Bulletin #725

December 26, 2006

Dear All,

Yesterday, FAN received an exciting Christmas gift of $5000 from an anonymous donor, but with a challenge attached. The donor will give this amount if we reach our mini-goal of $10,000 by December 31. Right now we have raised $2045 towards that goal. That means that we need to raise another $2955. That is a challenge but a very exciting one! In essence, every dollar that is donated before midnight Dec 31 will be more than doubled if we reach our goal. Five days to raise $2955, can we do it?

Many thanks to all of you who have already contributed towards this North American readers fighting fund for 2007 (we are not asking our friends from other countries to help because we believe their money should be spent on their own national campaigns), but if you haven’t yet done so would you please consider making a donation? If every reader of this bulletin gave $10 we would easily reach our goal.

Dec 31 is the deadline to have your tax-deductible contribution count against your 2006 earnings. A donation to FAN (small or large) has never been easier - nor more important - with our secure, online donation system at: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=5061. Donations can also be sent by mail to: AEHSP-FAN, PO Box 5111, Burlington VT 05402.

Thank you all again for helping us reach our other mini-goal of 1000 online letters to Wal-Mart (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/walmart/ ). We are now on our way to a second thousand. The current total stands at 1123.

Getting Wal-Mart to take fluoridated “nursery water” off its shelves is only one part of a larger campaign to “PROTECT OUR BABIES FROM FLUORIDE.”

A top priority for 2007 is to encourage each and every local, district and state health board or department to issue the warning circulated (so quietly) by the ADA for parents not to use fluoridated water to make up formula (plus letters to the editor etc).  We must make the ADA’s Nov 9 recommendation visible and audible in any way we can. While, the ADA is only concerned about the dramatic increase in dental fluorosis (damage to the tooth enamel) which has occurred in the US (up 9% in the last ten years, and now impacting nearly one in three US children, CDC, 2005) we are concerned about what other damage may be happening to our babies while fluoride is interfering with their growing tooth cells. Remember when a baby receives fluoridated water it is getting 250 times the level nature has put into mothers milk (0.004 ppm, NRC, 2006). That is not a sensible thing to do especially now we know that fluoride can damage the brain and the endocrine system (NRC, 2006) which are most vulnerable to toxic substances in the earliest years of life.

If you have had any letter published in your local press on this subject could you please send us a copy. We need more coverage like the stories below from a Tennessee TV station and the Mothering.com newsletter. Also below –so that you have it at your fingertips - I have reprinted the ADA E-gram from November 9 with two key sentences highlighted in bold.

Paul Connett
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WTVF - NewsChannel 5
Friday 24 November 2006

Fluoride And Babies Don’t Mix, Says ADA

(See video on our home page)

Most cities in Tennessee add fluoride to their water systems. Experts have debated for and against the practice.

A new recommendation has put fluoride back in the spotlight, with babies in the center of the debate.

Julie Pusser prepares her 10-month-old’s formula only with bottled water.

“It’s all ready, I don’t have to boil it, sterilize it and it stays at the room temperature,” she said.

According to the American Dental Association’s website, Julie Pusser is doing the right thing for little Jacquline. The ADA now recommends parents not mix baby formula with fluoridated city water.

That recommendation comes on the heels of the National Research Council’s findings that, on a per body weight basis, infants and young children have approximately three to four times greater exposure to fluoride than adults.

Dan Stockin thinks cities shouldn’t add fluoride to their water supply, because he claims it causes big problems.

“When the teeth are forming, the fluoride affects the teeth,” Stockin said.

Overexposure to fluoride, or dental fluorosis, leaves permanent markings on the teeth.

Stockin feels keeping fluoride out of formula is one way to help stop dental fluorosis, but worries some families who have no choice but to use tap water.

“Who’s gonna pay for the expensive filtration system for a single mom who’s living on minimum wage? Who’s going to pay for the bottled water? Who’s going to get the information to the people who needed it the most?” he said.

When using formula, the ADA recommends parents use fluoride-free bottled water or use ready-to-feed formula that comes in a can or bottle.

Breast milk is the safest alternative.

The ADA’s recommendations are just for infants. The group, as well as state leaders in Tennessee, said putting fluoride in the water supply is safe and effective.
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Mothering.com
November issue

http://www.mothering.com/sections/news_bulletins/november2006.html#fluoride
       
New Fluoride Warning for Infants

Does your drinking water contain added fluoride? If so, keep it away from infants under the age of one. This directive was issued recently by an unlikely source: the American Dental Association (ADA).

