In the case of water fluoridation, the chemicals used to fluoridate the water that more than 180 million people drink each day are not pharmaceutical grade, but rather hazardous waste products of the phosphate fertilizer industry; it is illegal to dump them into rivers and lakes or release them into the atmosphere. And water fluoridation is a prime example of one of the worst medical practices possible-forced medication with no control over the dose or who gets it. Perhaps most shocking of all, it is not subject to any federal regulation. At once painstakingly-documented and also highly-readable, The Case Against Fluoride brings new research to light, including links between fluoride and harm to the brain, bones, and kidneys, and argues that while there is possible value in topical applications like brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste, the evidence that swallowing fluoride reduces tooth decay is surprisingly weak.

With the narrative punch of Jonathan Harr’s A Civil Action and the commitment to environmental truth-telling of Erin Brockovich, The Fluoride Deception documents a powerful connection between big corporations, the U.S. military, and the historic reassurances of fluoride safety provided by the nation’s public health establishment. The Fluoride Deception reads like a thriller, but one supported by two hundred pages of source notes, years of investigative reporting, scores of scientist interviews, and archival research in places such as the newly opened files of the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission. The book is nothing less than an exhumation of one of the great secret narratives of the industrial era: how a grim workplace poison and the most damaging environmental pollutant of the cold war was added to our drinking water and toothpaste.

Most people associate fluoride with the practice of intentionally adding fluoride to public drinking water supplies for the prevention of tooth decay. However, fluoride can also enter public water systems from natural sources, including runoff from the weathering of fluoride-containing rocks and soils and leaching from soil into groundwater. Fluoride pollution from various industrial emissions can also contaminate water supplies. In a few areas of the United States fluoride concentrations in water are much higher than normal, mostly from natural sources. Fluoride is one of the drinking water contaminants regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because it can occur at these toxic levels. In 1986, the EPA established a maximum allowable concentration for fluoride in drinking water of 4 milligrams per liter, a guideline designed to prevent the public from being exposed to harmful levels of fluoride. Fluoride in Drinking Water reviews research on various health effects from exposure to fluoride, including studies conducted in the last 10 years.

A lively account of fluoridation and its discontents Since its first implementation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1945, public drinking water fluoridation and its attendant conflicts, controversies, and conspiracy theories serve as an object lesson in American science, public health, and policymaking. In addition to the arguments on the issue still raging today, the tale of fluoridation and its discontents also resonates with such present concerns as genetically modified foods, global warming response, nuclear power, and environmental regulation. Offering the best current thinking on the issue, The Fluoride Wars presents a witty and detailed social history of the fluoridation debate in America, illuminating the intersection of science and politics in our recent past. This reader-friendly assessment explores the pro- and anti-fluoridation movements, key players, and important events. Full of amusing and vivid anecdotes and examples, this accessible recounting includes: A careful and non-condescending look at the hard science, popular science, pseudo-science, and junk science involved A look at fluoride issues including dosage, cost, financial and funding interests, fluorosis, and problems of risk-cost-benefit analysis The back-and-forth drama between pro- and anti-fluoridation factions, with all its claims, counterclaims, insults, acrimony, and lawsuits Case studies of various cities and their experiences with municipal water fluoridation initiatives Fluorophobia and popular conspiracy theories involving fluoride The colorful characters in the debate including activists, scientists, magicians, and politicians A richly and considerately told tale of American science and public life, The Fluoride Wars offers an engrossing history to both interested general readers and specialists in public health, dentistry, policymaking, and related fields.

Explore the Health Effects of Fluoride PollutionFluoride in Drinking Water: Status, Issues, and Solutions establishes the negative impacts of naturally occurring fluoride on human health and considers the depth and scope of fluoride pollution on an international scale. The book discusses current global water quality and fluoride-related issues and

Fluoride and fluoridation will go down as one of the greatest controversies of the 20th century. Up until the early 1940’s, fluorine’s effect on life was always deemed poisonous. It was proven to be altering enzymes used by living organisms to carry out a multitude of essential processes. Fluorine, the most reactive element on the planet, is also the strongest free radical. Scientists in the 1930’s and 1940’s experimented with this element to create the most deadly nerve gasses, rocket fuel, and radioactive U235 for the bomb. As a wood preservative, rodentcide and insecticide, fluorine compounds are second to none. As an Orthodontist, I began investigating the increasingly prevalent lines and spots that I saw on the enamel of children. Like rings on a tree, they indicate excessive fluorine exposure. I started to ask the question, “How does fluorine cause these marks?” Chronic doses of fluoride, like arsenic and lead, accumulate in our bodies causing a blockage in the way cells breathe and leads to the malformation of collagen. Cancer, diabetes, thyroid and neurological disorders, hormonal imbalances, heart disease, arthritis and osteoporosis have all been linked to chronic fluoride ingestion. We are now exposed to increasing doses of fluoride from toothpaste, rinses, water, food, medicines, showering, bathing, and even the air that we breathe. Our environment has become a literal fluoride dumping ground. This book explores many chronic diseases that plague man today and looks at the scientists that connected these diseases to chronic exposures of fluoride.

Individual susceptibility to disease (i.e., one’s own genetic background) is one of the three main components classically described in the etiology of dental caries. Hence, genes influence susceptibility to erosive tooth wear, dental development, and response to treatments and interventions. This publication is an up-to-date overview of individual susceptibility to dental caries, erosive tooth wear, and disturbances of dental development from different clinically relevant perspectives. One of the most recognized scientists in this field reports on recent research relating to human genetics – from general summaries to recommendations for daily clinical work and population-level interventions. This book covers all aspects of individual susceptibility to dental caries and erosive tooth wear. Several chapters deal with potential biological mechanisms, with additional ones providing a strong foundation in human genetics, and other chapters touch on efficacy of therapies and alternative concepts. This book is particularly recommended to dental medicine students, practitioners, other oral healthcare professionals, and scientists with an interest in translational research on dental caries and erosive tooth wear.

Fluoride pollution is a problem in all industrialized countries. The topic of fluorides in medicine and agriculture, and fluoridation of public water supplies is one that has attracted much controversy. This book aims to review the research findings, and provide a comprehensive reference on the effects of fluorides on plants and animals. It also includes information on conducting field surveys, establishing air quality criteria and standards, and the problems associated with fluoride analysis in air, water, soil and vegetation.

Gary Pittman and his co-workers were systematically exposed to toxic substances while working for Occidental Chemical Corporation's north Florida phosphoric acid plants and mines. "Phosphate - Fluorides - Toxic Torts" is a personal narrative by Pittman describing his seven-year battle with Occidental while suffering with chemical poisoning, and the obstacles he had to overcome in the pursuit of compensation. Occidental Chemical Corporation was no stranger to Toxic Tort litigation. They were the company named in the 1979 landmark case, "United States v. Occidental," about the "Love Canal" public health disaster in the late 1970s. In 1995, the "Love Canal" case was still in the courts when Pittman, a co-worker, and attorney, Dorothy Clay Sims took on the mammoth Occidental machine with their legions of law firms. Did Pittman win? Yes and no. When you have your health, you can always make more money, but when you are poisoned and debilitated, there's not enough money in the world to buy back your health.