The Case Against Fluoride

by Paul Connett

  13. B. Hileman, “Fluoridation of Water. Questions about Health Risks and Benefits Remain After More than 40 Years, ” Chemical & Engineering News (August 1, 1988): 26–42.

  14. American Medical News, “Arthritis Rates Increase, ” January 21, 2008, http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/01/21/hlbf0121.htm.

  15. Ibid.

  16. National Research Council of the National Academies, Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006), 170–71, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=170 and http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=171.

  17. Ibid. , 180.

  18. P. Connett and M. Connett. Invited presentation to the National Research Council of the National Academies committee reviewing the safety of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for fluoride in drinking water, 2003. This PowerPoint presentation is at http://www.fluoridealert.org/nrc-final.ppt, and the paper supporting this presentation at http://www.fluoridealert.org/nrc-paper.pdf. See table 2, page 9.

  19. H. C. Hodge, “Safety Factors in Water Fluoridation Based on the Toxicology of Fluorides” (n. 1 above).

  20. R. Gupta, A. N. Kumar, S. Bandhu, and S. Gupta, “Skeletal Fluorosis Mimicking Seronegative Arthritis, ” Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology 36, no. 2 (2007): 154–55.

  21. J. E. Hallanger Johnson, A. E. Kearns, P. M. Doran, et al. , “Fluoride-Related Bone Disease Associated with Habitual Tea Consumption, ” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 82, no. 6 (2007): 719–24. Note: Erratum on dosage error in article text in: Mayo Clinic Proceedings 82, no. 8 (2007): 1017, http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/6/719.full.

  22. M. P. Whyte, W. G. Totty, V. T. Lim, and G. M. Whitford, “Skeletal Fluorosis from Instant Tea, ” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 23, no. 5 (2008): 759–69.

  23. M. J. Goldacre, S. E. Roberts, and D. Yeates, “Mortality after Admission to Hospital with Fractured Neck of Femur: Database Study, ” British Medical Journal 325, no. 7369 (2002): 868–69.

  24. R. A. Marotolli, L. F. Berkman, and L. M. Cooney, “Decline in Physical Function Following Hip Fracture, ” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 40 (1992): 861–66.

  25. R. A. Marotolli, L. F. Berkman, L. Leo-Summers, and L. M. Cooney, “Predictors of Mortality and Institutionalisation after Hip Fracture: The New Haven EPESE Cohort, ” American Journal of Public Health 84 (1994): 1807–12, http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/84/11/1807.

  26. National Research Council, Fluoride in Drinking Water, 7, 179–180 (n. 16 above).

  27. M. S. McDonagh, P. F. Whiting, P. M. Wilson, et al. , “Systematic Review of Water Fluoridation, ” British Medical Journal 321, no. 7265 (2000): 855–59, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7265/855. Note: The full report that this paper summarizes is commonly known as the York Review and is accessible at http://fluoridealert.org/re/york.review.2000.pdf.

  28. National Health and Medical Research Council, A Systematic Review of the Efficacy and Safety of Fluoridation, reference no. EH41, Australian Government, December 27, 2007, http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/eh41syn.htm.

  29. Connett and Connett, invited presentation to the National Research Council, table 4, page 17 (n. 18 above).

  30. Ibid.

  31. Y. Li, C. Liang, C. W. Slemenda, et al. , “Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Fluoride in Drinking Water on Risks of Bone Fractures, ” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 16, no. 5 (2001): 932–39.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Ibid.

  34. World Health Organization, Fluorides, Environmental Health Criteria 227, International Programme on Chemical Safety, Geneva, Switzerland, 2002, http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc227.htm.

  35. J. Fawell, K. Bailey, J. Chilton, et al. , Fluoride in Drinking-Water, World Health Organization (London and Seattle: IWA Publishing, 2006).

  36. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, table 11, page 17, Public Health Service, Washington, DC, February 1991, http://health.gov/environment/ReviewofFluoride/.

  37. Y. Li et al. , “Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Fluoride in Drinking Water on Risks of Bone Fractures” (n. 31 above).

  38. Ibid.

  39. P. Kurttio, N. Gustavsson, T. Vartiainen, and J. Pekkanen, “Exposure to Natural Fluoride in Well Water and Hip Fracture: A Cohort Analysis in Finland, ” American Journal of Epidemiology 150, no. 8 (1999): 817–24.

