National Drinking Water Week kicked off yesterday–a day when water quality and safety was top of mind for many Americans due to continued leakage of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

And while most news focused on ocean water, the American Water Works Association gave the annual weekly observance a theme of “Only Tap Water Delivers.”  A theme that holds true in many parts of the country.

Tap water is used daily for drinking, bathing, and cooking, but also benefits communities by providing water to businesses, schools, and hospitals.  Fluoridation of drinking water has led to a decreased incidence of tooth decay in communities nationwide.

Since disinfection, treatment, and environmental regulation of water pollutants have been introduced, domestic water quality has significantly improved and the risk of waterborne illness has decreased.

In a press release announcing Drinking Water Week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated, “New challenges to the U.S. water supply include aging drinking water infrastructure, climate change impacts on water availability and quality, chemical contamination of water sources, emerging pathogens (e.g., Cryptosporidium), and the development of new ways to obtain and use water.”

“National Drinking Water Week is a time to highlight the importance of safe drinking water and recognize that protecting and reinvesting in water infrastructure is crucial to the health of persons living in the United States.”

This is an all too real statement for many Boston, Mass.-area residents and restaurant owners who since Saturday have been under a boil water notice after a major water pipe sprung a “catastrophic” leak.

The Boston Mayor’s office provided the following advice for preventing illness until Boston and the surrounding communities’ tap water has been determined safe:

Retaurants:

–Do not use any ice made after the boil alert was issued [Saturday] evening until further notice.  Drain and sanitize all ice machines.

–You may wash dishes with a dish washer if it is set to a high temperature or using a chemical disinfectant

–You should serve only bottled water for drinking or water that has been boiled for at least a full minute

–For food preparation, you should only use water that has been boiled for at least one minute or bottled.

–Do not use any automated beverage dispenser which has water as one of the options.

Households:

–The MWRA has issued a boil water order for all households in the city of Boston.

–Water must be boiling for at least one minute before it is safe to drink.

–Do not use any tap water for cooking, baby formula, tooth-brushing, or food preparation that has not been boiled first, or is not bottled.

–Please check on elderly or vulnerable neighbors.

–Please avoid any unnecessary use of water (car washing, yard watering)

–Showering and bathing is safe, but you are advised to close your mouth and not consume any water.

Massachusetts residents under the boil water order will be able to consume tap water after the municipal water system has been flushed to ensure all bacteria has been eliminated from the system, and chlorine levels high enough to kill any pathogens present, thereby preventing the spread of illness from contaminated water.

Boston-area residents under the boil order could come up with some creative ways to participate in the American Water Works Association creative video contest celebrating National Drinking Water Week.  Anyone who films a video highlighting how they celebrate Drinking Water Week can post their video to YouTube and win a $1,000 gift certificate to the Water Works Association bookstore.  To enter, send a link to your YouTube video to dmueller@awwa.org.  The deadline to enter is May 30, 2010.  Winners will be notified at a later date.

source: Food Safety News

New York –March 2010– Over 2,700 professionals (including over 260 dentists) urge the US Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted, citing scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. See statement: http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html

Much of the fluoridation chemicals are purchased from China according to Kip Duchon, Fluoridation Engineer for the Centers for Disease Control. (a) Amesbury, MA water engineers found the Chinese fluoride chemicals clogged up their system. ( c)

Also, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals called for a moratorium on drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in people. (b)

Approximately, 80 US communities rejected fluoridation in 2008 & 2009 (1)

Since the professionals’ statement was first issued (Aug 2007), the following occurred:

– The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment,Canada’s leading voice on environmental health issues, released a statement opposing fluoridation. (2)

– May 2009, Great Lakes United (GLU) supports the end of water fluoridation. GLU is made up organizations representing environmentalists, conservationists, hunters and anglers, labor unions, community groups, and citizens of the United States, Canada, and First Nations and Tribes. (13)

– The National Kidney Foundation dropped its fluoridation support replacing it with this caution: “Individuals with CKD [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk of fluoride exposure.” (3)

– Researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (4)

– “A qualitative review of …studies found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ,” concluded Tang el al., in “Fluoride and Children’s Inte lligence: A Meta-analysis” inBiological Trace Element Research (5)

– Scientific American editors wrote in January 2008, “Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland”

– Dr. A. K. Susheela, a leading fluoride expert, explains in a video why US physicians overlook fluoride as a possible cause of diseases commonly caused by fluoride. http://tinyurl.com/Susheela

– A study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry reveals that cavity-free teeth have little to do with fluoride intake.Researchers report, “The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical…while fluorosis is clearly more dependent on fluoride intake.”

– Research published in Biological Trace Element Research (April 2009). indicates that blood fluoride levels were significantly higher in patients with osteosarcoma than in control groups. (13) Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, occurs mostly in children and young adults

– Children’s cavity rates are similar whether water is fluoridated or not, according to data published in the July 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association by dentist J.V. Kumar of the NY State Health Department (15).

