Fluoride is natural mineral found in water. It’s most present in groundwater, where its concentration levels vary according to the rocks and minerals in the area.
Naturally occurring fluoride can protect against cavities (1). Unfortunately, this type of fluoride isn’t what’s being used in your tap water or toothpaste.
Instead, you’re being fed hydrofluorosilicic acid, a toxic by-product of the production of fertilizer, and the steel, nuclear and aluminum industry. The FDA doesn’t even recognize fluoride as a nutrient. Instead, it’s classified as a drug.
What is hydrofluorosilicic acid?
Phosphate mining releases hydrofluorosilicic acid through strip-mined rock. As the phosphate is extracted, contaminants are released into the air through large chimneys.
This practice reeked havoc on agriculture: “There has been more litigations on alleged damage to agriculture by fluoride than all other pollutants combined… of the major airborne pollutants, inorganic fluoride [is] clearly the most toxic” said Dr. Leonard Weinstein of Cornell University (2).
Additionally, the US Department of Agriculture reported in 1970 (3): “airborne fluoride has cause more worldwide damage to domestic animals than any other airborne pollutant.”
Stricter environmental regulation meant these companies needed to limit their airborne pollutants. These toxic chemicals are now being trapped in an expensive air filtration system. These are then condensed into a water-based solution, which is packaged unrefined and sold to municipal governments.
The trouble is, hydrofluorosilicic acid is so toxic that workers have to wear a full-body suit just to be around it. Other than its addition into tap water, this acid is also used as a wood preservative, is present in cleaning compounds and plays a role in the production of glass (4).
So how does this end up in your drinking water?
Well, large aluminum productions companies had to deal with the extra costs of engaging in more environmentally friendly practices.
To cover costs, they hired scientists to prove the value of naturally occurring fluoride, which is different from hydrofluorosilicic acid, in maintaining dental health. This enable them to repackage their toxic waste as a “dental health product” in order to sell it to municipalities in North America.
In 1944, the American Dental Association warned that fluoridated water posed more health risks than the worth of its dental health benefits. Despite this warning, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first community to fluorinate their water in 1945. Unfortunately, most communities in North America continue this practice to this day.
What are the health risks of hydrofluorosilicic acid?
Your body only excretes about 50% of the fluoride it consumes. The rest is stored in your teeth, bones and pineal gland.
It’s important to realize that fluoride is a cumulative toxin, which over time, can lead to serious health concerns (5).
Dental Fluorosis
Rather than strengthening you enamel, fluoride can actually eat away your enamel. Excess fluoride consumption can also lead to tooth decay.
Cancer
“In point of fact, fluoride causes more human cancer deaths than any other chemical. When you have power you don’t have to tell the truth (…) Fluoride amounts to public murder on a grand scale. It is some of the most conclusive scientific and biological evidence that I have come across in my 50 years in the field of cancer research.” Said Dr. Dean Burk, Biochemist, Founder of Biotin, and Former Chief Chemist at the National Cancer Institute of Health (6).
The most common form of cancer associated to fluoride consumption is osteosarcoma, also called bone cancer (7).
Lower IQ
Fluoride is present in 25% of chemical tranquilizers. It’s such a strong neurotoxin that it’s often referred to as “the chemical lobotomy.”
This is why parents are reminded time and again by both the CDC and the ADA not to give fluoridated water to their infants and children.
If you take a look at your toothpaste, you’ll even notice a warning to call the poison control center if you accidentally ingest toothpaste. How can the same ingredient you’re being advised not to swallow constantly be ingested through tap water?
As Dr. J. William Hirzy (8), Former VP and Senior Chemist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters, puts it: “If this stuff gets out into the air, it’s a pollutant; if it gets into the river, it’s a pollutant; if it gets into the lake, it’s a pollutant; but if it goes right straight into your drinking water system, it’s not a pollutant. That’s amazing.”
97 percent of European countries don’t fluoridate their water. Despite this, these countries have equivalent or lower cavity rates to those in fluoridated American cities.
No chemical should be forced unto the public without their consent. It’s never too late to put pressure on your city officials to make fluorinated water a thing of the past. Until then, here are a few ways you can reduce your exposure to fluoride.
sources:
[1]https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/fluoridated-water-fact-sheet
[2] Weinstein LH. (1983).”Effects of Fluorides on Plants and Plant Communities: An Overview.” In: Shupe JL, Peterson HB, Leone NC, (Eds). Fluorides: Effects on Vegetation, Animals, and Humans. Paragon Press. Salt Lake City, Utah. pp. 53-59.
[3] Air Pollutants Affecting the Performance of Domestic Animals, Agricultural Handbook No. 380, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, revised 1972, 109 pp.
[4]https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/sodium_fluoride#section=Experimental-Properties
[5]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956646/
[6]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqK7XvfLg0
[7]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12637966
[8]https://cof-cof.ca/hydrofluorosilicic-acid-origins/