The popularity of water fluoridation continues to plummet, with an entire country pulling the plug on the practice in one fell swoop in recent weeks.
On July 29, 2013, the Supreme Court of Israel noted in its ruling on a 2012 petition the State’s intention to cease compulsory fluoridation of public water supplies in 2014.
The November 12, 2012 petition from Yaacov Gurman and the Izun Hozer Association for Dissemination of Health Education demanded that the Ministry of Health order the cessation of fluoridation due to health dangers and the fact that its benefits are no longer widely accepted.
The Executive Director of the Fluoride Action Network, Paul Connett, PhD, had this to say in response to the ruling:
“Zealous fluoridation promoters try to convince the American public that ‘everyone drinks fluoridated water.’ But the opposite is true.
An overwhelming number of countries do not fluoridate, including 97% of the European population. In fact, over half the people in the world drinking fluoridated water live in the US. We are the odd ones out.
Fluoridation is an outdated, unscientific, failed public health blunder. What I find remarkable here is that Health Minister German has been able to escape the unscientific belief system on fluoridation that traps so many public health bureaucracies in fluoridated countries.”
The Dominoes Continue to Fall Against Water Fluoridation
Despite the United States being in the minority around the world with most communities stubbornly backing water fluoridation, support has continued to slowly erode with an increasing number of localities deciding to end the practice.
Most recently, the major metropolitan areas of Wichita, Kansas and Portland, Oregon rejected fluoridation by the overwhelming margin of 60% to 40%.
The biggest domino still to fall is New York City, where city council member Peter Vallone Jr. continues his fight to end fluoridation there.
Grassroots Class Action Lawsuits Best Way to End Water Fluoridation?
Want to quickly end water fluoridation where you live?
Attorney James Robert Deal says that putting your community on notice with a written letter for its legal liabilities for fluoridating the water supply may be the fastest way to success. In a letter to the city of Seattle, Mr. Deal did just that writing:
“The CDC and the EPA in January proposed to lower fluoride added to water from a typical 1.0 ppm down to .7 ppm, a 30% reduction.
They did this because the Beltran-Aguilar study, published on the CDC website, showed that 41% of kids aged 12-15 had some level of fluorosis, that 8.6% had moderate fluorosis (brown spots), and that 3.6% had severe fluorosis (brown spots with pitting and chalky teeth).
The monetary damages for veneers for these kids would be around $50,000 over the course of their lives. CDC admits liability and admits the number of kids who are permanently marred, making this the perfect class action or mass toxic tort case.”
In addition to fluorosis, the IQ of children is affected by fluoride as published by Harvard researchers in a thorough and systematic review of eligible studies through the end of 2011.
The prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives spotlighted the findings concerning the adverse effects of exposure to fluoride and the potential for delayed neurobehavioral development in children. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and showed that:
“… children in high fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those who lived in low fluoride areas.”
“The results support the possibility of an adverse effect of high fluoride exposure on children’s neurodevelopment. Future research should include detailed individual-level information on prenatal exposure, neurobehavioral performance, and covariates for adjustment.”
Extensive research published in peer-reviewed scientific journals indicates that fluoride ingestion is not only ineffective at reducing tooth decay but also harmful to health. For a thorough review of the detrimental health effects of fluoride, visit the Fluoride Action Network.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources:
Israel to End Water Fluoridation in 2014
Israel Will End Fluoridation in 2014, Citing Health Concerns
Developmental fluoride neurotoxicity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
First off, I understand this is a website about questioning the status quote and promoting health. Here are some facts: 1) Dental caries is the #1 disease in children. 2) Fluoride strengthens teeth. Instead of believing everything you read, why not look into more sources, instead of just the FluorideActionNetwork. Try the ADA. Do a Pubmed search for yourself and look up articles on all the benefits of topical fluoride applications and water fluoridation. Nothing is good in excess. The same goes for fluoride. The bottom line, educate YOURSELF by doing your own research, instead of relying solely on this website.
quo*
I did educate myself, and what they are putting in our drinking water is an INDUSTRIAL WASTE PRODUCT! It does not strengthen teeth, it poisons us!
Luckily I live in Hawaii, the only state that actually has a law AGAINST fluoridation of the water. They do some backwards things here for sure (such as importing over 80% of our food!) but at least I don’t have to worry about fluoride.
This is a scary news! I’m not really aware of this fluoridation projects. This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing!
fresh water make skin fit and healthy:Five Effective Guide Lines of Diet
Sarah,
The only ‘ruling’ that the Israeli Court made was that the Respondents – the Minister of Health and the State of Israel – should pay the Applicant’s costs! Yes, it noted the intent to cease fluoridation – but it did not order that fluoridation should cease, either in a year’s time or even ever. A very similar story broke when the Knesset – the Israeli Parliament – declared itself against fluoridation back in July – that’s July 2006! The new Regulations adopted in July this year say that fluoride must be added in specific circumstances – but then suspends compulsory fluoridation until such time as they can agree whether or nit its actually unacceptable and must be stopped.But they do NOT ban fluoridation.
