Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC Pat Costner, Science Advisor, GAIA, Science Advisor, IPEN, retired Senior Scientist, Greenpeace International Joe Cummins, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Genetics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada Robert C Dickson, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Mark Diesendorf, PhD, Director, Sustainability Centre, Sydney, Australia Michael F. Dolan, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geosciences, UMASS, Amherst, MA Daniel A. Durst, Esq., MHSA, Tinko Law Group, Meadville, PA David Egilman MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Brown University, Attleboro, MA Lynn Howard Ehrle, MEd, Chair, International Science Oversight Board (a project of the Organic Consumers Association), Plymouth, MI Doug. N. Everingham, MB, BS, Australian Health Minister 1972-75 , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Mike Ewall, Director, ActionPA, Philadelphia, PA Richard D Fischer DDS, FAGD, MIAOMT, past president, International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology Brent Foster, Executive Director, Columbia Riverkeeper, Oregon Paul Gilbert, DDS, MAGD, AIAOMT, Practicing general dentist focusing on biological dentistry, Princeton, NJ Frank W. George, DO, MD(H), Affiliate Associate Professor, Midwestern University, AZ College of Osteopathic Medicine, Phoenix, AZ Mike Godfrey, MBBS, Tauranga, New Zealand Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg, MES, PhD, Toronto, Canada John Remington Graham, BA, LLB, Member of the Minnesota Bar, counsel for the plaintiffs in trials in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Texas, resulting in judicial findings that artificial fluoridation of public water supplies induces large-scale cancer and other ailments in man. Tomas Hernandez, MD, MPH, Neurologist, President, Public and Environmental Health Committee, Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons, San Juan, PR W. Robert Hetrick, PhD, Research Coordinator, Fluoride Team of Kansas, Wichita, KS J. William Hirzy, PhD, Vice-President, EPA Headquarters Professionals Union (NTEU Chapter 280), risk assessment expert and (for identification purposes only) ranking chemist at EPA headquarters, Washington, DC Professor C. Vyvyan Howard, MB, ChB, PhD, FRCPath, Bioimaging Research Group, Centre for Molecular Bioscience, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland Robert L. Isaacson, Distinguished Professor, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride. Antone G. Jacobson, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX Joel M. Kauffman, PhD, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, PA David Kennedy, DDS, Past President of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, San Diego, CA Pam Killeen, co-author of the NY Times bestselling book, The Great Bird Flu Hoax. Dan Knapp, PhD, (Sociology) CEO of Urban Ore, Incorporated, a reuse and recycling business in Berkeley, CA Stephen M. Koral, DMD, Vice President International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, Boulder, CO Lennart Krook, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Pierre Larose, DDS, FAGD, FIAOMT, Retired A/Major, Canadian Forces Dental Services, Fellow, Academy of General Dentistry, Founding member of the Quebec Holistic Dental Ass'n and currently, Vice-President International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, Montreal, Canada Todd Lawson, DMD, Aesthetic Dentistry of Bellevue, WA Hardy Limeback, PhD, DDS, Assoc. Professor and Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto, past president of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, and Member of the 2006 National Research Council panel which reviewed the toxicology of fluoride. Mariann Lloyd-Smith, PhD, (Law) Senior Advisor, National Toxics Network Inc., East Ballina, NSW Australia Don Mac Auley, BDS, Dental Surgeon and Chairman of Irish Dentists Opposing Fluoridation <<http://www.idof.net/>http://www.idof.net/>, Ireland Laura McCarthy, Program Associate, Citizens' Environmental Coalition, Albany, NY Henry Micklem, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Immunobiology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Peter Montague, PhD, Environmental Research Foundation, New Brunswick, N.J. Pierre-Jean Morin, PhD, Director of medical research at Laval University Hospital (1973-1979) and principal author of La fluoration: autopsie d'une erreur scientifique (Éditions Berger, Eastman, QC, 2005) Quebec, Canada Jeffrey Morris, PhD (Economics), Sound Resource Management, Olympia, WA Alan Muller, Executive Director, Green Delaware, Port Penn, DE Liliane Buffaut Mungo, Comitato Tutela Valdichiana, Italia Nostra, Arezzo, Italy Tohru Murakami, DDS, PhD, former President of Japanese Society for Fluoride Research, former Vice President of Gunma prefectural Dental Association, Japan. Hans H. Nehrlich, PhD, Private Practice Orthomolecular Medicine, ret. university lecturer, Australia and Germany E.M.T. O'Nan, Director, Protect All Children's Environment, Marion, NC Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH, Aesthetic Dentistry of Bellevue, WA and Lake Oswego, OR; Director of the Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, Host for the TV Series, "The Doctor's Corner", Lake Oswego, OR Robert Pocock, fluoride spokesperson for VOICE for the Irish Environment, Dublin, Ireland. Perry O. Roehl, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Geology, emeritus, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX Paul G. Rubin, DDS, MIAOMT, Seattle, WA Ralph Anthony Ryder, Director, Communities Against Toxics UK, Editor; TOXCAT, Ellesmere Port, UK Mageswari Sangaralingam (Masters in Environmental Management), Research Officer, Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia. Bryony Schwan, MS, Executive Director, The Biomimicry Institute, and affiliate faculty at the University of Montana’s Environment Studies program, Missoula, MT Alfred A. Siess, Jr., BCE, MBA, Environmental/Economic Consultant (Ret. Engineering Executive), Lehigh Valley, PA Caroline Snyder, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY Bruce Spittle MB ChB DPM FRANZCP, Managing Editor of Fluoride, Quaterly Journal of the International Society for Fluoride Research, Dunedin, New Zealand W. Gary Sprules, MA, PhD, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Daniel G. Stockin, MPH, Senior Operations Officer, The Lillie Center, Inc. Prof. Dr. Anna Strunecka, DSc, Professor Emeritus of Physiology, Faculty of Sciences Charles University Prague, Czech Republic Joseph W. Tinko, Esq., Tinko Law Group, Meadville, PA Chris Vermeire, Journalist, Antwerp, Belgium Murray J. Vimy, BA, DMD, practicing dentist and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Dept. of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Barbara Warren RN, MS in Environmental Health Science, Warren Environmental & Health Consulting Services, Inc. NY Craig E. Williams, Director: Kentucky Environmental Foundation, Director: Chemical Weapons Working Group, Recipient: 2006 Goldman Environmental Prize, KY Councilor Arnold Woolley, DipIM, MCMI, Rtd. Senior Police Officer, past JP and current environmental activist, North Wales, UK Mae W. Woo, DDS, Billings, MT Patti Wood, Executive Director, Grassroots Environmental Education, Port Washington, NY Matthew Young DDS, PA, Member and director of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, Hendersonville, NC Mag. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Rudolf Ziegelbecker, Graz, Austria Quotes: Phillip Allen: "It should be noted that the health risks associated with the use of fluoride in drinking water outweigh, to a significant degree, the slight benefits from that use." Albert Burgstahler: "Why are so many public health officials afraid to admit they could be wrong about things they have stuck their neck out on? Does their desire to preserve their credibility mean more to them than the wellbeing and good health of their fellow citizens?" Noel Campbell: "The risk/benefit ratio based on peer reviewed research is now too high to allow fluoridation of water." Doug Everingham: "Half a century ago as a public medical officer and as a family doctor I published support for fluoridation in my country following U.S.A. example. When challenged I spent hours studying evidence on both sides and each decade have become more convinced that I was wrong. Public water fluoridation breaks the near-universal toxicological precautionary principle that requires providers to prove medicator safety, not dissenters to prove medicator harm." Paul Gilbert: "It's really an irony that the ADA relies on old, outdated "science" to support its pro fluoride position, and then has the nerve to say that we use "junk science". I believe that the ADA is now about as professionally corrupt as it can get. The ADA is an embarrassment to real research scientists." Robert Isaacson: "The Health of the entire country is at risk as long as fluoridation of the drinking water remains uncurbed." Mageswari Sangaralingam: "Fluoridation is mass medication with an uncontrolled dose, and violates the individual's right to informed consent. We need to end the harmful practice of water fluoridation in the US and all other countries which still add fluoride in public drinking water." Alfred A. Siess: "When I studied "Fluoridation", as a Civil Engineering student, 52 years ago, very little was taught about the effects of Fluoride... In my opinion, those "professionals" who advocate fluoridation of the public water supply as "safe" and "effective" , where the whole body of scientific evidence shows it is neither, should lose their professional license and should NOT be shielded from civil suits or criminal liability where fluoridated water causes damage." Councilor Arnold Woolley: "I have spent most of my life evaluating evidence, including 22 years as a public prosecutor in various courts. In my opinion, the case against fluoridation of water supplies is evidentially sound." Matthew Young: "I have been studying all the relevant science in relation to fluoride and can only come to one conclusion. It was added to our water for the sole purpose of avoiding government law suits as a result of accidental human exposure from industrial greed and government cover up." Rudolf Ziegelbecker: "I want to emphasize the fact that nowhere in Europe, where fluoridation has been stopped, has there been an increase of dental caries observed afterwards. Also, when collecting new, random data about natural fluoride content of drinking waters and dental caries from the WHO databases in Geneva in 1987, I could not find a trace of a benefit of (natural) fluoride in drinking water."