FAN Bulletin 1098

November 12, 2009

We have a number of important news items to report today.

1) Three more victories in Nebraska.
2) Researchers find an association between fluoridation and premature births in NY
3) Health Canada’s extraordinary translation mistake.
4) My response to Health Canada’s new report: Fluoride in Drinking Water
5) A link to the Dr. Peter Cooney presentation in Dryden, Ontario, re-found.

1) Three more victories in Nebraska.

In 2008 the communities of Yutan and Wisner voted for fluoridation. Residents complained that the wording of the 2008 referendum was confusing and they got the right for a second vote. Both communities reversed their vote this week and voted NO to fluoridation.

Nov 10: Yutan, Saunders County: 195 to 85
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Nebraska/Yutan-says-no-to-fluoride

Nov 10: Wisner, Cuming County - 285 to 98
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Nebraska/Wisner-This-time-voters-say-yes-to-no-fluoride

Sept 17: Wakefield, Dixon County 135 to 8
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Nebraska/Wakefield-Neb.-rejects-fluoridation-proposals

2) Researchers find an association between fluoridation and premature births in Upstate New York

Today the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF) sent out a news release on a new study that links fluoride to premature births in New York. According to NYSCOF, “State University of New York (SUNY) researchers found more premature births in fluoridated than non-fluoridated upstate New York communities, according to a presentation made at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting on November 9, 2009 in Philadelphia.”

According to the study by Hart et al.,

… Domestic water fluoridation was associated with an increased risk of PTB [preterm birth] (9545 (6.34%) PTB among women exposed to domestic water fluoridation versus 25278 (5.52%) PTB among those unexposed, p < 0.0001)). This relationship was most pronounced among women in the lowest SES groups (>10% poverty) and those of non-white racial origin. Domestic water fluoridation was independently associated with an increased risk of PTB in logistic regression, after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, neighborhood poverty level, hypertension, and diabetes…

? See the study at http://apha.confex.com/apha/137am/webprogram/Paper197468.html

? See NYSCOF’s news release at http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Minerals/study_links_fluoride_to_premature_births_121120090700.html

3) Health Canada”s extraordinary translation mistake.

The eagle eyes of Canada’s fluoridation watchdog, Carole Clinch, has found an extraordinary translation mistake in the atrocious Health Canada (2009) report discussed in the last bulletin. Carole wrote to the committee reviewing this report today:

Dear CDW Secretariat/Health Canada,

The recent Health Canada review for the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guideline (CDWQG) called “Fluoride in Drinking Water” or “la fluorore dans l’eau” is now available for public comment:

English: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/consult/_2009/fluoride-fluorure/index-eng.php
French: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/consult/_2009/fluoride-fluorure/index-fra.php

Regarding dental fluorosis, this review reports:

1. French translation: La fluorore dans l’eau p62
“Des données indiquent que dans certains cas ? dans la région de Niagara, par exemple ? la prévalence a augmenté de façon spectaculaire entre 1994 et 1998″

2. English translation: Fluoride in Drinking Water p54

“There is evidence in some instances-for example, in the Niagara region-of a dramatic decrease in prevalence between 1994 and 1998.”

The French version actually states the OPPOSITE to the English version.

No citation is given for these claims, as required by any legitimate scientific review. The astonishing number of unverifiable claims without citations made in this document are simply not acceptable, based on the basic tenets of scientific procedure.

I demand that an erratum notice be posted immediately on the Health Canada web site and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment website, and that a correction be made to the pdf file. The CDW secretariat should also advise all respondents by email of the error and its correction and the source reference for the data which can be verified by the Canadian public in an open and transparent manner.

A failure to deal with this error promptly could be perceived by taxpayers, who have paid for this deeply flawed review, as an attempt to provide different and opposing information to the English-speaking population, compared to the French-speaking population.A failure to provide research citations that are available to the public, could also be construed as an attempt by the CDW secretariat to deceive the Canadian public.

Sincerely,

Carole Clinch BA BPHE
Spokesperson & Research Coordinator
People for Safe Drinking Water

4) My response to Health Canada’s new report: Fluoride in Drinking Water

Submitted yesterday and available online at http://fluoridealert.org/re/connett.canada.11-11.09.pdf

5) A link to the Dr. Peter Cooney presentation in Dryden, Ontario, re-found.

Thanks to Christopher Maingot for re-finding the link to Dr. Peter Cooney’s presentation in Dryden, Ontario on April 1, 2008. Dr. Cooney is Canada’s Chief Dental Officer and thought to have masterminded the selection of the 6-member “expert” panel which prepared the groundwork for Health Canada’s scandalous defense of its 1.5 ppm drinking water standard (i.e. defending fluoridation in Canada) as we described in yesterday’s bulletin.

If you have 30 minutes to spare try watching this video and wonder - along with us - how an earth this man was ever appointed to be Canada’s top man on dental health!

The link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4888471756915953833&amp;hl=en#

For the record, after hearing from Dr. Peter Cooney the citizens of Dryden voted overwhelmingly to halt fluoridation in Dryden. Dr.Cooney was equally unsuccessful in trying to persuade the Thunder Bay councilors to start fluoridation, even though he insisted on meeting each one of them one by one.

Paul Connett