By Richard Mesquita, AquaMD

Did you happen to read the recent Time magazine article titled Not In My Water Supply? It captures some of the serious concerns informed Americans have about fluoride being added to public water supplies.

While the article did not talk about the adverse effects fluoride has on various organs (the kidneys, heart and blood vessels, thyroid gland, immune system), it does provide information on the terrible effects fluoride has on teeth and bones.

This time, I'd like to share some highlights from this article, as well as some facts to give you a comprehensive explanation of the harm fluoride can do.

Water Fluoridation Gets its Start

The idea of adding fluoride to water supplies began some 60 years ago in this country. Two cities were chosen for water fluoridation trials that were supposed to last for 10 years or more (Grand Rapids, Mich. and Newburgh, N.Y.).

Although trials were set up to prove or refute that fluoridation prevents tooth decay, after just three years, it was announced that the dental health of children in the city of Newburgh had improved by more than 30 percent. Then, within the next two years, the trials were stopped when the U.S. Public Health Service endorsed fluoridation of public water supplies.

And since the trials were stopped, researchers couldn't easily measure if fluoride was having a negative impact on the health of the people who participated in those trials.

Water fluoridation then spread across the United States despite concerns by respected doctors and scientists that adding it to public water supplies could cause serious health problems that would only become evident years later.

Does Fluoride in Drinking Water Really Reduce Cavities?

Water fluoridation supporters claimed back then -- and today -- that there has been a significant drop in cavities across the U.S. population, a direct result of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies. While it's true there has been a drop in tooth decay rates in America, there is no clear indication fluoride is responsible for that improvement.

Besides, fluoride supporters conveniently forget the obvious: There has also been a significant drop in tooth decay for people who do not drink fluoridated water. So the reduction in tooth decay is not due to fluoride in the water but is instead due to a better diet and improved dental hygiene.

In fact, according to a 2001 study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was found that by age 12, kids who live in fluoridated communities averaged only 1.4 fewer cavities that those in non-fluoridated communities. And, "even in fluoridated cities, severe tooth decay remains rampant among the poor," according to Time, because 85 percent of dentists reject treating poor patients under Medicaid.

Even in Western Europe, where tooth decay levels have dropped as sharply as in this country, 17 of 21 countries -- a whopping 80 percent -- have stopped water fluoridation or refused to start water fluoridation.

Dental Fluorosis Running Rampant

The CDC recently found 32 percent of American children now have some level of dental fluorosis (mottling and pitting of the teeth), a direct result of fluoride accumulating in their bodies. If that's not bad enough, I did a little digging and found this statistic may understate the problem.

Figuring 60 percent of Americans have fluoride added to their public water supply, if you eliminate the 40 percent who aren't exposed, it means 53 percent of children living in "fluoridated" communities have some level of dental fluorosis!

The more fluoride added to the water, the higher the level of dental fluorosis found. In fact, in 1993, the National Research Council of America reported 84 percent of the population in areas where fluoride in the water exceeded 3.7 parts per million (ppm) had dental fluorosis!

What does 3.7 ppm mean to you and me? It means that if your water company only adds 3.7 drops of fluoride in every 13 gallons of water, you have an 84 percent chance of having dental fluorosis.

Fluoride in Water Linked to Bone Cancer

This past summer, the Environmental Working Group petitioned the National Institutes of Health to list fluoride in tap water as a carcinogen. Time magazine reports that their petition cites "decades of peer-reviewed studies on fluoride's ability to mutate DNA and its known deposition on the ends of growing bones."

Amazingly, fluoride's link to bone cancer came to light in the '70s when researchers found an increase of bone structure defects in the population served by fluoridated drinking water in Newburgh, N.Y. (remember those fluoridation trials). This finding prompted a full study of the link between fluoride and osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer).

A 1991 study by the U.S. Public Health Service found a strong link between fluoride exposure and bone cancer in boys. They found there was a 79 percent increase in osteosarcoma in fluoridated communities and a 4 percent decrease in non-fluoridated communities.

Once they expanded the study nationwide they also found that rates of osteosarcoma were 57 percent higher in fluoridated communities than in communities with non-fluoridated water.

Fluoride is closely linked to osteosarcoma for these reasons:

• Fifty percent of ingested fluoride is deposited in your bones.
• Fluoride is a mitogen that stimulates bone growth.
• Fluoride is known to cause human cells to mutate.

So when fluoride is deposited into the bones, it stimulates bone growth, but not the good kind. Instead, it's growth that damages cells at the ends of bones and causes osteosarcoma.

Protect Yourself

If you needed more proof as to how hazardous fluoride is, note these facts:

1. The FDA forces toothpaste manufactures to print the following warning label on every tube of toothpaste that includes fluoride: "If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a poison-control center right away."
2. Last August, unions representing 7,000 EPA employees called on the agency to stop adding fluoride to drinking water supplies. (The EPA dictates how much fluoride is added to public water supplies).

If fluoride is in your drinking water, get it out of there promptly.

Unfortunately, fluoride is not the only possible contaminant in your water. Many water companies also report the presence of pesticides, mercury, arsenic, aluminum, perchlorate and a laundry list of other industrial chemicals in public water supply.

Although these toxins can cause significant health problems, most people remain blissfully unaware because they wrongly assume water that looks, tastes or smells good is safe for them too.

How wrong they are!