  40. M. T. Alarcón-Herrera et al. , “Well Water Fluoride, Dental Fluorosis, Bone Fractures in the Guadiana Valley of Mexico” (n. 4 above).

  41. National Research Council, Fluoride in Drinking Water, 164 (n. 16 above), http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=164.

  42. National Resource Council, Fluoride in Drinking Water, 10 (n. 16 above), http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=10.

  Chapter 18

  1. National Research Council, Drinking Water and Health, National Academy of Sciences (Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1977), 388–89.

  2. J. Caffey, “On Fibrous Defects in Cortical Walls: Their Radiological Appearance, Structure, Prevalence, Natural Course, and Diagnostic Significance, ” in: Advances in Pediatrics, ed. S. Z. Levin (New York: Interscience, 1955).

  3. T. Tsutsui, N. Suzuki, M. Ohmori, and H. Maizumi, “Cytotoxicity, Chromosome Aberrations and Unscheduled DNA Synthesis in Cultured Human Diploid Fibroblasts Induced by Sodium Fluoride, ” Mutation Research 139, no. 4 (1984): 193–98.

  4. W. J. Caspary, B. Myhr, L. Bowers, et al. , “Mutagenic Activity of Fluorides in Mouse Lymphoma Cells, ” Mutation Research 187, no. 3 (1987): 165–80.

  5. K. Kishi and T. Ishida, “Clastogenic Activity of Sodium Fluoride in Great Ape Cells, ” Mutation Research 301, no. 3 (1993): 183–88.

  6. M. Mihashi and T. Tsutsui, “Clastogenic Activity of Sodium Fluoride to Rat Vertebral Body-Derived Cells in Culture, ” Mutation Research 368, no. 1 (1996): 7–13.

  7. D. Q. Wu and Y. Wu, “Micronucleus and Sister Chromatid Exchange Frequency in Endemic Fluorosis, ” Fluoride 28, no. 3 (1995): 125–27, http://fluoridealert.org/re/wu.1995.pdf.

  8. Z. Meng and B. Zhang, “Chromosomal Aberrations and Micronuclei in Lymphocytes of Workers at a Phosphate Fertilizer Factory, ” Mutation Research 393, no. 3 (1997): 283–38.

  9. S. Joseph and P. K. Gadhia, “Sister Chromatid Exchange Frequency and Chromosome Aberrations in Residents of Fluoride Endemic Regions of South Gujarat, ” Fluoride 33, no. 4 (2000): 154–58, http://www.fluorideresearch.org/334/files/FJ2000_v33_n4_p154-158.pdf.

  10. K. H. Lau, J. R. Farley, T. K. Freeman, and D. J. Baylink, “A Proposed Mechanism of the Mitogenic Action of Fluoride on Bone Cells: Inhibition of the Activity of an Osteoblastic Acid Phosphatase, ” Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental 38, no. 9 (1989): 858–68.

  11. J. Caverzasio, G. Palmer, and J. P. Bonjour, “Fluoride: Mode of Action, ” Bone 22, no. 6 (1998): 585–89.

  12. National Research Council of the National Academies, Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006), 322, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11571&page=322.

  13. J. Yiamouyiannis and D. Burk, “Cancer from Our Drinking Water?” Congressional Record, proceedings and debates of the 94th Congress, First Session 121, no. 186 (December 16, 1975): H12731-34.

  14. J. Yiamouyiannis and D. Burk, “Fluoridation and Cancer-Age-Dependence of Cancer Mortality Related to Artificial Fluoridation, ” Fluoride 10, no. 3 (1977): 102–23.

  15. R. N. Hoover, F. W. McKay, et al. , “Fluoridated Drinking Water and Subsequent Cancer Incidence and Mortality, ” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 57 (1976): 757–68.

  16. J. R. Graham, D. Burk, and P. Morin, “A Current Restatement and Continuing Reappraisal Concerning Demographic Variables in American Time-Trend Studies on Water Fluoridation and Human Cancer, ” Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 61 (1987)
: 138–46.

  17. J. R. Graham and P. J. Morin, “Highlights in North American Litigation During the Twentieth Century on Artificial Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies, ” Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law 14, no. 2 (1999): 195–248.

