Dental Association Says Fluoride in Water Mottles Babies' Teeth
CategoriesThe American Dental Association, in a recently published position statement, says that mothers should be careful not to prepare baby foods with fluoridated water from the tap, as the fluoride contained in it could be bad for developing babies' teeth:
"Recent studies cited in the report of the National Research Council (NRC), Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards, have raised the possibility that infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride through liquid concentrate or powdered baby formula that has been mixed with water containing fluoride during a time that their developing teeth may be susceptible to enamel fluorosis."To be sure, the statement adds that fluoride prevents tooth decay, but admits that too much of the stuff is not good and can damage tooth enamel. The association also points out that "fluorosis is not a disease but rather affects the way that teeth look".
The water in the US is heavily fluoridated with fluorosilicic acid, an industrial by-product of phosphate production and there are quite some problems that the toxic mineral brings for human and animal health.
Ireland is one of the few European countries where water is routinely fluoridated in an effort to "stop tooth decay", yet the problem persists. Other EU countries have recognized that adding fluoride causes more problems than it solves and stopped the practice.
Robert Pocock, the spokesman of VOICE of Irish Concern for the Environment, an association which campaigns against water fluoridation, says that fluorosilicic acid is not a pharmaceutical product and has never been approved by any health regulatory agency in the world, including the US Federal Drug Agency. He adds that the most likely explanation for this is that fluorosilicic acid is an industrial by-product of phosphate production.The VOICE spokesman also comments on the American Dental Association's change of heart and asks that the Irish government re-consider the practice of fluoridation:
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Flouridated water not to be used in infant formula, says American Dental Association (ADA)
In response to growing alarm at the increase in dental fluorosis, the ADA issued interim guidance on 9th Nov 2006 [1], advising parents to reduce fluoride intake from infant formula.The guidance states that while breast milk is best, ready-to-feed formula (which does not permit fluoride) may also be used and that if liquid or powdered concentrate infant formulas is [sic] the primary source of nutrition, it should be mixed with water that is fluoride-free (or contains low levels of fluoride).While some 62% of Americans and 73% of Irish people are exposed to fluoridated drinking water, Europe is almost wholly fluoridation-free.
This clear recognition of the risks of fluoridated water in making up infant formula is welcome and long overdue‚ said VOICE spokesman Robert Pocock, adding it completeley undermines the position of Health minister Mary Harney, who only the day before stated almost the direct opposite.
On Nov 8th she informed [2] the Dail (the lower house of the parliament of the Republic of Ireland) that fluoridated water is safe for use in babyfood; fluoride intake is well within the safe level‚ and is still relying on the flawed advice of her dental advisers and food safety experts who are completely compromised by their vested interests in protecting fluoridation policy regardless. This advice is in turn based on wildly inacurrate estimates of fluoride intake [3] involving predictions in place of the necessary research that has never been carried out in Ireland. Mary Harney's predecessor Micheal Martin said that Ireland was too small a population to do such studies on. [4]
The ADA admits that fluoride exposure in babies is too high; this is also confirmed by Irish Dentists Opposing Fluoridation who state [5] that four in ten Irish teenagers have dental fluorosis. The minister must stop downplaying the seriousness of this tap-water risk because 30,000 new-borns in Ireland a year receive only infant formula [6], most of which is of the reconstituted variety.
Since the minister told the Oireachtas (Parliament) Health Committee in July 2005: "if the Government thought for one moment that fluoridation did not have a positive effect, clearly it would do the right thing." [7]
The VOICE spokesman added "This admission by the ADA leaves the minister no option but to do the right thing and end fluoridation of our drinking water."
[2] Dail Question by Deputy Catherine Murphy, Question No 184 Ref 36821/06 Written
[3] Seanad Debate 19th February 2002, Senator Avril Doyle MEP Newborn drinks 1 pint per day up to 3 months which if made up with fluoridated water (1mg/l) represents ingestion of 0.33 to 0.42 mg of fluoride per day for a 3 kg baby. This is from four to five times the safe level set by the British Medical Association, as quoted by Avril Doyle MEP.
[4] Fluoride in our water; are we brushing with danger? Irish Independent
[5] www.idof.net and www.fluoridealert.org/dental-fluorosis.htm.
[6] Ireland at 43% has one of the lowest levels of breast-feeding in the EU.
The European Commission on FluorideIn Europe, hypocrisy reigns with regard to fluoride. According to European law, any substance presented as having properties for treating or preventing disease in human beings‚ is considered a medicine and has to be registered as a pharmaceutical product to be sold. Fluoride, as added to the drinking water, is promoted as a preventive treatment against tooth decay (caries) yet the fluorosilicic acid used for the purpose has never been approved to used as a medicine.
Nor could it ever be approved - the substance added to the drinking water in Ireland, in parts of the UK as well as in the US is a highly corrosive liquid containing numerous contaminants. Fluoride is difficult to dose and has never been evaluated in any controlled experiment necessary for drug approval. It is a toxic waste by-product of phosphate production and other industrial processes.
In a recent meeting of the Nutrition Committee of Codex Alimentarius, the international body that is charged with setting standards for foods, fluoride was not approved for addition to infant formula, but the European Commission successfully argued to allow fluoride as a possible ingredient in "medical foods".
See also:
American Dental Association concedes: Excessive fluoride a risk to children
After years of downplaying the risks of excessive fluoride intake, the American Dental Association (ADA) has just released new guidelines that dramatically reduce the recommended fluoride exposure for infants and children.No Fluoride for Infants, Say Dentists
The ADA reports, " ... infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride through liquid concentrate or powdered baby formula that has been mixed with water containing fluoride during a time that their developing teeth may be susceptible to enamel fluorosis."FDA Approves Fluoride in Bottled Water; Fluoridated Water Reduce the Risk of Tooth Decay
Bottled water containing between 0.6 and 1.0 mg/L total fluoride will be eligible to bear the following claim: "Drinking fluoridated water may reduce the risk of [dental caries or tooth decay]." The claim is not allowed with water intended for infants, FDA said. The American Dental Association immediately praised the agency's decision. "Whether you drink fluoridated water from the tap or buy it in a bottle, you're doing the right thing for your oral health," said ADA executive director James Bramson. "Thanks to the FDA's decision, bottlers can now claim what dentists have long known--that optimally fluoridated water helps prevent tooth decay."
More FDA insanity - pushing poisonous fluoride. And the ADA is cheering from the sidelins. UgghUnlicenced drug used for babies condemned by health NGOs
Five non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Alliance for Natural Health, the Dr Rath Health Foundation, the National Health Federation, VOICE and MayDay, have formed a new alliance to challenge national and international regulations and guidelines that continue to allow the use of synthetic fluorides in infant formulas.'Second Thoughts about Fluoride,' Reports Scientific American
After 3 years of scrutinizing hundreds of studies, a National Research Council (NRC) committee "concluded that fluoride can subtly alter endocrine function, especially in the thyroid -- the gland that produces hormones regulating growth and metabolism," reports Fagin.Fagin quotes John Doull, professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who chaired the NRC committee thusly, "The thyroid changes do worry me."
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