The Totality of Fluoride |
Why do health authorities ignore the World Health Organization warning that they should be aware of total fluoride exposure before introducing fluoridation?
BFS suggested answer
The World Health Organization considers appropriately fluoridated water and routine toothbrushing with a fluoride toothpaste a basic level of protection against tooth decay. The WHO does not recommend that health authorities should be aware of total fluoride exposure before introducing fluoridation.
BFS suggested answer refuted
In the assessment of the safety of a water supply with respect to the fluoride concentration, the total daily fluoride intake by the individual must be considered. Apart from variations in climatic conditions, it is well known that in certain areas, fluoride-containing foods form an important part of the diet. The facts should be borne in mind in deciding the concentration of fluoride to be permitted in drinking water.
WHO, 1971 (emphasis added)
The BFS’s suggested answer is a vain attempt to sidestep the issue because they have ignored the WHO’s warning. The word ‘recommend’ is not used by the WHO, but that was not the question. What the WHO actually said in 1971 is quoted above.1 And the BFS has ignored it.
The reason we need to be aware of total fluoride intakes before even more is added is that fluoride levels have been rising over the past half-century. As we saw in Chapter 4, fluoride intakes from a wide range of sources have increased dramatically since fluoridation was introduced half a century ago.
An uncontrolled experiment
In 1997 I decided to do an experiment. I do not use a fluoridated toothpaste, I eat very little that comes in a packet or tin, I don’t use non-stick cookware (another significant source of fluoride), I had stopped drinking tea, and the tap water in my area contains only 0.13 ppm of naturally occurring calcium fluoride. In that year I sent a sample of my urine to a laboratory for analysis. I had expected that it would show a negligible fluoride intake. However, I was horrified to discover, when the results came back, that they indicated I had an intake of 1.5 mg per day. Thus, I am consuming 50 per cent more than is ‘needed to protect my teeth’, and half the safe amount – and I am actively trying to avoid it altogether!
Conclusion
Over the half-century that fluoridation has been practised, fluoride intakes have risen alarmingly. Just how much fluoride are people taking in? Estimates in the 1950s put total intake at less than 1 mg per day; latest figures say it is approaching 8 mg. The UK Department of Health estimates that the average daily consumption in fluoridated areas in Britain is 2.9 mg per day. But this estimate is merely a guess, and not even an educated guess at that, because the Department of Health has never actually measured fluoride intakes – so it simply doesn’t know what the real intake is. The WHO warning needs to be taken seriously.
1.WHO. International drinking water standards. World Health Organization, 1971.