  18. P. J. Morin, J. R. Graham, and G. Parent, La Fluoration: Autopsie d’une Erreur Scientifique (Québec, Canada: Editions Berger, Eastman, 2005), chapters 6 and 7. Republished in English as Fluoridation: Autopsy of a Scientific Error, by the same publisher, in 2010.

  19. S. Begley, “Don’t Drink the Water?” Newsweek, February 5, 1990.

  20. National Toxicology Program, “NTP Technical Report on the Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Sodium Fluoride (CAS no. 7682-49-4) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F1 (Drinking Water Studies), ” Technical Report 393, NIH publ. no. 91-2848, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC, 1990.

  21. J. Bucher, “Peer Review of Draft Technical Report of Long-Term Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies and Toxicity Study, Sodium Fluoride, ” pages 30–31, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 26, 1990.

  22. J. R. Bucher, M. R. Heitmancik, J. Toft, et al. , “Results and Conclusions of the National Toxicology Program’s Rodent Carcinogenicity Studies with Sodium Fluoride, ” International Journal of Cancer 48, no. 5 (1991): 733–37.

  23. J. K. Maurer, M. C. Cheng, B. G. Boysen, and R. L. Anderson, “Two-Year Carcinogenicity Study of Sodium Fluoride in Rats, ” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 82, no. 13 (1990): 1118–26.

  24. Food & Drug Administration, “Dose Determination and Carcinogenicity Studies of Sodium Fluoride in Crl:CD-1 Mice and Crl:CD (Sprague Dawley)BR Rats, June 28, 1990, ” in: Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, pages D1–D7, U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service, Washington, DC, February 1991.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Memorandum from William L. Marcus, PhD, Senior Science Advisor, Criteria &Standards Division, ODW (WH-550D) to Alan B. Hais, Acting Director, Criteria &Standards Division, ODW (WH-550D), U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 1, 1990, http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/ntp/marcus-memo.html.

  28. H. Ettel, “Reich Orders EPA to Reinstate Scientist, ” National Whistleblower Center, February 10, 1994, http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/ntp/marcus3.html.

  29. Memorandum from William L. Marcus, Senior Science Advisor, Criteria & Standards Division, U. S. EPA Office of Drinking Water to Alan B. Hais (n. 27 above).

  30. J. W. Hirzy testimony on behalf of the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 280, before the Subcommittee on Wildlife, Fisheries and Drinking Water, U. S. Senate, Washington DC, June 29, 2000. Video of testimony, “EPA Union Calls for Moratorium on Water Fluoridation, ” at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8903910725020792574#, transcript of testimony at http://www.fluoridealert.org/testimony.htm.

  31. Amicus curiae brief of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters Union (Local 2050, National Federation of Federal Employees), in: Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency and Lee M. Thomas, Administrator. In the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1986, http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/epa/nrdc/union-brief1986.pdf; see also http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/epa/nrdc/index.html. Note: The US EPA’s Union for Professionals in Washington, DC, is now called National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 280.

  32. G. Lee, “Whistle-Blower Clears the Air, ” Washington Post, March 1, 1994.

  33. J. W. Hirzy, “Why EPA’s Headquarters Professionals’ Union Opposes Fluoridation, ” National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 280, May 1, 1999, http://www.fluoridealert.org/hp-epa.htm.

  34. National Research Council, Drinking Water and Health (n. 1 above).

  35. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, Public Health Service, Washington, DC, February 1991, http://health.gov/environment/ReviewofFluoride/.

  36. Ibid. , appendix E.

  37. Ibid. , appendix F.

  38. Ibid. , appendix E.

  39. Ibid. , appendix F.

  40. Ibid.

  41. P. Connett, C. Neurath, and M. Connett, “Revisiting the Fluoride-Osteorsarcoma Connection in the Context of Elise Bassin’s Findings: Part I, ” submission to the National Research Council, National Academies Toxicologic Risk of Fluoride in Drinking Water, March 2, 2005, http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/fan-nrc.part1.pdf.

  42. P. Connett, C. Neurath, and M. Connett, “Revisiting the Fluoride-Osteosarcoma Connection in the Context of Elise Bassin’s Findings: Part II. ” Submission to the National Research Council of the National Academies review panel on the Toxicologic Risk of Fluoride in Drinking Water, March 21, 2005 (revised April 8, 2005), http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/fan-nrc.part2.pdf.

