The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary describes fluorine as “a poisonous pale yellow gas and is very reactive.” In its simplest form fluorine is a toxic and corrosive gas and to be useful must be combined with other elements. When added to hydrogen it becomes hydrogen fluoride gas and when added to water it becomes hydrofluoric acid.
There are three forms used to “medicate” drinking water. Hydrofluorosilicic acid and silicofluoride are both waste products from fertiliser factories. And there is sodium fluoride some of which has been sourced from “pollution scrubbers” situated in exhaust chimneys of aluminium factories. But 90% of the world’s supply of sodium fluoride destined for water supplies comes from super-phosphate fertiliser factories. And sodium fluoride is the ingredient commonly used in toothpastes, dental rinses, dental gels, anaesthetics, tranquillisers, etc.
References to these substances in medical and legal literature is scarcely comforting. Medics read the following : “Warning: Inhalation Hazard. Inhalation of hydrofluorosilicic received from soaked cotton clothing could cause irreparable lung damage in one minute.” International lawyers read that sodium fluoride must not be used in fertilisers so that pastures, crops and animals are not harmed. Before being inflicted on people for far greater profit it was used to exterminate rodents and insects.
Proponents claim that these compounds have been purified before being added to the drinking water. But it is difficult to interpret this. Each compound is added to our water because of the fluoride factor. And this is the factor in dispute.
Some proponents contend that it is a naturally occurring substance and therefore should be safe. However, there are many naturally occurring poisons that we would not dream of adding to our drinking water such as mercury, arsenic, lead, uranium, etc. Furthermore, the sodium fluoride used to pollute our water is different from the naturally occurring calcium fluoride which does not easily dissolve in water and is not easily retained in the body. Sodium fluoride is a non-biodegradable substance which accumulates in our bodies.
FLUORIDE AND TOOTH DECAY
Poison control experts have cautioned that death could result if a twenty pound child consumes one third of a seven ounce tube of enticingly flavoured toothpaste. A spokesman of Proctor and Gamble, manufacturers of the Crest toothpaste, admitted that a family-sized tube “theoretically, at least, contains enough fluoride to kill a small child.”
Printed on the back of tubes of fluoridated toothpaste in the USA are these words mandated by the US Food and Drug ADMINISTRATION (FDA) since 1997: “WARNINGS: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control centre immediately.” This label is compulsory because of the very expensive lawsuits for “wrongful death” occurring as a result of children being poisoned by fluoridated toothpaste.
In New Zealand, the premier brand is Colgate. The Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection toothpaste, available in either a “great regular” or “cool mint” flavours, carries the warning: “Children 6 years of age and under should have adult supervision and use only a pea sized amount”. Another brand of Colgate carries the stark warning: “Do not swallow…..Children under 12 years of age: Use only on the advice of a dentist or doctor.”
In tubes labelled “Colgate Sensitive” and Colgate 12 I found no warning. But the “low fluoride” variety named “Colgate My First”, designed for 1 – 6 year old children carries the words: “Dentists recommend parents supervise brushing with just a pea-sized amount…..and ensure children spit and rinse afterwards.”
The “Total” and “Aim” brands state that for children under the age of six only a “smear” of the substance should be used.
I wonder how many of our parents have read or follow these instructions. How difficult is it to keep tubes for the children and adults separate? And how willing are our children to spit out the nicely flavoured medication after brushing? Is supervision a possibility with children, especially if there are several in the family?
Would it not make so much more sense to use nonfluoridated toothpastes such as “Natural”, Sensydine”, and Red Seal’s “Baking Soda”?
From my reading, the primary purpose given for fluoridating our water is to prevent cavities in the teeth of children aged between five and nine. But, we are told, the poison should be kept “out of reach” of five year olds.
And why are the rest of us required to ingest this substance?
The key issue is whether fluoride does or does not prevent tooth decay in children. Initially, some evidence seemed to justify this assumption. However, experts are claiming that from the earliest days the evidence has been unsubstantiated and questionable. For example, it has been shown that H. Trendley Dean, the dentist who encouraged the US Public Health Service to first introduce fluoridation at the urgings of the Aluminium industry, biased his analysis by wrongfully suppressing results indicating an alternative point of view.
Since then the controversy has raged with more and more reputable scientists becoming serious critics.
READ MORE: http://uncensored.co.nz/archives/2007/02/27/it’s-time-to-reconsider-fluoridation/
