Should CBRM stop fluoridation? Marlene Kane thinks so.
Research shows that the impact of too much fluoride is unclear
Yet another study has been published which points to fluoride’s neurotoxicity and its potential to damage our children’s brains. Funded by U.S. government agencies and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (2017), this 12-year study found a very strong relationship between the amount of fluoride that women are exposed to during pregnancy and a significant loss of IQ in their children.
Most concerning is that in Sydney, New Waterford, Glace Bay and the Northside, where fluoridation chemicals are added to our drinking water, pregnant women are swallowing very similar amounts of fluoride as the women in this study.
The study concludes: “...our findings, combined with evidence from existing animal and human studies, reinforce the need for additional research on potential adverse effects of fluoride, particularly in pregnant women and children.”
So, despite being repeatedly assured by medical and dental officials that water fluoridation is safe, that’s clearly not the case. There are, however, over 300 animal and human studies indicating that fluoride is damaging the brain. How could fluoridation possibly continue knowing this?
Scientists have been sounding the alarm for decades about their concerns over swallowing fluoride, not only regarding its impact on the brain but on the likelihood it is causing other adverse health effects, including decreased thyroid function.
The U.S. National Research Council (NRC 2006) stated in its 500-page review of the toxicity of fluoride, “…it is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain and the body both by direct and indirect means.” Kathleen Thiessen, Ph.D., one of 12 scientists on the NRC panel, said “… water fluoridation at 0.7 milligrams per litre is not adequate to protect against known or anticipated adverse effects…” Our drinking water is fluoridated at this level.
According to Health Canada, infants who are bottle-fed formula mixed with fluoridated tap water are at increased risk for “excessive fluoride intake”. The majority of this fluoride then accumulates in their developing bones and soft tissues, where it’s not needed. Fluoride is not an essential nutrient; it’s not required for growth and development. A lack of fluoride does not cause disease, including dental disease (cavities).
We know that children are being harmed by swallowing fluoride. Fluoride can damage the toothforming cells causing a permanent defect of the enamel, called dental fluorosis. This ranges from white spots or mottling to staining and pitting of the teeth. The Canadian Dental Association recognizes “the increasing prevalence of dental fluorosis.” It’s unlikely that tooth cells are the only cells being damaged.
Fluoridating the drinking water began locally in the 60s and 70s, when it was believed that swallowing fluoride prevented cavities. We now know that the scientific evidence for that notion is very weak. (York Review 2000, Cochrane Collaboration 2015)
While we’re still told fluoridation prevents cavities, a Canadian study published in 2016, showed just the opposite; primary tooth decay steadily increased in both fluoridated Calgary and Edmonton. Even when Calgary council voted to end fluoridation in 2011, about 6-1/2-years into the 9-year study, there was no increased spike in cavities. It just continued to rise at the rate it had done while fluoridating, with most of the decay occurring during fluoridation.
Unlike chlorine, which is added to treat our drinking water, fluoridation chemicals are added to treat people. Hydrofluorosilicic acid, a hazardous by-product of the phosphate fertilizer industry, is used to fluoridate our water. Not approved by Health Canada for ingestion, we’re told that swallowing this toxic waste will improve our health. Common sense tells us otherwise.
Fluoridation is not mandated by the federal or provincial government. Instead, medically unqualified municipal councillors decide whether or not to force this treatment on everyone via the drinking water, without anyone’s consent to treatment, without any monitoring of individual intake, and with absolutely no idea of the impact this is having on every individual’s health.
CBRM councillors voted in 2011 to continue fluoridating our drinking water.
Moncton councillors, who voted in 2017 not to restart fluoridation after a 5-year moratorium, were supported by a group of scientists from the University of Moncton who stated, “The benefit of water fluoridation on the health of our citizens has yet to be demonstrated, and there are serious questions regarding its developmental and long-term safety.”
CBRM councillors must end fluoridation immediately, to protect every individual, particularly pregnant women and children, from this needless exposure to fluoride. If the provincial and federal governments remain so convinced of fluoridation’s safety and effectiveness, they can certainly take responsibility for medically treating every individual in the community without their consent, and mandate fluoridation.
The reality is that while many communities across Canada have ended fluoridation, no senior level of government has ever stepped in and ordered that it be reinstated. That should be a red flag to every councillor who still feels they are somehow qualified or have the right to force this on every individual, when no senior level of government will.
As it stands, councillors are solely responsible for this decision and for any and all harm water fluoridation is causing.
“Medically unqualified municipal councillors decide whether or not to force this treatment on everyone via the drinking water…”