NEW JERSEY ACTION ALERT

Water Fluoridation Hearing Held

The Public Health Council (PHC), the deciding body for the NJ Dept. of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) held a public hearing June 6 regarding a petition filed by the NJ Dental Association that asks the DHSS to mandate the fluoridation of NJ public water supplies (details of this petition and our objections follow at the end of this notice.) You can access the DHSS posting at the following web address: http://www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/phc_flu_notice.pdf. Written comments may be submitted until July 6, 2005 to Dept. of Health and Senior Services, Office of Boards and Councils, Market and Warren Streets, P.O. Box 360, Trenton NJ 08625-0360. Or send your comments as an email (not attachments) to alise.davis@doh.state.nj.us.

Mandate Being Rushed Through

It appears the PHC is going to approve this mandate. According to reporters (DHSS does not choose to keep the public updated!) a vote will probably take place at their regular August 8 or September 12, 2005 meeting. Please keep checking their agenda schedule for fluoridation (www.state.nj.us/health/commiss/phc2005cal.htm). They are not willing to wait until the prestigious National Academy of Sciences completes its’ 2 year study on the toxicology of fluoride in water later this year. It also seems, according to media reports, they have written off any studies on the opponents’ side (without actually reading or discussing them with fluoridation opponent experts!) Yet they rely on 40-year-old studies and anecdotal testimony and empty endorsements from proponents!

The PHC is comprised of doctors, nurses, a dentist, a lawyer and others. They all are politically appointed volunteers. They need to hear from the public that you do not want to be medicated through your water supply. Ask them where is the specific study that shows that adding fluoride products to drinking water helps the dental health of poor children, since most major fluoridated cities such as Boston, New York City, Cincinnati, etc. are experiencing dental crisises where poor children are having to visit hospital emergency rooms to have acute dental problems solved. Ask them why they are using different standards to judge studies that show fluoride in drinking water is safe and effective than those that show water fluoridation to be ineffective in preventing cavities in poor children and that it is harmful to some segments of the population, if not all, in some way! Ask why they are not working on obtaining dental care for those who cannot afford it.

We Need Your Help!

Contact the media to educate them and spread the word. Contact your state legislators (www.nj.gov  - click on "Legislature" on the top , then find your district and your senators and assembly people - you can send emails directly from this site) asking them to intervene on your behalf to stop a politically appointed volunteer body from circumventing the democratic process and mandating that every man, woman, child and pet be forced to drink fluoride products via their water supply. If you are able to obtain an appointment to speak in person with your legislators, we will be glad to send someone from our organization to accompany you. Please go to our website www.njsafewater.org or the more extensive website of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) at www.fluoridealert.org for information you can use.

Do not believe reports that this will not affect all residents on public water supplies! Although a exemption would be given to municipalities or water systems lacking funding as is required by NJ’s constitution, outside third party funding has probably already been lined up, as has happened in other states such as California so that every water system will have to comply.

Members of the PHC have stated that they do not want to hear any anecdotal or emotional testimony from the public, so it is our advise to download scientific information from the FAN website (www.fluoridealert.org) and use specific references in your comments. Please send the media copies of your comments in the form of letters to the editor. In this way we will be able to make sure the media will hear the science behind the opponents' side.

Arguments To Use In Letters

The following are additional arguments to use (we thank Paul Connett, PhD, for allowing us to use information from the book he is writing; all references may be obtained on the Fluoride Action Network [FAN] at www.fluoridealert.org.

Fluoridation is unethical because it violates an individual’s right to informed consent to medication, especially since tooth decay is neither life threatening nor contagious. It ignores that some people are more vulnerable to the toxic effects, especially families of low income whose diets can be lacking nutrients and who cannot afford avoidance measures. No one monitors the health or harm of individuals ingesting fluoridated water, or total intake from other sources. Doses and/or an individual’s response cannot be controlled.

Fluoridation is unnecessary because children can have perfectly good teeth without being exposed to fluoride. The "benefits" claimed even by fluoridation promoters are topical so the water does not have to be ingested and toothpaste should be all that is needed, if at all. Breast milk contains only about 0.01 ppm, which is 100 times less than in fluoridated tap water - nature knows best! Children in non-fluoridated areas are already ingesting more than enough from other sources as indicated by dental fluorosis, which is 2 times higher in unfluoridated communities.

