Bulletin #618
July 17, 2006
Dear All,
One of the very disturbing pieces of information that has emerged from Chinese studies is that even marginal iodine deficiency can exacerbate fluoride’s toxic effects on the thyroid gland and the developing brain. According to the National Research Council (NRC, March 22, 2006) “the effects of fluoride on thyroid function… might depend on whether iodine intake is low, adequate, or high” (p.222) and “it is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain and the body by direct and indirect means” (p187 ).
In one Chinese study, cited by the NRC review, it was shown that fluoride at 0.9 ppm caused a lowering of IQ in children when their iodine intake was borderline. 0.9 ppm might seem low, but it is actually 150 times the natural level that new born babies get from mother’s milk (0.006 ppm).
This is how the NRC summarized the levels of concern.
“In humans, effects on thyroid function were associated with fluoride exposures of 0.05-0.13 mg/kg/day when iodine intake was adequate and 0.01-0.03 mg/kg/day when iodine intake was inadequate.” p218
If we look carefully at these numbers they are quite extraordinary. For a 7 kg infant (about 15 pounds), which has an inadequate intake of iodine, the daily dose that could cause a problem is as low as 0.07 mg. This could be obtained by just 0.07 liters (70 ml) or a rather small glass of fluoridated water!
So the key question is how prevalent is inadequate iodine intake in these days of iodized salt? This is how the NRC panel described the current situation in the US:
“The recent decline in iodine intake in the United States (CDC 2002d; Larsen et al. 2002) could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals.” p218
Below is a report from yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph (Australia) of the extensive iodine deficiency in Australia. There is no mention in the article about the exacerbation of iodine deficiency effects caused by fluoride but it is important to note that Australia has more than 50% of its population drinking fluoridated water and there are currently aggressive campaigns in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria to fluoridate the last remaining unfluoridated communities. Making this even more disturbing is the incredible arrogance and ignorance of the health agencies which are championing this practice. They continue to quote outdated reviews from pro-fluoridation agencies; have failed abysmally to fund any studies on ANY health issues pertaining to fluoride (including thyroid function) and refuse to publicly debate leading scientific opponents. Government proponents of fluoridation appear blissfully ignorant of the findings of the NRC review. Their failure to exercise due dilience on this issue is truly staggering. As is the obfuscation from American agencies like the CDC.
Sadly, officials from the CDC have declined an invitation to present at the FAN conference (July 28 - August 1, Canton, NY: see http://www.FluorideAction.net for details), even though three authors of the NRC review will be making presentations and joining in discussions on the relevance of the NRC report to water fluoridation. Two of these presenters were the lead authors of the chapters on the brain and the endocrine system (Dr. Robert Isaacson and Dr. Kathleen Thiessen). They are also joined by Dr. Jennifer Luke from the UK who perfomed the pioneer studies on fluoride’s accumulation in the human pineal gland and its ability to lower melatonin in animals.
By now the news of this FAN conference must have filtered through to state health agencies throughout the US and it will be interesting to see if they will send representatives. Readers might wish to send the FAN media announcement (see last bulletin) to their State Department of Health or even your local health board. This would be a very simple way that health officials who promote fluoridation could demonstrate due diligence in this matter; but I won’t hold my breath. They probably will favor the far simpler cop-out approach of parroting the CDC’s ridiculous claim that the NRC’s 450 page 3-year review has no relevance to water fluoridation - even - presumably - for kids with low iodine intake!
Paul Connett
——————————————————————————-
Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
July 16, 2006.
Are you getting enough iodine?
By Joanna Hall
A new study has discovered that many Australian school children are mild to moderately iodine deficient. But what is iodine, and why is it so important?
Say the word “iodine” to most people and what’s likely to spring to mind is that dark brown liquid your mum used to clean and disinfect your childhood scrapes and scratches. But iodine isn’t just an effective bug killer.
It’s an important micronutrient essential for hormone development in the human body - and one which Australian researchers say we’re not getting enough of.
In February this year, the National Iodine Nutrition Study indicated that, overall, Australian children are borderline iodine deficient.
A team of researchers, led by endocrinologist Professor Creswell Eastman, surveyed the iodine levels of 1709 children from 88 schools in Australia.
