So here it goes: issue number 1 of our revamped newsletter “Fluoride News You Can Use”, including videos you can watch, flyers you can download, fluoride news you should know about, and a quick online action item that could help save Louisiana from an impending fluoridation mandate.
1) NEW VIDEO: An Environmental Professional Speaks Out on Fluoride
This week, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) launched the latest video in its “Professional Perspectives” series on water fluoridation. The video is short (just 5 minutes) and features Brent Foster, an environmental attorney and State Conservation Chair of the Oregon Sierra Club. Foster explains why he went from being a onetime proponent of fluoridation to spearheading a successful statewide effort to defeat mandatory fluoridation in Oregon, and how he was able to get the support of the only doctor, dentist, and nurse in the Oregon legislature. The video can be viewed online at FAN’s homepage, or on YouTube.
2) Kidney Foundation Drops its Support of Fluoridation:
A new position paper from the National Kidney Foundation concludes that individuals with chronic kidney disease should be notified of the potential risk from exposure to fluorides. The document acknowledges gaping holes in research concerning kidney impacts from fluorides, and thus further undermines the myth that fluoridation has been proven safe for everyone. In addition to advising that kidney patients be notified of their vulnerability to fluoride, the Kidney Foundation officially withdrew from the American Dental Association’s list of organizations which support fluoridation. To read more about this development, and to watch a FAN video discussing the issue, click here.
3) List of Communities Rejecting Fluoridation Grows Larger
The number of communities rejecting fluoridation continues to grow. On April 1, Quebec City in Canada terminated its fluoridation program after 36 years, thus joining the ranks of other major Canadian cities – such as Montreal and Vancouver – which do not fluoridate their water. Another major victory occurred on the Isle of Man in Europe when the Health Ministry announced on June 12th that it was abandoning its attempt to fluoridate water after a government survey showed the public opposed to the plan. Other communities recently rejecting fluoridation include Dryden, Ontario; Littleton, Massachusetts; and Yarmouth, Massachusetts. In Dryden, voters rejected a fluoridation proposal by a 7-to-1 margin!
4) City that Gave Birth to Fluoridation is Having Second Thoughts
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city to ever fluoridate its water. Now, 63 years later, some city officials in this town are beginning to wonder whether they should join the growing tide of cities and towns rejecting fluoridation. As noted in an a June 23 article from the Chicago Tribune,
“the chemical widely credited with dramatically cutting cavities and promoting oral hygiene, is having its scientific credentials questioned in the city that literally swallowed it first… [T]he push here mirrors a spreading nationwide awareness and re-examination of the health impact of a wide variety of chemicals added to food, health-care products and water.”
To read the Tribune article, click here.
5) TAKE ACTION: Help Save Louisiana from Fluoridation Mandate!
While the victories above are encouraging, proponents of fluoridation continue their relentless push to, quite literally, shove fluoride down people’s throats. Of particular concern are renewed attempts to pass mandatory fluoridation bills at the statewide level in the US. Sadly, in April, the legislature in Nebraska (with virtually no public input) passed one of these bills, thereby requiring every town with at least 1,000 residents to fluoridate their water. A similar bill has also just been quietly fast-tracked through the Louisiana legislature. We still have a chance, however, to prevent this tragedy from happening. FAN has set up an ONLINE message to Governor Jindal, urging him to veto the bill. Please take a moment to send this message today, and please ask your friends and family to do the same. To send the message, click here.
6) NEW FLYER: 1,700+ Health Professionals Call for End to Fluoridation
The Fluoride Action Network continues its ongoing effort to solicit the support of professionals from the medical, scientific, and environmental communities. Over the past year, over 1,750 professionals — including a Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine, 3 panelists who wrote the groundbreaking National Research Council review “Fluoride in Drinking Water,” 3 scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Headquarters Union, and hundreds of doctors, dentists, and researchers — have signed FAN’s Professionals’ Statement Calling for an End to Water Fluoridation. To help raise more awareness about this movement, and to help get additional signers, FAN has released a professional quality flyer containing the text of the full Statement. The flyer should prove a useful tool to enable local groups to demonstrate that there are solid science-based arguments against fluoridation. To download a copy, click here.
If you know of any professionals who might add their name to this list, please refer them to the online sign-up form at: http://professional.fluoridealert.org
7) Important Fluoride Conferences in Toronto, Canada, August 7-11
With over 30% of children in the United States and Canada now impacted by dental fluorosis, it is clear that millions of children are being over-exposed to fluoride. In light of the health risks associated with excessive fluoride exposures, scientists and activists are converging in Toronto, Canada for TWO historic conferences.
The first conference (August 7-10), hosted by the International Society for Fluoride Research (ISFR), will examine fluoride’s impact on bone and brain health and feature presentations from some of the world’s leading scientists on fluoride toxicity. The second conference (August 10-11), hosted by the Fluoride Action Network, will address what citizens can do to stop water fluoridation in their own communities and regions.
Taken together, the back-to-back Conferences will allow people to
• hear and digest the best science on fluoride’s dangers to human health.
• meet in person some of the world’s leading fluoride researchers.
• meet and strategize with citizens and scientists fighting fluoridation from Canada, US, Australia, and other countries.
To learn more and to register for these conferences, see: http://www.fluoridealert.org/conference2008/
Here’s to a fluoride-free future! Together we can make it happen.
Paul Connett, PhD
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network
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Fluoride: Shark in the Water at Poison Spectrum
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