(NaturalNews) Much of the fluoride added to municipal water supplies across the United States is imported from China, and is contaminated with heavy metals, according to a warning by
Bernard Miltenberger, president of the Pure Water Committee of Western
Maryland.

In a letter published in the Cumberland Times-News, Miltenberger notes that he first became aware of the issue in an
engineering report for the city of Boulder, Colo. The report noted that
the fluoridation chemicals used for the city's water had been evaluated, and were found to contain lead
levels of 40 milligrams per bag and arsenic levels of 50 milligrams per
bag. The bags were being imported from China under no regulatory
monitoring of acid or salt content.

Miltenberger then visited the Frostburg Water Filtration Plant in Maryland and noticed that the fluoride bags were not labeled with any importation information. He contacted
the plant's chemical supplier, Univar USA, and was then referred to
Sovay fluorides. Sovay informed him that the fluoride had been
manufactured by Shanghai Minthchem Development in China.

"This type of trade from a country with a track record of lead paint on toys
to antifreeze in cough syrup medicine is completely unacceptable,"
Miltenberger writes.

Heavy metal contamination is only the latest concern to emerge over the practice of water fluoridation, which has been controversial since its inception. Fluoride is a well-known toxic chemical, as Miltenberger notes:

"The material safety data sheets from Solvay fluorides show that a teaspoon
amount of five grams of sodium fluoride can be fatal to an average size
man of 70kg. ... chronic toxicity by oral route may cause skeletal and
dental fluorosis, thyroid, testes, kidney, liver, ambiguous carcinogenic
and mutagenic effects, fetotoxic and fertility effects."

Miltenberger also notes that fluoride toothpaste contains a warning that anyone who
consumes more than a pea-size amount should contact a poison control
center at once. This amount of toothpaste contains as much fluoride as
just eight ounces of fluoridated water. A prescription-strength fluoride
supplement marketed by Colgate warns that children under the age of six
should not consume doses regularly added to municipal water.

Sources for this story include:
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert....