Pluto wrote on Dec 17, 2007 7:15 AM:Since fluoride has been used in drinking water for many decades, I find these arguments extremely weak - "morally wrong", "some studies show", etc. If fluoride in drinking water caused cancer, I think we'd have plenty of convincing studies by now. I can't help but wonder if the "1,000 health professionals" mentioned are also dentists who make money off cavities.

Jaque wrote on Dec 17, 2007 10:30 AM:PLUTO: Isn't it odd that so many people do die FROM CANCER? And, by your logic, if its been ok to dump more chemicals into our water for "many decades," then natures version of water has been incomplete for 100,000 years prior? Can't we just leave certain things alone (water), or is there more to this fluoride in drinking water routine than we know of? 9 out of 10 decsions are based on what? M-O-N-E-Y. Why doesn't Avain do it? Sparkletts? I can't believe people buy into this....

GotItRight wrote on Dec 17, 2007 10:34 AM:This article gets the salient facts correct: topical fluoride (as opposed to ingested fluoride) has certain cavity-fighting benefits; the type of fluoride used by municipalities is a dangerous industrial by-product (read: hazardous waste); the addition of fluoride to municipal water supplies is indeed mass medication by government fiat. If you are brave enough to face the truth, read "The Fluoride Deception" by Christopher Bryson. If you prefer to live in ignorance, drink up.

Joanne wrote on Dec 17, 2007 11:04 AM:The web site ... lists signatures from over 1200 heath professionals and scientists including many with MD and PHD degrees. Research from Harvard University in 2006 showed a five fold increase in bone cancer in areas fluoridated with artificial silicofluoride compounds. The fluoride added to our water contains lead and arsenic. Everyone should research this for themselves.

Bob wrote on Dec 17, 2007 11:18 AM:I agree with David Banks. I can't understand why any dentist would recommend this manner of forcing the unrequested addition of fluoride to our drinking water? What action can be taken to rescind this decision.

Danny wrote on Dec 17, 2007 1:24 PM:Lack of fluoride doesn't cause decay, bad diet and & hygiene do! And I'm damned if I want to continuously consume a poison and feed it to my kids and animals just because lazy and un-informed people can't look after their own teeth! Fluoride, a Grade 7 poison, is VERY smart. It travels all through our bodies and magically ONLY affects teeth and leaves everything else amazingly un-touched. Legal Eagles are gathering data from Fluoride poisoned people now in view of litigation - and they only need Pathology reports to prove overdosing. Have you had a blood test lately? If everyone living in fluoridated areas requested a blood fluoride level you might get a few answers to your mystery aches pains and health problems. It's not only in the water you know!

jean wrote on Dec 17, 2007 1:31 PM:my 18 year old daughter recently died from osteosarcoma-when she was diagnosed 5 years ago, I was horrified to find out the truth about the damage that fluoride causes the health of all Americans-Allegheny County in Pittsburgh had a cluster of bone tumors in children in 2001-bone tumor incidence in children has increased 40 % in the last decade alone-I think it is disgusting that industry wants to dump their toxic waste in our water to avoid paying to have it disposed of properly-read "The Fluoride Deception" by Chris Bryson if you want to know the truth.

Skip wrote on Dec 17, 2007 3:08 PM:Darn! Now I have to start buying bottled water again. I stopped using deodorant because someone once said that the main ingredient (Aluminum) may be a contributing factor in getting Alzheimer’s disease..

Luca wrote on Dec 17, 2007 3:48 PM:Even the American Dental Association has stated that baby formula should only be mixed with UNFLUORIDATED water. So how many moms actually know this fact and how many innocent children will be overdosed and suffer throughout their lives due to the contamination of our water supply?

Is distillation only method for removal ? wrote on Dec 17, 2007 4:55 PM:How do we, as citizens, get our municipal drinking water districts to remove the silicafluoride that has been added to our drinking water. I am told that it CANNOT be removed, except by distillation. It is not fair to subject all of us knowingly to a heightened risk of ANY form of cancer. How do we do something to stop this ?

