FAN Bulletin 846

July 24, 2007

Dear All,

We are at 399 signers on the Professionals’ Statement calling for an end to water fluoridation worldwide. If all goes well I will provide an analysis of the first 400 signers tomorrow.

Meanwhile, news of an important meeting held last night in the town of Welland, in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada where we might see the formal end of fluoridation. However, if the dental “experts” get their way towns that have voted against fluoridation in past in referenda may have it forced on them under a new municipal law. We have two views of that meeting. Reading them together is fascinating.

The first report is from Aliss Terpstra (born in Grand Rapids, MI and a fluoride sufferer). Aliss is currently putting together a manual of advice for those who have been poisoned by fluoride, or are super sensitive to fluoride. She lives in Toronto. She drove down to the meeting with Diane Sprules (from Oakville) and Cindy Mayor (who lives near Hamilton). Both Diane and Aliss attended the Second Citizens Conference on Fluoride, held in Canton in late July of last year.

The second report is from the local newspaper. Journalist, Greg Furminger, presents some interesting numbers. Local officials said that setting up the systems to fluoridate two of the towns and not the third would cost up to $17 million (time period not specified). Promoters of fluoridation claimed that for every dollar spent on fluoridation would save $38 on dental costs. Really? Doing a little bit of simple arithmetic that means the region is going to save up to $646 million on dental costs. Golly they must have rotten teeth!

Dr. Hardy Limeback will surely have a lot to say about those calculations. Aliss suggests that he may have spoken at another meeting in the region this evening. If he did, I hope he will also send us a report.

No more from me – over to Aliss and the local newspaper.

Paul Connett

Aliss Terpstra’s report

July 24, 2007

Dear Paul,

Last night Diane Sprules, Cindy Mayor and I drove to Welland to attend the public meeting on fluoridation. Their regional council members and works department have stopped fluoridating Welland due to cost and infrastructure problems arising from the integration of dozens of small water plants into several large regional and interconnected ones, and are now seeking support to write a permanent bylaw ending fluoridation. The public health and dental cadre would like them to force fluoridation on the entire Niagara region instead. Some members of the public who are informed, are very much against this and against the increased taxes that would be needed to pay for building four large new fluoridation plants and fluoridating the entire region instead of dismantling the two small fluoridation plants that are currently disabled due to corrosion and escalating maintenance costs. Thus, the public meeting.

Under the new Ontario Municipal Act, fluoridation can be done without notice or consultation in regions that have rejected fluoridation previously by democratic means. The meeting was advertised as being held to discuss the “merits of fluoridation”. I was verbally promised a chance to present another viewpoint and engage in discussion to provide balance. This did not happen. We were allowed ONE question only after the medical officer’s presentation, with no opportunity for debate or public discussion.

As usual, the cadre of … fanatic public health and dental professionals was out in full force, three rows of them, spouting the party line. I will gag if I hear that … about fluoridation being the greatest public health miracle of the twentieth century one more time. Last night I heard it said FIVE TIMES. The medical officer of health, Dr. Kuze, presented “research” showing a statistically insignificant reduction in DMF rates in kids from fluoridated Welland (except that Welland has NOT in fact been consistently fluoridated since 1991!!!) in different age groups from 3 to 14 years which he claims proves that the rest of the region should also be fluoridated (despite the fact that two large cities have rejected it in plebiscites). He also flat-out lied and said there was NO EVIDENCE of any adverse health effects.

There was also a toxicologist from McMaster U to assure us that silicofluorides in water are not toxic (but he had no references to prove it).

There was a public health nutrition researcher from U of Toronto who claimed there was a recommended mg per kg nutrient guideline for fluoride intake. (We corrected her - she was actually quoting the maximum toxic level of .5 mg/kg/day!!! Talk about giving kids fluoride poisoning!!!) She said that food only provides 20% of daily fluoride intake and that’s why little kids who don’t get fluoridated water are not getting enough. There was no one presenting any evidence, information or research to balance the pro-fluoride presentations. The Works Dept. and council are bending over backwards to appear neutral and in doing so, they are actually biased as hell in terms of inviting fluoridation to happen while they throw up their hands helplessly, saying, well, we tried.

We each scored a “hit”, I’d say. Well worth the time and trouble to drive there on short notice. Cindy was sharp and powerful in her question to Dr. Kuze regarding any health or effectiveness studies on silicofluorides. He was evasive and said that his data showed a small benefit to Welland children. When Cindy read from the government documents and the chemical analysis sheet the moderator asked the toxicologist to answer instead of Kuze because it was obvious Kuze had no clue. The McMaster toxicologist was stupid enough to blurt out that he had not known the source of the fluoridation chemicals or their contaminant makeup! Can you imagine???? I could just see the doubt flaring in people’s eyes, wondering how Cindy (polite, articulate and polished) could be telling the truth, and how all these dentists and the toxicologist were unaware of where fluoridation chemicals come from.

Diane was frustrated with their obtuseness but scored a big point on thyroid effects and the Precautionary Principle.

I held up the 2006 NRC report and asked Kuze point blank how he could have ignored this report, and how he could claim that there was no scientific evidence of health harm when there were over 1,000 peer-reviewed research articles reported there, with overwhelming evidence of adverse health effects from ingested fluoride. He made a lame reply about Locker’s report and using “current research”. He also tried to denigrate the NRC report as being “not original research, merely a review” and then denied that he had said there was no evidence of adverse health effects. But we all heard him say this! And it’s right on the power point handout we got!