In a November 9th email alert sent to all of its members, the ADA noted that “Infants less than one year old may be getting more than the optimal amount of fluoride if their primary source of nutrition is powdered or liquid infant formula mixed with water containing fluoride.” The ADA went on to advise: “If using a product that needs to be reconstituted, parents and caregivers should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride.”

The ADA issued this advice because babies exposed to fluoridated water are at high risk for developing dental fluorosis—a defect of the teeth which can result in staining and even corrosion of the enamel. In addition, on October 14th, the Food and Drug Administration stated that fluoridated water marketed to infants cannot claim to reduce the risk of cavities.

Dental fluorosis is not the only risk stemming from a baby’s exposure to fluoride. In the same week that ADA issued its advisory, an article in the British journal, The Lancet, reported that fluoride may damage a child’s developing brain. The Lancet review described fluoride, along with the rocket fuel additive perchlorate, as an “emerging neurotoxic substance” due to evidence linking fluoride to lower IQs in children, and brain damage in animals.

“Newborn babies have undeveloped brains, and exposure to fluoride, a suspected neurotoxin, should be avoided,” notes Hardy Limeback, a member of a 2006 National Research Council panel on fluoride toxicity, and former President of the Canadian Association of Dental Research.

Fluoride is linked with other health problems as well, including weakened bones, reduced thyroid activity, and possibly, bone cancer in boys, according to a recent report from a team of Harvard scientists, the US National Research Council and other recent studies.

While most of western Europe has abandoned the practice of adding fluoride to water, most US water supplies remain fluoridated. In addition, some brands of bottled water sold in the US, such as Nursery Water, specifically market fluoridated water for young babies.

A recent investigation by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that over-exposure to fluoride among infants is a widespread problem in most major American cities. EWG’s study found that, on any given day, up to 60% of formula-fed babies in US cities were exceeding the Institute of Medicine’s “upper tolerable” limit for fluoride.

“Water is supposed to be safe for everyone. Why add a chemical that makes it knowingly unfit for young children? The US should follow Europe’s lead and end fluoridation,” says Michael Connett, Project Director of the Fluoride Action Network.

For additional information, see: http://www.fluoridealert.org and http://www.ewg.org

Source:
Fluoride Action Network (FAN) & Environmental Working Group (EWG)
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ADA E-Gram
 
November 9, 2006
A forum for breaking news and
timely information from the ADA
 
 Interim Guidance on Reconstituted Infant Formula

Have any of your patients ever asked what type of water should be used when mixing powdered or liquid concentrate infant formula? Information about fluoride intake for infants and young children, which includes interim guidance on reconstituted infant formula, is posted on ADA.org.

The appropriate amount of fluoride is essential to prevent tooth decay, but fluoride intake above the recommended level for a child’s age creates a risk for enamel fluorosis in teeth during their development before eruption through the gums. According to fluoride intake guidelines set by the Institute of Medicine, the amount of fluoride recommended for babies under a year old is less than that for older children and adults. Infants less than one year old may be getting more than the optimal amount of fluoride (which may increase their risk of enamel fluorosis) if their primary source of nutrition is powdered or liquid concentrate infant formula mixed with water containing fluoride (my emphasis, PC).

Recent developments led the ADA to develop the interim guidance. Last spring, the National Research Council released a report on naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water. While not the major focus of the report, research was cited that raised the possibility that infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride from reconstituted baby formula. Then, on Oct. 14, the FDA said bottlers could claim that fluoridated water can reduce the risk of dental cavities or tooth decay, but that this claim could not be used on water marketed to infants.

More research is needed before definitive recommendations can be made, but, in the meantime, if parents and caregivers are concerned, the ADA’s interim guidance provides steps to simply and effectively reduce fluoride intake during a baby’s first year of life. Essentially, the ADA supports the pediatricians’ recommendations on the benefits of breast feeding and notes that using ready-to-feed formula for bottle-fed babies will keep their fluoride intake under IOM limits. If using a product that needs to be reconstituted, parents and caregivers should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride (my emphasis, PC).

Visit ADA.org for additional information on fluoride. If you have questions about products containing fluoride, contact John Malone (2878, malonej@ada.org). With questions about community water fluoridation, contact Jane McGinley (2862, mcginleyj@ada.org).