BUY DISTILLED WATER ONLY wrote on Dec 17, 2007 6:26 PM:ONLY Distillation removes flouride!! Dr. John Yiamouylannis was the world-leading authority on the biological effects of flouride. He passed away a couple years ago, but he spent most of his life researching flouride. I first met him in the 70's and talked to him before he passed, and he verified over again, that the only way to remove flouride was through distillation. RO will NOT do it! He was president of the Safe Water Foundation. Read his book "Fouride - the Aging Factor - How to Recognize and Avoid the Devastating Effects of Flouride for more information. Dr. David Banks is well educated about the dangers of flouide. Thank you so much for spreading the word in this article!! You have certainly done a great community service, unlike many others in your profession who refuse to educate themselves and continue to harm their patients. Those are the Dentist's still putting mercury in people's mouth too! Thank you for caring while those other's don't. Dr. Yiamouyiannis said "The truth is, flouridation is chronically poisoning millions". Now citizens must buy whole house distillation systems to protect their loved ones. Don't shower, drink, or use it for cooking. It is very dangerous. Don't give to your pets either!! It's dangerous to wildlife as well, as it leeches into our groundwater. When first released as a byproduct of the aluminum industry into the air, it killed all the livestock around the plant. Then it was outlawed, so now they dispose of it by dumping it into our water. People should be outraged!!

Jason wrote on Dec 17, 2007 6:36 PM:Well it seems that the Nuremberg Convention, on MASS MEDICATION is being overlooked. The mass medication of the public is illegal under this convention and its no good saying they told me to, because the person who administers this poison is as guilty as their master. Yes you can join in a class action against the Government via the Nuremberg tribunal, people who uphold our rights for free and will take up our objections.See UK DENTIST LEADS ANTI-FLUORIDE CAMPAIGN...

Bill wrote on Dec 17, 2007 7:14 PM:Perfectly healthy water destroyed by fluorosilicate compounds. These people need to adhere to the saying " If it isn't broke don't fix it." Just dump unnecessary crap into our bodies.

Dr. David Banks wrote on Dec 17, 2007 9:18 PM:Why do the editors not print his hard earned title of "DOCTOR"? Are you trying to discredit this wonderful dentist? VERY DISRESPECTFUL!!

HEY PLUTO wrote on Dec 17, 2007 9:28 PM:There's more money treating cosmetic dental flourosis, which flouride causes, than cavities! Why don't you question the motive's of the dentist's who refuse to keep current instead of those harming patients. Don't you believe doctors should have "moral obligations" to their patients? Have you heard of the Hippocratic Oath? ALL doctor's take it, and YES that includes dentist's! "FIRST DO NO HARM"!! The American Dental Association has enough trouble on their hands also fighting the damage they have done to patients with Mercury poisoning, than to admit and take responsibility for their blundered thinking toward flouide as well!! They have failed miserably as a profession. Thank God for dentist's like Dr. Banks, who stands up for what is right and educates patients, rather than just doing what the ADA tells him to do!! Old backward thinking dentists, clinging to obsolete ideas from the 1950's, such as flouride and mercury, should be charged with malpractice! That's what they are afraid of, the truth, so they hide behind the skirts of the ADA, hoping unity will allow them to continue making profits by destroying the health of millions.

Pappy wrote on Dec 17, 2007 9:43 PM:I think this belongs on a ballot for the people to vote on or something. It seems to be a big enough issue and enough people don't want it added to their water that it should be addressed publicly. Someone else asked earlier, how do we go about undoing this? Could it be as simple as a signature campaign or something to get it stopped? This reminds me of a scene from the movie Erin Brockovich. I’ll bet the politicians that gave this the ok and the companies profiting from dumping this stuff into our water supply, uninvited, don’t drink this fluoridated water themselves.

Albert wrote on Dec 17, 2007 10:06 PM:Wake up Pluto - Watch any old black and white movie or early color TV show and what will you see? Young, old, black, white, smart, dumb, good guy, bad guy, beautiful, ugly and on and on cigarettes were being smoked. Cigarettes were harmless, tasted good, and they made you sexy and more masculine if you were a guy or feminine if you were a woman. You could smoke at work(at your desk), smoke in restaurants, smoke in theaters or meetings and no one thought anything about it. Mom and dad puffing away in a car with the windows rolled up and their babies and young children basking in the tobacco fog was normal. Cigarettes (like fluoride), where harmless or even sold as healthy, and didn’t cause cancer or other problems. Fluoride may be harmless or even healthy but I’ve heard enough cons about it over the years I’d rather not have it in my water. I’ll buy fluoride toothpaste to get it on my teeth if I want it.