There was a public works water guy there who was also sharp and very good, who spoke about the original dental fluoride research being falsified and poorly done. He has trained 30,000 water works employees in his career and says that water fluoridation makes no sense from an engineering OR health standpoint. So there were four of us who made solid points using references, and then another three who made minor points, and one rambling Old Guy, vs the dental and public health cadre who got to say whatever they wanted without having to back it up. One dentist claimed he has never seen a case of dental fluorosis in all his years of practice. (I’d say they should revoke his license to practice if he does not know how to recognize dental fluorosis.)

I badly wanted to ask Kuze about the late eruption effect on cavities and whether this evened out by age 17, in his so-called “research” showing fewer cavities in the Welland kids under the age of 14 than in the unfluoridated other regions including St. Catharines (which has very high unemployment, poverty, low birth weight babies, crime and fewer dental visits when the auto assembly lines are in an extended slump and unemployed workers lose family dental plan benefits as a result). I wanted to ask whether any dietary evidence had been collected, what the daily intake from ambient air fluoride is (they are downwind from the biggest phosphate pit (Ella Haley’s work) and coal burning site, Nanticoke), whether iodine, zinc, selenium and D levels were also factors. I was desperate to quote the WHO stats on Europe’s dental health, the breast milk content etc. But the moderator would not allow more than one question per person.

Kuze escaped, but I did approach the toxicologist after the meeting, and asked him if he was familiar with Westendorf’s thesis showing cholinesterase inhibition with silicofluorides, and Masters and Coplan on increased blood lead with silicofluorides but not sodium fluoride. He mumbled evasively and launched into a rambling discourse on nickel toxicity in Russia. Then I asked him if he was familiar with Arvid Carlsson’s work, or Strunecka and Patocka on AlF and he launched into another attack on the misguided research trying to show aluminum caused Alzheimer’s… The nutrition expert was demolished by the three of us quite easily. She does not believe that iodine and selenium and fatty acids are essential for dental health but that fluoride is! How can these people graduate from university with a Master’s degree in public health science????

How I’d love to go back tonight for the second town meeting in the adjacent region, with Hardy and his power point presentation on fluoride bombs in cavities….

Aliss

2) Local Press Report

No clear answer on issue of flouride (sic) in the water

GREG FURMINGER / Tribune Staff
Local News - Tuesday, July 24, 2007 @ 09:00

Take drinking water then add fluoride.

Throw in dozens of opinions whether or not the substance that prevents tooth decay once again should flow from faucets in Welland, Thorold and Pelham and what you’re left with is anything but a crystal-clear solution for regional politicians who will cast decision on the matter.

About 25 people turned out to a meeting at Days Inn last night to opine on the subject.

It was argued by some that to spend tens of thousands, even millions, of dollars to restart fluoridation systems at Welland and Thorold water plants isn’t worth it.

More people are switching to purer bottled water, there’s enough fluoride in diets, they said.

It’s found in such things as toothpaste, cereal, tea, beer and even cigarette smoke.

That the variety of fluoride added to water systems comes from industrial smokestacks - hydrofluosilicic acid - is concern to some about its long-term health risks.

Others supported its addition to drinking water as a cost-effective way of providing oral health care.
Fluoride slows the breakdown of mineral crystals in teeth, and also helps with their reformation, providing protection against tooth decay and demineralization.

Fluoridation in Welland started in 1963, supported by referendum. It was never supported so by Pelham residents who also received water produced in Welland.

Welland’s fluoridation system has been idle since February 1999. In the 64-month period before then, it was out of commission for 39 months - about 60 per cent of the time - because of leaking tanks, pumps and feed lines.

Thorold’s plant experienced similar problems and was turned off in 2002.

However, only recently was it acknowledged by the region that fluoridation had stopped.

“The public works department has to take full responsibility for that,” regional water and wastewater services director Leo Gohier said last night.

Regular water quality reports posted on the region’s website as far back as July 2000 had reported the absence of fluoride in local water.

To again supply Welland and Pelham with fluoridated water, but not Thorold, would cost up to $17 million to build a separate non-fluoridated watermain to serve Thorold communities supplied by the region’s Welland water plant.

Similarly, it would cost about $12 million in infrastructure to supply Welland and Thorold but not Pelham.

“It’s impractical to do selective fluoridation,” said Gohier, who’s recommending the upper-tier government formally put an end to water fluoridation.

Simply reinstating Welland and Thorold systems would cost up to $500,000 for system needs plus $90,000 in annual operating costs

“Those are startup costs, as far as I’m concerned, and you have to look at costs further down the road,” said Dr. David Klooz, Niagara’s associate health commissioner.

“One dollar spent on fluoridation saves you $38,” Niagara Peninsula Dental Association president Ravi Kumar said, rising from the audience to support its reinstatement as a preventive public health measure.

“Water fluoridation is an important and cost-effective public health service that should be restored,” Dr. Peter Fritz, president of the Welland District Dental Society, said in a statement to the media.

“The failure of Niagara Region to notify dentists of the original system malfunction put patients at risk.

“Now there is an effort to compound the problem by its complete removal and this will have an adverse impact on the health of our community,” said Fritz.

“You have our support to get the region fluoridated,” the dentist said at last night’s meeting.

To fluoridate all Niagara drinking water produced at its six plants would cost up to $3 million to install and repair systems, plus annual operating costs of $600,000.

A second two-hour public meeting on the subject takes place inside regional council chambers tonight starting at 7.

gfurminger@wellandtribune.ca