The study found that children in NSW and Victoria are mildly iodine deficient, while those in South Australia are borderline.
Children in Queensland and Western Australia were pronounced iodine sufficient, and Tasmania was excluded from the study because a voluntary iodine fortification program - using iodised salt in bread - is ongoing there.
So why the concern?
Professor Eastman, who is chairman of the Australian Centre for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and deputy chairman of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, explains: “Iodine has one function in the human body: as a building block to make thyroid hormones.”
Thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland, located at the base of the front of the neck.
“These hormones are some of the most important and powerfulin your body,” says Professor Eastman.
“They control metabolism, growth and, in a foetus and newborn infant, they control brain growth and development.”
A diet lacking in iodine is associated with a wide spectrum of health problems, collectively known as iodine deficiency disorders or IDD.
They can impact on people of any age, with the most visible and well known being an enlarged thyroid gland, called a goitre.
But iodine deficiency has the greatest impact on unborn and newborn babies, as it can impair normal brain development.
“If adults don’t get enough iodine, they may grow a goitre and not feel well, but this can be reversed by increasing their iodine intake,” says Professor Eastman.
“But in foetuses and newborns the effects are irreversible.”
The recommended daily intake (RDI) of iodine is 120 micrograms for women and 150 micrograms for men. Pregnant and breastfeeding women need between an extra 100 to 200 micrograms a day.
“A developing foetus requires the mother to pass thyroid hormones across the placenta to ensure the baby’s brain develops and matures normally,” explains Professor Eastman.
“There are critical times for various parts of the brain in an unborn foetus to form.
“For example, the basic structures for hearing occur midway through pregnancy. So if the mother isn’t getting enough iodine, she won’t have enough thyroid hormones to pass on.
“As a result, those hearing structures won’t form properly, and the baby will have a form of nerve deafness, which may be very mild or severe, or even complete.”
Deficiency is also a postpartum problem; if a new mother is iodine deficient, her breast milk will also be deficient.
Iodine deficiency also impairs the development of motor skills, and even IQ. “If you don’t have enough thyroid hormones, your intellectual function will be impaired,” says Professor Eastman.
“The greater the problem, the greater the IQ loss. We can show that if iodine deficiency is severe, you lose 15 IQ points on average - that’s a massive loss.”
The amount of iodine a person requires in a lifetime amounts to only a teaspoon - the daily RDI is calculated in micrograms, which is one millionth of a gram.
But because the body cannot store iodine, a tiny amount has to be consumed every day.
But if we need so little iodine, why is getting enough such a problem? “Surprisingly few foods are good sources of iodine,” says nutritionist Catherine Saxelby.
“The best dietary sources are seafood, fish and seaweed such as kelp and nori. Meat, eggs and dairy give us tiny amounts, and with vegetables and grains it largely depends on where they’re grown and whether or not the soil was iodine-rich.”
Professor Eastman’s team believes the national iodine deficiency has come about for two major reasons. One is a drop in the level of iodine in milk.
From the 1960s, dairy farmers used iodine to sterilise milk containers, inadvertently adding the element to our milk supply. But in the past decade, these sterilising products have been replaced by ones containing chlorineor other acid-based chemicals.
There has also been a drop in the consumption of iodised salt, due to people reducing their overall salt intake and to the trend towards using sea or gourmet salts, which are not iodised and contain little or no natural iodine.
As well as eating more fish and seafood, supplements are an option for vegetarians and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Several multivitamins contain iodine (in the form of potassium iodide), though doses vary. Or you can take kelp tablets.
Blackmores has multivitamins with iodine for women, men and children in its range.
Earlier this year it launched I-Folic, with iodine and folic acid, for women planning pregnancy, as well as a campaign to raise awareness of the lack of iodine in the Australian population.
Anyone planning to take iodine supplements, however, should see a doctor. Too much can be toxic, especially for people with certain thyroid disorders.
Professor Eastman’s study has prompted calls for mandatory iodisation of all edible salt in Australia, and Food Standards Australia New Zealand is currently reviewing this.
“We’re not encouraging people to eat more salt, just the right kind of salt,” explains Professor Eastman.
