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McCook Gazette
Letter to the Editor

Unfunded mandate

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Dear Editor,

Regarding the fluoride issue ... this is yet another un-funded mandate being shoved down our throats by Government.

Fluoride is a very toxic substance in it's concentrated form and requires expensive equipment for a community to add it to the water system. There is already a fair amount of fluoride which occurs naturally in our groundwater. Water cost is high enough already, and steadily rising, along with all other utilities. Government is always in favor of raising the cost of living with no care about how it will affect the residents, especially the elderly.

Also, 99.9 percent of the high-performance water would be used to flush the toilet, water the lawn, do the laundry, and shower, where the fluoride would be useless. Many folks drink store bought water too, which would make fluoride teatment worthless for them.

I say we have enough government mandates (funded by the citizens). No more unnecessary expenses. Thank you.

Gary Benson,

Cambridge

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  • Over 1300 additional professionals signed onto the Fluoride Action Network's (FAN) statement calling for an end to fluoridation as more evidence emerges to condemn fluoridation.

    Now over 1,860 professionals urge Congress to stop water fluoridation and hold Congressional hearings, 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

    Since the first FAN August 2007 statement, the following has occurred:

    -- The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada's leading voice on environmental health issues, released a statement opposing fluoridation.

    -- 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." (1)

    -- Researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (2)

    -- A qualitative review of studies found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ, conclude Tang el al., in "Fluoride and Children's Intelligence: A Meta-analysis" in Biological Trace Element Research (e-published 8/10/08)

    -- 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

    -- An expert panel Health Canada commissioned to study the risks of fluoride exposure says the government should cut the recommended amount in drinking water, encourage the use of low-fluoride toothpaste by children and have makers of infant formula reduce levels in their products. The panel recommended reduced fluoride exposure because it was worried children might be getting too much of the chemical.

    References:

    (1) National Kidney Foundation, "Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease," April 15, 2008

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

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

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

    -- Posted by nyscof on Tue, Oct 21, 2008, at 12:42 PM
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