The real issue with adding an industrial waste to what is otherwise the world’s purest water supply – 75% of the country’s drinking water now comes from desalinated seawater, through reverse osmosis – is that it enhances uptake of aluminium from purified drinking water derived from surface and underground water sources. This comes from the aluminium sulphate used to clarify the raw water, and some of the tiny trace of residual aluminium left in the water accumulates in the body, including the brain, leading eventually to Alzheimer’s Disease.
And fluoride acts as a synergen to that process – so the risk of getting dementia increases and it’s likely to become evident earlier in life – just as AD seems to be doing now in all developed countries.
Thank you for chiming in Doug! Very troubling the synergy between fluoride and aluminum and the risk of AD.
Thank you for this article. Very well written. We personally live with a deep well. No fluoride. My kids were raised on well water (Northern AZ). I wouldn’t have it any other way. Also never any fluoride treatments and minimal visits to the dentist. They don’t like it that much, but my kids are healthier for it. Thanks again!
Yes, one of the reasons we chose our home was because of the deep well. No fluoridated water for me or my family, thank you very much!
When I was visiting a friend in France (I think it was in 2000), I noticed that fluoride was an added substance to the(bottled) Evian water she was drinking. I mentioned it to her and she defended it by saying that they’d put extra “minerals” into the water and they needed them. So the state doesn’t fluoridate the water; the people pay extra to get it!
That’s fair enough .. if folks want fluoride they can choose to add it themselves. Crazy to do that, but people have done stranger things no doubt. Not wise though for the government to mandate fluoridation/drugging of the public water supplies so the folks who don’t want it are forced to drink it. Fluoride is very difficult to remove from the water and even filters designed to remove it don’t take it all out.
Sorry to say Israei Supreme Court DID NOT ban fluoridation
http://www.ukcaf.org/israeli_court_did_not_ban_fluoridation.html
Here’s the exact wording of the ruling: http://www.fluoridealert.org/uploads/israel_supreme_ct_july2013.pdf
Yes, the issue will be revisited again within a year and things may change again at that time, but as of now, the ruling indicates the State’s obligation to stop the fluorination of drinking water within one year. I guess you can view this as a glass half empty or glass half full type of scenario … pun not intended 🙂
While on a long distance drive with my 22 year old son, he stated that he had been to the dentist last week and had another flouride treatment. I told him that I wished he would stop having those, and to brush his teeth with non-flouride paste, and he got upset with me! He seems to think that flouride is the number one reason that Americans have the best teeth in the world! We “argued” a little about it, me trying to tell him that it is a poison, and he touting the “great American Teeth”, ..Sad to say that I was not convincing to him. He has not changed his mind/thinking.
You might remind him that in other countries, the negative effects of smoking were played down for at least 20 years after the US. We were sort of ahead of the world on that one. Smoking is practiced widely and regularly amongst very young consumers in other countries. People who have been chain smoking since the age of 14, don’t usually have pretty teeth.
I guess this dentist has never traveled outside of America then!!! LOL
Keep working on your son, Kathleen. My own 20yo son recently “saw the light” after several years of telling me I was stupid. 🙂
What I do persistently with my children is tell them, “look, I used to believe this, but now I have a different view based on new things I’ve learned. Please don’t take MY (or anyone’s) word for it, but I do urge you to look into this yourself thoroughly with an open mind. Question everything! You are important to me, and I want you to be healthy. I don’t know everything, so I am interested in debating these issues, but only if you take the time to inform yourself of the facts first. We might have different interpretations, but let’s discuss this intelligently. Come back to me once you’ve had a chance to read over the links I send you, and send me some of your own, and I’ll look at those.”
Well, that approach seems to be working! Finally… 🙂
Do we have the best teeth or the best dentists and orthodontists? I’ve seen photos of people in rural areas of 3rd world countries with teeth so white and straight! Obviously, when you are struggling to provide for your family and you live in a tin/grass/concrete/mud hut, you can’t go to the dentist and orthodontist! Here in USA it is considered a right-of-passage. Something is really WRONG!
I’m sorry. I just had to come back and tell you another story. Last night my s.o’s daughter came over. She is a dental assistant. She loves her job and the dentist that she works for, so she was talking highly about him and the job etc. I asked her if they take silver fillings out. She said to me, very very casually…, “Oh yea, we do it all the time.” When I asked her how they removed them, she said, “He just drills them out. No big deal.” She then asked, “Why, are you thinking about getting yours replaced?” I told her yes and she continued… “If you’re going to have them taken out ‘just because’, you shouldn’t waste your time or money. They are fine as long as they’re in your teeth.” I tried to have a discussion with her about the dangers of them, and she wouldn’t budge. Once again, I told her that we will just have to agree to disagree. She normally has a pretty open mind, but since she went to school, she thinks what she has been taught is the only ‘right’.
Here’s an FYI.. at the office that she works for they get bonuses for ‘upselling’ services! Ex: If an assistant or a hygenist suggests to a patient that they “should really” get a flouride treatment today, and the patient gets it, they get a bonus. If they suggest that the dr. mentioned that they have a tiny cavity over here, and why don’t you have it filled today instead of making another apointment… they get a bonus. For every business card they hand out, they get a bonus!! OMGoodness.. talk about a scam! She keeps begging me to switch dentists.. I wouldn’t go to that dentist if he were the last one in town!! (sorry for ranting.)