Every morning growing up, my mom would make me a scrumptious breakfast while I was getting ready for school. I never did like any of the typical sugar filled kids' cereals or cereal in general actually. I was lucky to have scrambled egg sandwich fingers, toast with marmalade or a buttered English muffin served with fresh fruit and orange juice just about every morning. There was also always a little colored tablet on the side of my plate or on my place-mat for me too. Mine looked something like this...
These are fluoride tablets and like many people my age, I had one a day in the same way you take a daily vitamin. I remember from a very young age *knowing* fluoride keeps teeth healthy and protects from cavities. After all, toothpaste has fluoride in it and the dentist would give me a fluoride rinse after my biannual cleaning and most public water is fluoridated. In addition to having your mom giving you fluoride tablets to help your teeth, it's pretty easy to see how fluoride=healthy teeth could become an understood fact.
But where does this "fact" come from? Let's start with learning some more about fluoride...
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that is present, to some degree, in all otherwise uncontaminated fresh water. Only some deep freshwater wells have "high" levels of naturally occurring fluoride. Now you may be saying, "fluoride is natural so it must be safe." News flash: arsenic is also naturally occurring. So are mercury, lead and all the venoms/toxins from countless deadly frogs, snakes, spiders and fish species around the world. Bottom line is natural does not automatically mean harmless or healthy.
Back to those fresh water wells with "high" levels of fluoride. UNICEF has programs helping developing nations DECONTAMINATE those wells so the water is safe for people to drink. Here is what UNICEF says on their webpage about the negative affects of fluoride exposure:
There are different types of fluoride and some are more toxic than others.
Calcium Fluoride- considered the least toxic to humans and is the fluoride commonly found in natural untreated water like the deep wells mentioned above. Did you comprehend that? Calcium Fluoride is considered the LEAST toxic form of fluoride yet it's dangerous enough for UNICEF to be spending time, money and resources to remove it from the water in developing nations.
Sodium Fluoride- used in most toothpastes, mouth rinses and other dental products including fluoride tablets like I used to take daily growing up. It is also used in pesticides and as a preservative for everything from wood to adhesives. Oh, and in the manufacturing of chemical and biological weapons too. Sounds like pretty safe stuff, huh? *eyerole*
You can search for products containing sodium fluoride on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Household Products Database. To save you some time, here are a few American favorites with sodium fluoride in the ingredients:
Fluorosilicic Acid- this is the type of fluoride most commonly used in water fluoridation and goes by several different names including hexafluorosilicic, hexafluosilicic, hydrofluosilicic and silicofluoric acid. According the the Centers for Disease Control, 95% of the fluoride used in water fluoridation is acquired from the phosphate fertilizer manufacturing process. The fluoride collected from this process is not pharmaceutical-grade fluoride and does not go through any purification process which results in high levels of arsenic contamination.
By the way, prior to the invention of the pollution control devices, the fluoride gas that is now collected for the water fluoridation process escaped the phosphate plant chimneys and resulted in crippled livestock, destroyed crops and scorched vegetation. You can read more about how the pollution affected the neighborhoods around phosphate plants here.
That's just 3 types of fluoride used for various reasons, but in relation to the topics addressed above, dental care and water fluoridation, they are the most pertinent. Did you notice the least toxic type of fluoride is NOT the one being added to the majority of the public's water? That even the least toxic, Calcium Fluoride, is still hazardous enough to have removed from the drinking water in developing countries? If that's the LEAST toxic form, then why the hell is ANY form of fluoride being ADDED to the drinking water supply in most of the United States?!?!?!
I starting this post thinking I'd get all my thoughts into one post, but that won't be the case. Instead I'm going to break this fluoricide post into a multi part series. I get so worked up and PISSED OFF researching and writing about these hot topics I need to take a breather here and there. Plus, I'm sure a 20 page paper is not an ideal format for a blog to follow :-) I'm not sure how many parts there will be when I've emptied my anger onto the page, but I assure you there is A LOT more to write about on the fluoridated water scam.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that is present, to some degree, in all otherwise uncontaminated fresh water. Only some deep freshwater wells have "high" levels of naturally occurring fluoride. Now you may be saying, "fluoride is natural so it must be safe." News flash: arsenic is also naturally occurring. So are mercury, lead and all the venoms/toxins from countless deadly frogs, snakes, spiders and fish species around the world. Bottom line is natural does not automatically mean harmless or healthy.
Back to those fresh water wells with "high" levels of fluoride. UNICEF has programs helping developing nations DECONTAMINATE those wells so the water is safe for people to drink. Here is what UNICEF says on their webpage about the negative affects of fluoride exposure:
"The effects of fluoride are usually only visible after prolonged exposure to contaminated water. Its effects are debilitating, ultimately leaving people severely crippled. Ultimately fluorosis can lead to death."Fluoride is NOT an essential nutrient and a "deficiency" (not possible since it's not required) of fluoride will not result in any disease or an increase in tooth decay (more on cavities/dental health later).
There are different types of fluoride and some are more toxic than others.
Calcium Fluoride- considered the least toxic to humans and is the fluoride commonly found in natural untreated water like the deep wells mentioned above. Did you comprehend that? Calcium Fluoride is considered the LEAST toxic form of fluoride yet it's dangerous enough for UNICEF to be spending time, money and resources to remove it from the water in developing nations.
Sodium Fluoride- used in most toothpastes, mouth rinses and other dental products including fluoride tablets like I used to take daily growing up. It is also used in pesticides and as a preservative for everything from wood to adhesives. Oh, and in the manufacturing of chemical and biological weapons too. Sounds like pretty safe stuff, huh? *eyerole*
You can search for products containing sodium fluoride on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Household Products Database. To save you some time, here are a few American favorites with sodium fluoride in the ingredients:
Fluorosilicic Acid- this is the type of fluoride most commonly used in water fluoridation and goes by several different names including hexafluorosilicic, hexafluosilicic, hydrofluosilicic and silicofluoric acid. According the the Centers for Disease Control, 95% of the fluoride used in water fluoridation is acquired from the phosphate fertilizer manufacturing process. The fluoride collected from this process is not pharmaceutical-grade fluoride and does not go through any purification process which results in high levels of arsenic contamination.
By the way, prior to the invention of the pollution control devices, the fluoride gas that is now collected for the water fluoridation process escaped the phosphate plant chimneys and resulted in crippled livestock, destroyed crops and scorched vegetation. You can read more about how the pollution affected the neighborhoods around phosphate plants here.
That's just 3 types of fluoride used for various reasons, but in relation to the topics addressed above, dental care and water fluoridation, they are the most pertinent. Did you notice the least toxic type of fluoride is NOT the one being added to the majority of the public's water? That even the least toxic, Calcium Fluoride, is still hazardous enough to have removed from the drinking water in developing countries? If that's the LEAST toxic form, then why the hell is ANY form of fluoride being ADDED to the drinking water supply in most of the United States?!?!?!
I starting this post thinking I'd get all my thoughts into one post, but that won't be the case. Instead I'm going to break this fluoricide post into a multi part series. I get so worked up and PISSED OFF researching and writing about these hot topics I need to take a breather here and there. Plus, I'm sure a 20 page paper is not an ideal format for a blog to follow :-) I'm not sure how many parts there will be when I've emptied my anger onto the page, but I assure you there is A LOT more to write about on the fluoridated water scam.
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