Fluoridation is ineffective since recent dental researchers concede that its’ "benefits" are topical not systemic. It is ineffective at preventing pit and fissure tooth decay, which is 85% of the tooth decay experienced by children. It cannot prevent "baby bottle" tooth decay. Presently, poor populations of children in large fluoridated cities are experiencing dental crisises even with fluoride! The early fluoridation trials were seriously flawed and would not stand up to scientific scrutiny today. Several studies show that decay is declining as fast, if not faster, in non-fluoridated industrialized countries. The largest survey conducted in the US showed only a difference in tooth decay of 0.6 on one tooth surface out of 128 in children living all their lives in fluoridated communities (not statistically significant.) The latest survey among 10,000 children in South Australia showed NO difference in decay between children who drank fluoridated water vs. those who did not. When fluoridation was halted in communities in Finland, former East Germany, Cuba and Canada, tooth decay continue to decline.

Fluoridation is unsafe because it accumulates in bones making them more brittle and prone to fracture. The first indication of fluoride damage to bones are symptoms which are identical to arthritis, which 1 in 3 American adults suffer, yet health authorities are not making any attempts to track the level of fluoride in the bones of American people. Fluoride also accumulates in the pineal gland, possibly lowering the production of melatonin, an important regulatory hormone, which controls the timing of biological cycles such as the onset of puberty and aging. Fluoride damages the enamel (dental fluorosis) of a high percentage of children. There are serious but mixed findings in both animal and human studies (including one completed by the NJ Dept. of Health) between fluoridation and osteosarcoma (cancer of the bone - most commonly in the long bones) in young men which would normally trigger the precautionary principle and further studies - but no studies have been called for. Studies have shown that the thyroid function of normal people could be lowered by fluoride in the drinking water. In animal studies fluoride at 1 ppm in drinking water increases the uptake of aluminum into the brain and the formation of beta amyloid deposits that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Counties in the US with 3-ppm ore more of fluoride in their water have lower fertility rates. In human studies silicofluoride agents (used in 91% of fluoridation systems) correlates with an increase in the uptake of environmental lead into children’s blood and increases in violent behavior.

Water fluoridation uses industrial grade forms of fluoride. Although the mandate being considered by the DHSS does not stipulate what fluoride products have to be used, 91% of systems use silicofluorides. Unlike the pharmaceutically graded products used by dental professionals, these agents are untreated, untested industrial grade waste products from the phosphate processing industry-containing contaminants such as arsenic, lead, mercury, etc. It is estimated by a scientist at the federal Environmental Protection Agency that this industry alone is reaping an economic advantage by diluting its toxic waste into our drinking water is $125,000,000 a year! This is because it is being paid for the waste that it would have to dispose of as a hazardous waste. It is not hard to see where the pressure is coming from! Wouldn’t this be a great investigation for some savvy reporter?

With no double blind study showing water fluoridation to be safe and effective and even the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control admitting that fluoride "works" by topical not systemic (ingestion) means, this petition asks an appointed state government department to decide to add fluoride products to public water supplies. For the purported purpose of preventing cavities in some disadvantaged young children, this petition requires that all New Jersey Citizens on public water systems be medicated with fluoridation products.

Although the petition does not specify which fluoride products are to be used, 90% of fluoridation systems use silicofluorides, untested, and untreated toxic wastes of phosphate processing plants. Recent studies of these silicofluorides show their alarming ability to allow lead to cross the blood/brain barrier and be deposited in the brain as well asbehavioral, learning, attention deficit abnormalities in laboratory animals. and lowered IQ scores for children. The remaining 10% of systems use other untreated industrial waste products, such as sodium fluoride from aluminum manufacturing. Although pharmaceutically-graded sodium fluoride has been used in fluoride testing, the sodium fluoride added to water supplies is also industrial grade (with contaminants) has not.

Many scientists believe that fluoride is far from the safe cavity-preventer that proponents have been claiming for years. Some believe that although small amounts of topical fluoride, such as is applied in the dentist’s office, may help prevent cavities by incapacitating enzymes produced by bacteria in the mouth, it is that very ability that blocks enzyme activity that allows fluoride to disrupt other functions in the body. Fluoride is known to delay the emergence of the secondary teeth and recent literature is questioning if it also affects the onset of puberty, ADHD and other behavioral problems.

