-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Dave Hartley http://www.asheville-computer.com/dave http://www.fluoride-journal.com/98-31-2/31259-60.htm references follow DEATH KNELL FOR FLUORIDATION? Two recent reports1,2 that raise further questions about the alleged safety of water fluoridation reveal significant and disturbing brain cell neurotoxicity from relatively low concentrations of aluminium fluoride and sodium fluoride in drinking water of rats. Abstracted and commented on at length in this issue of FLUORIDE (pages 89-99), these investigations demonstrate that long-term ingestion by rats of drinking water containing either 0.5 ppm aluminium fluoride (AlF3), or 2.1 ppm sodium fluoride (NaF) causes readily detectible damage not only to neuronal brain cells and vasculature but also to glomerular kidney cells. In one set of experiments the commonly recommended 1 ppm fluoride ion level used in water fluoridation was present in the drinking water along with 0.5 ppm aluminium ion (reported as " 0.5 ppm AlF3" ), and in the other series the same 1 ppm fluoride concentration was derived from 2.1 ppm NaF. Both brain cell and kidney cell abnormalities differed between the AlF3 and NaF groups. Compared to controls with Al derived from the diet, the Al levels in the brain tissue were more than doubled in the AlF3 group but not quite doubled in the NaF group. Although the kidney tissue Al levels were also doubled in the AlF3 group, they were about the same in the NaF group. Other previous experiments with rats showed that the toxicity of 0.5 ppm AlF3 in the drinking water, including severe deterioration in overall health, was significantly greater than at 5 or even 50 ppm AlF3. The reason for this paradoxical concentration effect is obscure, as is the mechanism by which aluminium along with fluoride passes through hydrophobic membranes and enters cells of the brain and kidneys. Considering the clear-cut character of these laboratory findings, it is surprising that such adverse effects have not been reported long before now. After many years of supposedly intensive research, the 50th anniversary of the beginning of water fluoridation in Grand rapids, Michigan, was celebrated on 25 January 1995 as an occasion for "justifiable pride".3 Even as recently as 1993 a National Research Council report of the US National Academy of Sciences concluded that the US Environmental Protection Agency's current Maximum Contaminant Level of 4 mg/L (4 ppm) for fluoride in drinking water was quite appropriate as an interim standard.4 This position was supported by a selective review of data concerning dental and skeletal fluorosis, bone fragility, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, and fluoride effects on the renal, gastrointestinal, and immune systems. Not cited, however, were fluoride effects on the central nervous system, including clinical reports of cognitive impairment5 and findings of impaired intelligence in both animals6 and humans7,8 related to fluoride. The "ethical basis"9,10 for adding fluoride to water supplies depends on the procedure being safe or at least having a highly favourable benefit/risk ratio. The new findings reviewed here, showing impaired brain function from fluoride in conjunction with aluminium, have clearly tipped the balance against fluoridation. If we keep in mind the ancient dictum primum non nocere, then the death knell for fluoridation has begun to toll. Bruce Spittle, Dunedin School of Medicine Albert W Burgstahler, University of Kansas REFERENCES 1.Isaacson RL, Varner JA, Jensen KF. Toxin-induced blood vessel inclusions caused by the chronic administration of aluminum and sodium fluoride and their implications for dementia. Neuroprotective Agents. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 825 152-166 1997. 2.Varner JA, Jensen KF, Horvath W, Isaacson RL. Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride or sodium-fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity. Brain Research 784 284-298 1998. 3.Burt BA. AAPHD Symposium: Fluoride: how much of a good thing? Introduction to the symposium. Journal of Public Health Dentistry 55 37-38 1995. 4.Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride. Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council. Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride. National Academy Press, Washington, DC 1993 pp 1-11. 5.Spittle B. Psychopharmacology of fluoride: a review. International Clinical Psychopharmacology 9 79-82 1994. 6.Mullenix PJ, Denbesten PK, Schunior A, Kernan WJ. Neurotoxicity of sodium fluoride in rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 17 169-177 1995. 7.Li XS, Zhi JL, Gao RO. Effect of fluoride exposure on intelligence in children. Fluoride 28 189-192 1995. 8.Zhao LB, Liang GH, Zhang DN, Wu XR. Effect of a high fluoride water supply on children's intelligence. Fluoride 29 190-192 1996. 9.Diesendorf M. How science can illuminate ethical debates: a case study on water fluoridation. Fluoride 28 87-104 1995. 10.Spittle B. The ethics of water fluoridation. Fluoride 28 57-60 1995. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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