Dr. Joe wrote on Dec 18, 2007 5:27 AM:Serious, expensive and legitimate studies have been done for over 100 years showing the beneficial effects of fluoride. To contradict that in a public forum, without similar cited evidence, is akin to yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. At best, the writer is a good hearted... Please know that these kinds of claims seriously impact the public health. Any chemical has a fatal dose... even water, salt, or vitamins. ...

JohnMac wrote on Dec 18, 2007 8:39 AM:The EPA knows it's unsafe to put meds in our water: "No national primary drinking water regulation may require addition of any substance for preventive health care purposes unrelated to contamination of drinking water." - Safe Drinking Water Act Section 1412 (b)(l 1)

JohnMac wrote on Dec 18, 2007 10:41 AM:The EPA knows it's unsafe to put meds in our water: "No national primary drinking water regulation may require addition of any substance for preventive health care purposes unrelated to contamination of drinking water." - Safe Drinking Water Act Section 1412 (b)(l 1)

JohnMac wrote on Dec 18, 2007 10:55 AM:'Dr.' Joe, please cite the best "serious, expensive and legitimate" study that convinced you to swallow daily a systemic poison that accumulates in your body -- and makes you self-righteous enough to force others to do the same.

DrDavid wrote on Dec 18, 2007 6:07 PM:All statements in the above letter are fully documented and researched. References to studies provided with the letter were not included with the publication but may be accessed via the mentioned web site. Elise Basin's peer-reviewed Harvard study was published in 2006 and showed a 5-7 fold increase in osteosarcoma in young men in areas contaminated with fluorosilicate compounds. What most people and probably "DrJoe" do not understand is the profound difference between calcium fluoride and hydrofluosilicic acid as used in water systems along with the fact that fluoride's action is primarily topical. To think that ingested fluoride affects only the teeth and not other body systems is patently absurd.

Right again Dr. David wrote on Dec 18, 2007 9:22 PM:Dr. Joe sounds like one of those backward prehistoric dentists that refuse to educate himself about the dangers. All he had to do was follow your link to learn. Nature provides the right amount of calcium fluoride in balance with other minerals in the proper amounts for health. Hydrofluosilicic acid is a waste product of the aluminum industry. I recently read about some cities that fluoridate their water not being able to get hydrofluosilicic acid because of decline in the industry and are not adding it to their water anymore. I hope that's true!! Sounds like the only hope, our elected officials are just too ignorant and unwilling to learn.

URGENT wrote on Dec 18, 2007 9:51 PM:Why the Urgent Need to Continue Dumping Toxic Diluted Industrial Litter into Drinking-Water & or Food Sources... Why the Urgent Need to Dump Toxic Diluted Industrial Litter into Drinking-Water + or Food Sources, as far and wide, as is possible… 1. For the supposed topical benefits. If we could get people’s average saliva fluoride levels up to the level of toothpaste, we can claim that the dental benefits are worth the risks of cardiac arrest, diminishing IQ, stupefying + controlling the dumb brainwashed sheeple, kidney failure which are bound to happen at this high intake level. The very good News now is, with DOW’s magnificent sulfuryl fluoride allowances, the extra fluoride in food might just do it, if we can keep up the good work of turning every tap into a dispenser of mouthrinse that you can swallow & digest, soak & bath in + cook with & sprinkle your garden with. 2. For the benefits to seniors’ families. Seniors live way too long if they avoid fluoride. Water fluoridation helps their bones break with no warning, and death soon follows. Fluoridation is the most humane way of ensuring that their estates can benefit those of us who matter. 3. To increase the GNP index. Building and maintaining fluoridation plants and equipment create many jobs, and jobs mean more taxes for the government. Fluoride poisoning of waterworks employees creates a constant need for new entry-level, disposable employees who will never get a cent in disability payments for fluoride poisoning, from the many new layers of insurance company bureacracy that will need to be developed to forcefully deny their claims. 4. We still do have 50% of children without mild to moderate dental fluorosis! Come on, people! Half of the nation is still not getting enough fluoride in their formative years to permanently damage their tooth enamel for life. Get on with the program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... 5. People are still not getting enough fluoride from the air. Coal fired power plants, aluminum smelters, phosphate mines, and steel mills are unfortunatly either shutting down or sadly reducing their fluoride output with modern stupid pollution control technology. Al Gore has just about ruined our chances of getting any wonderful dental benefits from smog. Well, there you have it. Five good reasons to believe Public Health officials when they scream that dental fluorosis is one of the top ten public health achievements of the twentieth century, right up there with autism (our beautiful gift to you when you vaccinate your baby), and the organochlorine carcinogens that you can’t even get in the public drinking water in Europe or Japan, that’s how backward they are. And don’t get me started on how we saved you from fresh raw foods like milk and almonds. And remember, there has never been any scientific evidence collected or research conducted in the United States that says fluoridation is harmful. And if there were, we would just suppress it and shoot the scientists. That’s why you don’t need to waste your time voting or trying to use the democratic process to stop us from violating your human rights. We are infallible & are going to poison…pardon, fluoridate the world, and don’t you forget it!