– All infant formula, whether concentrated or not, contain fluoride at levels that can discolor teeth – even organic, according to research published in the October 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association. (16)

A Tennessee State legislator, Joey Hensley, who is also an MD is urging all Tennessee Water Districts to stop fluoridation, reported a Tennessee newspaper on 11/29/08. At least 30 Tennessee water districts have already complied with his request.(6)

On 1/5/09, the Burlington Board of Health recommended that Burlington cease fluoridation because fluoridation can harm some people. (7)

On 1/6/09, a Canadian town, Drayton, stopped fluoridation, not to save money, but because it was in the best interests of residents, said the Mayor. (8)

The Arkansas Oral Health Director is accused of giving eight “false or misleading statements” on fluoridation to an Arkansas legislative Committee. (12)

Signers to the FAN statement include:

• Arvid Carlsson, Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine, 2000
• Vyvyan Howard, MD, PhD, Immediate Past President, International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE)
• Ingrid Eckerman, MD, MPH, President, Swedish Doctors for the Environment (LFM), Stockholm, Sweden
• Raul Montenegro, PhD, Right Livelihood Award 2004 (known as the Alternative Nobel Prize), President of FUNAM, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, National University of Cordoba, Argentina
• The current President and six past Presidents of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology
• Three scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters Union in Washington D.C.
* William Marcus, PhD, Former chief toxicologist of the EPA Water Division, Boyds, MD
• Three members of the National Research Council committee who wrote the landmark 2006 report: Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards (Hardy Limeback, PhD, DDS; Robert L. Isaacson, PhD; Kathleen M. Thiessen, PhD)
• The Board of Directors, American Academy of Environmental Medicine
• Two advisory board members of the UK government sponsored “York Review”
• Andy Harris, MD, former national president, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Salem, OR
• Theo Colborn, PhD, co-author, Our Stolen Future
• Lynn Margulis, PhD, a recipient of the National Medal of Science
• Ken Cook and Richard Wiles, President and Executive Director, Environmental Working Group (EWG)
• Ron Cummins, Director, Organic Consumers Association
• Magda Aelvoet, MD, Former Minister of Public Health, Leuven, BELGIUM
• Doug Everingham, former Federal Health Minister (1972-75), Australia
• Peter Montague, PhD, Director of Environmental Health Foundation
• Ted Schettler, MD, Science Director, Science and Environmental Health Network
• Stephen Lester, Science Director, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice
• Lois Gibbs, Executive Director, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, Goldman Prize Winner (1990), Falls Church, VA
• FIVE Goldman Prize winners (2006, 2003, 1997, 1995, 1990)
• Sam Epstein, MD, author, “Politics of Cancer” and Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition
• Pat Costner, retired Senior Scientist, Greenpeace International
• Jay Feldman, Executive Director, Beyond Pesticides
• Sandra Duffy, Board President, Consumers for Dental Choice
• Joseph Mercola, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, http://www.mercola.com/, Chicago, IL
• Michael W. Fox, DSc, PhD, BVM, MRCVS (former vice president of The Humane Society of the US, former vice president of Humane Society International and the author of more than 40 adult and children’s books on animal care, animal behavior and bioethics), http://www.twobitdog.com/DrFox/, Minneapolis, MN
• Leo Cashman, Executive Director of DAMS (Dental Amalgam Mercury Syndrome)
• Chris Bryson, author, The Fluoride Deception
• Environmental leaders from over 30 countries, and
• Legendary folksinger, songwriter and activist, Pete Seeger

Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Arvid Carlsson, says, “Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It’s really obsolete.”

Fluoride jeopardizes health – even at low levels deliberately added to public water supplies, according to data presented in a 2006 National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) National Research Council (NRC) report. Fluoride poses risks to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others and can severely damage children’s teeth. (11) At least three panel members advise avoiding fluoridated water.

“The NRC fluoride report dramatically changed scientific understanding of fluoride’s health risks,” says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network. “Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in the NRC report,” he added.

The Professionals’ Statement also references:

– The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be prepared with fluoridated water.

– The CDC’s concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not systemic.

– CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now impacts one third of American children.

– Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.

– A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone cancer.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG President Ken Cook states, “It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other environmental issues, it’s as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water plant.”

Adverse health effects of fluoride: http://www.FluorideAction.Net/health

END
References:

a) http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/Utilities/WRAB/5%2021%2007/wrab_agenda_memo_1.pdf

b) Press Release August 19, 2005, “EPA Unions Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Fluoridation, Congressional Hearing on Adverse Effects, Youth Cancer Cover Up,” Contact: Dr. William Hirzy, Vice-President NTEU Chapter 280

http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/National/EPA-unions-call-for-moratorium-on-fluoride-in-drinking-water

c) http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Massachusetts/Amesbury-Fluoride-concerns-are-worth-probing

(1) http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm

(2) http://www.fluoridealert.org/cape.html

(3) National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease,” April 15, 2008

http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

(4) “Adding fluoride to water supplies,” British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007

(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18695947?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

(6) http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Tennessee/Tennessee-Lawmaker-campaigns-against-fluoride-bill

(7) http://www.swabvt.org/node/300

(8) http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1373584

(9) http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/commissioners_vote_to_halt_fluoride_program/

(10) http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090303/NEWS0301/90303100/1009/NEWS01

(11) National Research Council (2003-2006): Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards

http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/epa/nrc/

(12) “State oral health director challenged over comments about fluoridation,”
March 10, 2009,by Kathryn Lucariello, Carroll County News

http://www.carrollconews.com/story/1509198.html

(13) Biological Trace Element Research, “Serum Fluoride and Sialic Acid Levels in Osteosarcoma,” by Sandhu R, Lal H, Kundu ZS, Kharb S, Apr 24, 2009 [Epub ahead of print]

(14) http://www.glu.org/sites/default/files/Resolution-regarding-artificial-water-fluoridation.pdf

(15) “The Association Between Enamel Fluorosis and Dental Caries in U.S. Schoolchildren,” Kumar & Iida Journal of the American Dental Association, July 2009 (Table 1)

(16) “Assessing a potential risk factor for enamel fluorosis: a preliminary evaluation of fluoride content in infant formulas,” Journal of the American Dental Association October 2009

SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net/