FAN Bulletin 1064

April 15, 2009

Two days ago I read a new book on the fluoridation debate.  It is called “Fluoride Wars: How a modest public health measure became America’s longest running political melodrama.” This book is written by R. Allain Freeze and Jay H. Lehr and published by Wiley, a well established publisher of scientific texts. However, this is not a scientific text ? far from it ? and I am surprised Wiley published it. You can read my very negative review of the book which was posted on Amazon.com today.

On the penultimate page of the book the authors conclude that:

“Overall, the pro-fluoridation movement is the clear winner on the credibility front. Those to whom we usually turn for expertise on scientific, medical and technical matters speak pretty much with one voice in favor of the fluoridation paradigm.”

To which I would respond: if all it took to resolve this matter scientifically was genuflection before the mighty endorsements of the US medical and dental establishments, then the matter was resolved in 1950, when the US Public Health Services (PHS) endorsed fluoridation without a single trial being completed and without a single medical study being published. The fact that this PHS endorsement was swiftly followed in the same year by endorsements from the American Dental Association, American Public Health Association, State and Territorial Health officers, American Association of Public Health Dentists and the State and Territorial Dental Health Directors ? and with many other organizations following shortly afterwards - still without any solid supporting scientific evidence - should be a source of shame not pride. Thus “speaking in one voice” is hardly a recommendation in this matter.

But this raises the question of which side really has credibility. As you can imagine I firmly believe that the credibility is well and truly on the side of those who are calling for an end to this practice worldwide. That is why we have organized a professionals’ statement to that effect and why we are supporting it with a 28 minute video ” Professional Perspectives on Water Fluoridation.” You can order this DVD online at the top of our home page, which many of you already have.

Below we have a prepared a brief description of the 15 experts on this video and you might wish to print out copies of this list and hand it out with copies of the DVD.

Meanwhile, if you get this bulletin before 7 pm EST tonight, I will be discussing both this DVD and the book “Fluoride Wars” on Giorgio Repetti’s radio program “Talking Alternatives,” which you can access live at http://www.repetiwellness.com .

Paul Connett

The 28-minute DVD “Professional Perspectives on Fluoridation” features the following 15 experts:

Lord Baldwin sits as an Independent Peer in the House of Lords, where he has contributed to debates on the environment and health for over 20 years.  His Parliamentary Questions on fluoridation led to the UK Government setting up the ‘York’ systematic scientific review of the evidence in 2000, on whose advisory panel he served.  He is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Fluoridation - http://www.appgaf.org.uk/

Arvid Carlsson, PhD, a neuro-pharmacologist. Dr. Carlsson led the successful fight against fluoridation in Sweden in the 1970’s. He won the Nobel prize for medicine/physiology in 2000.

Bob Carton, PhD, a risk assessment expert at the EPA (now retired). Dr. Carton was formerly the President of the union which represents professionals working at the US EPA headquarters in Washington DC. See Dr. Carton’s important review of the National Research Council report (NRC, 2006) at Carton, RJ (2006) Fluoride: Review of the 2006 National Research Council Report: Fluoride in Drinking Water. Fluoride, 39(3) 163-172. http://www.fluorideresearch.org/393/files/FJ2006_v39_n3_p163-172.pdf

Sir Iain Chalmers, PhD, edits The James Lind Library (http://www.jameslindlibrary.org), a web-based resource containing explanatory material in seven languages about the principles and evolution of fair tests of medical treatments. He was director of the UK Cochrane Centre between 1992 and 2002, and director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit between 1978 and 1992.

Paul Connett, PhD, an environmental chemist. Formerly, Professor of Chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. Currently the Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network, http://www.FluorideAlert.org

Brent Foster, JD, formerly Conservation Chair of the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club.

Walter Graham helped in the very successful campaign to resist the imposition of water fluoridation on Northern Ireland.

Bill Hirzy, PhD, a chemist, formerly with the US EPA.  Dr. Hirzy is a former Vice-President of the union which represents professionals working at the US EPA headquarters in Washington, DC.

C. Vyvyan Howard, MB, ChB, PhD, FRCPath, a fetal and infant toxico-pathologist. Professor Howard is director of the Bioimaging Research Group, Centre for Molecular Bioscience, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland; and  President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE).

Bob Isaacson, PhD, a neuroscientist. Dr. Isaacson was a member of the National Research Council review panel, “Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review of EPA’s Drinking Water Standards” (NRC, 2006) and also co-author of a very important animal study: Varner JA, et al. 1998. Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity. Brain Research. 784: 284-298.

Tim Kropp, PhD, a toxicologist formerly with the Environmental Working Group in Washington, DC.

Hardy Limeback, DDS, PhD, currently chair of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto. Past President of the Canadian Association for Dental Research and member of the National Research Council review panel, “Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review of EPA’s Drinking Water Standards” (NRC, 2006).

Phyllis Mullenix, PhD, a pharmacologist and toxicologist. Former chairperson of the toxicology department of Forsyth Dental Institute, Boston. Lead author of the seminal paper on fluoride’s impact on animal brain: Mullenix P, et al. 1995. Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride in Rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology. 17: 169-177.

Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH, a dentist who practices in both Oregon and Washington state.

Kathleen Thiessen, PhD, a health risk specialist working with the consulting firm Senes Oak Ridge Inc., Center for Risk Analysis, Tennessee. Dr. Thiessen was a member of the National Research Council review panel, “Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Review of EPA’s Drinking Water Standards” (NRC, 2006).