  43. P. Connett, M. Connett, and C. Neurath, “The Fluoride-Osteosarcoma Connection Revisited, ” paper presented at the XXVIth conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research, Wiesbaden, Germany, Fluoride 38, no. 3 (2005): 227, abstract 10 at http://fluoridealert.org/scher/connett-2005c.pdf.

  44. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, abstract, page i (n. 35 above).

  45. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, appendix A and A-2 (n. 35 above).

  46. S. M. McGuire, E. D. Vanable, M. H. McGuire, J. A. Buckwalter, and C. W. Douglass, “Is There a Link between Fluoridated Water and Osteosarcoma?” Journal of the American Dental Association 122, no. 4 (1991): 38–45.

  47. Ibid. , 39.

  48. Ibid. , 40.

  49. Ibid. , 44.

  50. Ibid. , 45.

  51. P. D. Cohn, An Epidemiologic Report on Drinking Water and Fluoridation, New Jersey Department of Health, Environmental Health Service, November 8, 1992. Note: The original title of this report was A Brief Report on the Association of Drinking Water Fluoridation and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma Among Young Males. The word “osteosarcoma” was deleted from the title soon after the report was released; http://fluoridealert.org/cohn-1992.pdf.

  52. Ibid. , 11.

  53. A. G. Glass and J. F. Fraumeni, “Epidemiology of Bone Cancer in Children, ” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 44, no. 1 (1970): 187–99, as cited by P. D. Cohn (n. 51 above).

  54. L. S. Kaminsky, M. C. Mahoney, J. Leach, et al. , “Fluoride Benefits and Risks of Exposure, ” Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine 1, no. 4 (1990): 261–81, as cited by P. D. Cohn (n. 51 above), http://cro.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/1/4/261.

  55. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks (n. 35 above), as cited by P. D. Cohn (n. 51 above).

  56. S. E. Hrudey, C. L. Soskolne, J. Berkel, and S. Fincham, “Drinking Water Fluoridation and Osteosarcoma, ” Canadian Journal of Public Health 81, no. 6 (1990): 415–16.

  57. M. C. Mahoney, P. C. Nasca, W. S. Burnett, and J. M. Meius, “Bone Cancer Incidence Rates in New York State: Time Trends and Fluoridated Drinking Water, ” American Journal of Public Health 81, no. 4 (1991): 475–79, http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/81/4/475.pdf.

  58. S. C. Freni and D. W. Gaylor, “International Trends in the Incidence of Bone Cancer Are Not Related to Drinking Water Fluoridation, ” Cancer 70, no. 3 (1992): 611–18.

  59. K. H. Gelberg, E. F. Fitzgerald, S. Hwang, and R. Dubrow, “Fluoride Exposure and Childhood Osteosarcoma: A Case-Control Study, ” American Journal of Public Health 85, no. 12 (1995): 1678–83, http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/85/12/1678.pdf.

  60. M. E. Moss, M. S. Kanarek, H. A. Anderson, et al. , “Osteosarcoma, Seasonality, and Environmental Factors in Wisconsin, 1979–1989, ” Archives of Environmental Health 50, no. 3 (1995): 235–41.

  61. P. Connett et al. , “Revisiting the Fluoride-Osteorsarcoma Connection in the Context of Elise Bassin’s Findings: Part I” (n. 41 above).

&nbs
p; 62. P. Connett et al. , “Revisiting the Fluoride-Osteosarcoma Connection in the Context of Elise Bassin’s Findings: Part II” (n. 42 above).

  63. E. B. Bassin, “Association Between Fluoride in Drinking Water During Growth and Development and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma for Children and Adolescents, ” DMSc thesis, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 2001.

  64. P. D. Cohn, An Epidemiologic Report on Drinking Water and Fluoridation (n. 51 above).

  65. E. B. Bassin, “Association Between Fluoride in Drinking Water During Growth and Development and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma for Children and Adolescents” (n. 63 above).

  66. S. M. McGuire et al. , “Is There a Link Between Fluoridated Water and Osteosarcoma?” (n. 46 above).