On March 22, 2006, the National Academies’ National Research Council released a 3- year study evaluating the EPA’s maximum contaminant level for fluoridation. The focus of this report was not to determine if water fluoridation was a good idea, but to determine if American citizens were getting overdosed with fluoride in their daily lives.

But is fluoridation a good idea?

Brainerd fought very hard against the concept of artificial fluoridation back when the state of Minnesota mandated that all water supplies become fluoridated in 1970. At the time a Brainerd-based coalition gathered facts and worked very hard on a grassroots level to educate the community about the dangers of fluoride. They cited claims of health dangers including skeletal fluorosis, hip fracture, decreased IQs in children, thyroid gland problems, osteosarcoma, and even Alzheimer’s being linked to an overdose of the fluoride chemical.

Today, these claims are still around. Accredited, peer reviewed research confirms that these are indeed valid concerns.

On the very basic civil liberties level, adding a health “supplement” to the water is a bad idea. Many would consider water fluoridation “forced medication.” Our government should not be afforded the right to add chemicals to our water with the intent to enhance it.

Another fact: Not a single safety test has ever been performed on hydrofluorosilicic acid- the chemical currently added to 91% of all water fluoridation supplies and all of Minnesota’s water. To learn where this form of fluoride originates, I invite you to consult an Internet search engine. You will soon find out hydrofluorosilicic acid isn’t natural- and the only other legal place to use the chemical… is a toxic waste site.

Given this short amount of information, should we be concerned about fluoridation now?

Jason