“In foetuses and newborns the effects are irreversible … If iodine deficiency is severe, you lose 15 IQ points on average - that’s a massive loss”
———————————————————————————
Dear All,
One of the very disturbing pieces of information that has emerged from Chinese studies is that even marginal iodine deficiency can exacerbate fluoride’s toxic effects on the thyroid gland and the developing brain. According to the National Research Council (NRC, March 22, 2006) “the effects of fluoride on thyroid function… might depend on whether iodine intake is low, adequate, or high” (p.222) and “it is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain and the body by direct and indirect means” (p187 ).
In one Chinese study, cited by the NRC review, it was shown that fluoride at 0.9 ppm caused a lowering of IQ in children when their iodine intake was borderline. 0.9 ppm might seem low, but it is actually 150 times the natural level that new born babies get from mother’s milk (0.006 ppm).
This is how the NRC summarized the levels of concern.
“In humans, effects on thyroid function were associated with fluoride exposures of 0.05-0.13 mg/kg/day when iodine intake was adequate and 0.01-0.03 mg/kg/day when iodine intake was inadequate.” p218
If we look carefully at these numbers they are quite extraordinary. For a 7 kg infant (about 15 pounds), which has an inadequate intake of iodine, the daily dose that could cause a problem is as low as 0.07 mg. This could be obtained by just 0.07 liters (70 ml) or a rather small glass of fluoridated water!
So the key question is how prevalent is inadequate iodine intake in these days of iodized salt? This is how the NRC panel described the current situation in the US:
“The recent decline in iodine intake in the United States (CDC 2002d; Larsen et al. 2002) could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals.” p218
Below is a report from yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph (Australia) of the extensive iodine deficiency in Australia. There is no mention in the article about the exacerbation of iodine deficiency effects caused by fluoride but it is important to note that Australia has more than 50% of its population drinking fluoridated water and there are currently aggressive campaigns in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria to fluoridate the last remaining unfluoridated communities. Making this even more disturbing is the incredible arrogance and ignorance of the health agencies which are championing this practice. They continue to quote outdated reviews from pro-fluoridation agencies; have failed abysmally to fund any studies on ANY health issues pertaining to fluoride (including thyroid function) and refuse to publicly debate leading scientific opponents. Government proponents of fluoridation appear blissfully ignorant of the findings of the NRC review. Their failure to exercise due dilience on this issue is truly staggering. As is the obfuscation from American agencies like the CDC.
Sadly, officials from the CDC have declined an invitation to present at the FAN conference (July 28 - August 1, Canton, NY: see http://www.FluorideAction.net for details), even though three authors of the NRC review will be making presentations and joining in discussions on the relevance of the NRC report to water fluoridation. Two of these presenters were the lead authors of the chapters on the brain and the endocrine system (Dr. Robert Isaacson and Dr. Kathleen Thiessen). They are also joined by Dr. Jennifer Luke from the UK who perfomed the pioneer studies on fluoride’s accumulation in the human pineal gland and its ability to lower melatonin in animals.
By now the news of this FAN conference must have filtered through to state health agencies throughout the US and it will be interesting to see if they will send representatives. Readers might wish to send the FAN media announcement (see last bulletin) to their State Department of Health or even your local health board. This would be a very simple way that health officials who promote fluoridation could demonstrate due diligence in this matter; but I won’t hold my breath. They probably will favor the far simpler cop-out approach of parroting the CDC’s ridiculous claim that the NRC’s 450 page 3-year review has no relevance to water fluoridation - even - presumably - for kids with low iodine intake!
Paul Connett
——————————————————————————-
Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
July 16, 2006.
Are you getting enough iodine?
By Joanna Hall
A new study has discovered that many Australian school children are mild to moderately iodine deficient. But what is iodine, and why is it so important?
Say the word “iodine” to most people and what’s likely to spring to mind is that dark brown liquid your mum used to clean and disinfect your childhood scrapes and scratches. But iodine isn’t just an effective bug killer.
It’s an important micronutrient essential for hormone development in the human body - and one which Australian researchers say we’re not getting enough of.
In February this year, the National Iodine Nutrition Study indicated that, overall, Australian children are borderline iodine deficient.
A team of researchers, led by endocrinologist Professor Creswell Eastman, surveyed the iodine levels of 1709 children from 88 schools in Australia.
The study found that children in NSW and Victoria are mildly iodine deficient, while those in South Australia are borderline.
Children in Queensland and Western Australia were pronounced iodine sufficient, and Tasmania was excluded from the study because a voluntary iodine fortification program - using iodised salt in bread - is ongoing there.
So why the concern?
Professor Eastman, who is chairman of the Australian Centre for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and deputy chairman of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, explains: “Iodine has one function in the human body: as a building block to make thyroid hormones.”
Thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland, located at the base of the front of the neck.
“These hormones are some of the most important and powerfulin your body,” says Professor Eastman.
“They control metabolism, growth and, in a foetus and newborn infant, they control brain growth and development.”
A diet lacking in iodine is associated with a wide spectrum of health problems, collectively known as iodine deficiency disorders or IDD.
They can impact on people of any age, with the most visible and well known being an enlarged thyroid gland, called a goitre.
But iodine deficiency has the greatest impact on unborn and newborn babies, as it can impair normal brain development.
“If adults don’t get enough iodine, they may grow a goitre and not feel well, but this can be reversed by increasing their iodine intake,” says Professor Eastman.
“But in foetuses and newborns the effects are irreversible.”
The recommended daily intake (RDI) of iodine is 120 micrograms for women and 150 micrograms for men. Pregnant and breastfeeding women need between an extra 100 to 200 micrograms a day.
“A developing foetus requires the mother to pass thyroid hormones across the placenta to ensure the baby’s brain develops and matures normally,” explains Professor Eastman.
“There are critical times for various parts of the brain in an unborn foetus to form.
“For example, the basic structures for hearing occur midway through pregnancy. So if the mother isn’t getting enough iodine, she won’t have enough thyroid hormones to pass on.
“As a result, those hearing structures won’t form properly, and the baby will have a form of nerve deafness, which may be very mild or severe, or even complete.”
Deficiency is also a postpartum problem; if a new mother is iodine deficient, her breast milk will also be deficient.
Iodine deficiency also impairs the development of motor skills, and even IQ. “If you don’t have enough thyroid hormones, your intellectual function will be impaired,” says Professor Eastman.
“The greater the problem, the greater the IQ loss. We can show that if iodine deficiency is severe, you lose 15 IQ points on average - that’s a massive loss.”
The amount of iodine a person requires in a lifetime amounts to only a teaspoon - the daily RDI is calculated in micrograms, which is one millionth of a gram.
But because the body cannot store iodine, a tiny amount has to be consumed every day.
But if we need so little iodine, why is getting enough such a problem? “Surprisingly few foods are good sources of iodine,” says nutritionist Catherine Saxelby.
“The best dietary sources are seafood, fish and seaweed such as kelp and nori. Meat, eggs and dairy give us tiny amounts, and with vegetables and grains it largely depends on where they’re grown and whether or not the soil was iodine-rich.”
Professor Eastman’s team believes the national iodine deficiency has come about for two major reasons. One is a drop in the level of iodine in milk.
From the 1960s, dairy farmers used iodine to sterilise milk containers, inadvertently adding the element to our milk supply. But in the past decade, these sterilising products have been replaced by ones containing chlorineor other acid-based chemicals.
There has also been a drop in the consumption of iodised salt, due to people reducing their overall salt intake and to the trend towards using sea or gourmet salts, which are not iodised and contain little or no natural iodine.
As well as eating more fish and seafood, supplements are an option for vegetarians and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Several multivitamins contain iodine (in the form of potassium iodide), though doses vary. Or you can take kelp tablets.
Blackmores has multivitamins with iodine for women, men and children in its range.
Earlier this year it launched I-Folic, with iodine and folic acid, for women planning pregnancy, as well as a campaign to raise awareness of the lack of iodine in the Australian population.
Anyone planning to take iodine supplements, however, should see a doctor. Too much can be toxic, especially for people with certain thyroid disorders.
Professor Eastman’s study has prompted calls for mandatory iodisation of all edible salt in Australia, and Food Standards Australia New Zealand is currently reviewing this.
“We’re not encouraging people to eat more salt, just the right kind of salt,” explains Professor Eastman.
“In foetuses and newborns the effects are irreversible … If iodine deficiency is severe, you lose 15 IQ points on average - that’s a massive loss”
———————————————————————————
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