1. The type of fluoride added to drinking water never occurs in nature. Nor does Fort Collins buy pharmaceutical grade fluoride used in dental products. Fort Collins uses hydrofluorosilicic acid (HFS) from the scrubbing system of a phosphate fertilizer company, containing lead and other metals. HFS has never been approved for safety or effectiveness by either the EPA or the FDA.

1) Lucier Chemical Industries, Inc. Internal spec. sheet.
2) Chemical and Engineering News, vol. 66, p. 39, 1988.
3) Thomas Reeves, Chief Fluoridation Engineer, CDC, 2001.
4) Letters from the EPA, CDC, FDA, and NSF responding to a Congressional investigation, 1988-2000.

2. Fluoride is more toxic than lead and slightly less toxic than arsenic. However, several hundred times more fluoride is allowed in the water than either lead or arsenic, and it accumulates in the body and the environment, like lead and arsenic, inflicting damage over a long period of time.

1) Clinical Toxicology, 1984.
2) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
3) U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, ATSDR Doc. TP 91/17 (1993)

3. Infants should be given no fluoride at all. Formula made with fluoridated water is harmful to babies. A family-sized tube of fluoride toothpaste contains enough fluoride to kill a small child.

1) Journal of Public Health Dentistry, vol. 59, 1999.
2) Journal of the American Dental Association, vol. 131, 2000.
3) Proctor & Gamble, the maker of Crest.

4. Four glasses (one liter) of fluoridated water equals a one-milligram prescription dose of fluoride, or four times the maximum dose for children 6 months to 3 years of age.
1) EPA Drinking Water Glossary, p. 19, June 1994.
2) Pediatrics, vol. 95, 1995.

5. Fluoride is linked to health problems, including thyroid disease, bone cancer and bone fractures, behavior problems, arthritis, and genetic damage.

1) J. Clinical Endocrinology, 18:1102-1110, 1958.
2) Problemy Endokrinologii, 42:6-9, 1996.
3) Chemical and Engineering News, vol. 66, 1988
4) Lancet, vol. 36, p. 737, 1990.
5) Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, U.S. Public Health Service, pp. F1-F7, 1991.
6) Carcinogenesis, vol. 9, pp. 2279-2284, 1988.
7) A Brief Report on the Association of Drinking Water Fluoridation and the Incidence of Osteosarcoma among Young Males, New Jersey Dept. of Health, Nov. 1992. 8) Neurotoxicology & Teratology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1995.
9) JAMA, vol. 264, 1990; vol. 266, 1991; 268, 1992.

6. Fluoride supplements are only available by prescription. Putting fluoride in the water is therefore medicating entire populations without people's permission. It is the right of every citizen to make personal health decisions and to have a water supply free of medications. No one should be forced to take a prescription dose of fluoride.

7. Fort Collins citizens are already being over-fluoridated without drinking artificially fluoridated water. Fluoride is found in most toothpastes, in foods and drinks processed in fluoridated areas, and in pesticide residue on fruits, vegetables, and grains. The daily intake of fluoride is far in excess of what was considered optimal in 1943.

8. Dental fluorosis, the permanent discoloration, scarring, and weakening of children's teeth, is a visible sign of fluoride poisoning. Fluorosis is rapidly increasing in the United States, even in unfluoridated areas.

1) Journal of Public Health Dentistry, vol. 57, pp. 136-143, 1997; vol. 46, pp. 184-187, 1986.
2) Journal of the American Dental Association, vol. 108, pp. 56-59, 1984.
3) Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, National Research Council, p. 37, 1993.

9. There is NO DIFFERENCE in tooth decay rates in fluoridated and unfluoridated cities. Recent studies of defluoridated cities have shown no increase in cavities, and sometimes a decrease.

1) Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 41, 1997.
2) www.fluoridealert.org/WHO-dmft.htm.
3) Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, vol. 53, 1987.
4) Caries Research, vol. 34, pp. 462-8, 2000.

10. Fluoridation has been rejected, discontinued, or banned throughout most of the world. Almost all of Europe is unfluoridated on the grounds that it is unsafe, and Europeans’ teeth are often healthier than fluoridated Americans!

1) Chemical and Engineering News, vol. 66, p. 30, 1988.
2) World Health Organization data

.

11. Recent studies show that hip fracture rates in the elderly are significantly higher in fluoridated areas.

1) Journal of the American Medical Assn., vol. 264, 1990; vol. 266, 1991; vol. 268, 1992; vol. 273, 1995.
2) Annals of Epidemiology, vol. 2, pp. 617-26, 1992.
3) Amer.J. of Epidemiology, vol. 150, pp. 817-24, 1999.

12. Malnourished people, particularly children, as well as the elderly, people with diabetes, kidney, and heart disease, are at greater risk for fluoride's harmful effects.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, ATSDR Doc. TP 91/17 (1993)

Quotable Quotes

"I am opposed to fluoridation because of the overwhelming evidence that fluoridation is not only potentially harmful but has already caused considerable, well-documented harm."

Albert Schatz, Ph.D., biochemistry, world-renowned discoverer of streptomycin (Oct., 1999)

"Recent, peer-reviewed toxicity data, when applied to EPA's standard method for controlling risks from toxic chemicals, require an immediate halt to the use of the nation's drinking water reservoirs as disposal sites for the toxic waste of the phosphate fertilizer industry."

Dr. J. W. Hirzy, representing the 1,500 scientists and professionals at EPA Headquarter's Union, http://www.nofluoride.com/epa_hirzy_letter.htm