These industrial grade toxic waste/ fluoridating products could not legally be dumped into any body of water, but they can be added to our water supplies, without treatment, to medicate people! Even proponents know that, “Existing date indicate that subsets of the population may be unusually susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride and its compounds. These populations include the elderly, people with deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, and/or vitamin C, and people with cardiovascular and kidney problems.” [A Toxicological Profile by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) TP-91/17, Page 112, Sec. 2.7 (Health Impacts,) April 1993.] Fluoride is slightly less toxic than arsenic and slightly more toxic than lead! The amount of fluoride in a family size tube of toothpaste could kill a small child if it were ingested! Industry pressure has prevented a skull and crossbones to be included in the warnings on toothpaste tubes.

Fluoridated cities like New York City and Cincinnati are having dental crisises even with fluoride in their water and that the Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association admit that fluoride only “works” topically so it does not need to be ingested.

We are now receiving uncontrolled amounts of fluoride through fluoride toothpastes (500-1500 ppm), vitamins and rinses (2000 ppm in school-based oral mouth rinse programs); foods and drinks canned, bottled or processed in fluoridated cities (most canned and bottled products are fluoridated including most domestic beers); foods containing naturally occurring fluoride (such as tea); foods treated with pesticides (especially cryolite); foods such as mechanically deboned chicken and beef; foods cooked in Teflon pans, cigarettes, anesthetics, pharmaceuticals, such as tranquillizers and anti-depressants, and more!

Dental fluorosis, an irreversible condition caused by excessive ingestion of fluoride during the tooth forming years, marked by white spots, blotches, snow capping, to yellowish-brown stains and pitting of the teeth, is rampant among children and young adults. This shows that they have now received too much fluoride. Skeletal fluorosis follows the progression of dental fluorosis. Tell them that the products used in water fluoridation are untreated industrial wastes and have never even been used in safety and effectiveness testing! The federal Environmental Protection Agency has admitted thay they have never been tested for effects on health or behavior!

If at all, fluoridation of public water supplies should be decided locally, by democratic process!

Please check back on our website or visit the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) at www.fluoridealert.org for further details/documentation to use in your letters.

Even if the DHSS denies this petition, proponents are armed with a state bill. New Jersey Assembly bill No. 3611 was introduced by Assemblymen David W. Wolfe, Dist. 10 (Monmouth and Ocean) and Sean T. Kean, Dist. 11 (Monmouth) on May 15, 2003 and withdrawn 3 months later. The "New Jersey Public Water Supply Fluoridation Act" which mandated the NJ DHSS to require the fluoridation of water in all public water supply systems within 12 months of the effective date of the law. It also required the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to enforce the legislation. The bill was withdrawn 3 months later because of a similar petition to the one being considered presently that was submitted by an organization calling itself the Oral Health Coalition in December 2002. We have learned that petitions asking the DHSS to require public water supply fluoridation have been submitted to the department about every 1 to 4 years. If the DHSS decides to deny the petition, the sponsors of the NJ Assembly bill will likely reintroduce their bill again. It would not be surprising if proponents even had other assemblypeople and senators ready to introduce bills if this mandate fails.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS ENOUGH INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE FOR YOU TO WRITE AN INTELLIGENT LETTER TO THE DHSS. If you need more detailed info, please go to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) website (www.fluoridealert.org) for documentation on the fluoridation issue. We have not written a form letter because authorities will pay more attention to self-written letters than to form letters, and even more attention to personal visits and showing up at hearings. If you still feel you need help in the way of a form letter, please contact us at 973-984-0604.

Please keep up to date on this issue by sending us your email address or checking our website regularly. We are a not-for-profit grassroots organization run by volunteers with little funding and will not be able to send out newsletters every time there is an update!

If you have not done so, please join NJCOFF or at least send a donation to cover mailings and our expenses bringing in expert help to New Jersey. Opponent experts do not take any money for their time, but we cannot expect them to fund their trips to help us in our battle! Dues are $10 per year. Please consider contributing on a regular basis through our current battle on the state level! Send checks to NJCOFF, P.O. Box 91, Convent Station NJ 07961-0091.