Victim wrote on Dec 19, 2007 3:36 AM:I won't drink fluoridated water. The politicians who benefit from poisoning the rest of us should be force-fed as much of this water as we can pump into them! Drink up! PROST!

JSten wrote on Dec 19, 2007 1:44 PM:I have consumed fluoridated water for many years as have my children. We lived in another state. that provided this. All I can say is that I and my kids have developed far more dental problems since we moved here that we did there. Its probably just the crappy diet. There is a lot of hyperbole out there, and, yes, there are a lot of inconsistencies as well. A government that is intent on preventing cancer has taken its sweet time to reign in Tobacco, yet they went over the wall on asbestos, and other trace environmental carcinogens (the numbr one cancer cause is still tobacco isn't it?) The place to answer this question is with the state regulators who are in charge of these decisions. Thyy mandated it, probably reviewing some sketchy studies and taking bribes-thats the default conclusion I see here.

Roberto1 wrote on Dec 20, 2007 6:03 AM:I here flouridated water cures xenophobia....No more paranoia just drink the purple kool-aid.

Hey Roberto 1 wrote on Dec 20, 2007 10:59 PM:You should try Non-Fluoridated water. It cures ignorance!

Why would they force us ? wrote on Dec 24, 2007 7:07 AM:Why do we get stuck drinking something we do not want to drink. The fruoride is not removable from the drinking water in normal means. I understand the only way is to distill it which is very costly. Why were they allowed to put a dangerous chemical, one that builds up in our bodies, in our water ? Won't that chemical also be absorbed through our skins, while taking baths or showers ? What happens to the people that are alergic to it or alredy have health problems ?

No Way Out wrote on Dec 26, 2007 8:57 AM:Are we all now drinking flluoridated drinking water. I do not want to. It is unfair to mass-medicate everyone with chemicals that are harmful, especially chemicals that cannot be removed. It should be illegal to force all of us to ingerst dangerous chemicals, more that we may already obtain unknowingly. This we know about. Let us use fouoride in our toothpaste and mouth washes.

richard wrote on Mar 4, 2008 10:55 AM:Metropolitan Water is unimpressed by citizen warnings or data from the National Research Council 2006 Report and, in violation of Federal law, began drugging our water, continuously since Dec. 2007, with artificial fluoride-containing compounds that do not exist naturally. The blood fluoride level of most everyone using this water rose from 0.08 ppm [from natural sources we already dealt with] to a whopping 0.21 ppm [NRC measurements for 0.9 ppm water]. After only 2 years bone levels accumjulate irreversibly to 2,000 mg/kg, weakening bone. Although many people don't notice or care and MWD has agreed to this, no one gave MWD or anyone the right to drug any American without express written permission. The FDA doesn’t approve drug addition into public water supplies and hasn’t approved public artificial fluoridation as either safe or effective. One day we all should hope that silicofluoridation equipment, reacting fluosilicic acid toxic waste with drano chemicals into sodium fluorosilicate salts, will be shut down. Until then, understand that reverse osmosis units, if they don’t have a separate anion exchange resin as an additional filter, cannot eliminate fluoride and make fluoridated water less safe to drink by removing calcium. Mitigation requires specific flouride filters ($70.00 for under sink binders, $1,100 for whole house chloride/fluoride exchangers)