Federal Court Outlaws the Use of Fluoride in Public Drinking Water
The Questionable Safety of Water Fluoridation
In September, 2024, a federal judge from the Northern District of California made a landmark court decision proclaiming that fluoride poses “unreasonable risk of injury to health of the public.”
This federal court deemed:
Ø The risk (of placing fluoride in drinking water) at issue [is] unreasonable; the exposure is continuous, and nearly all Americans are affected.”
Ø “The scientific literature in the record provides a high level of certainty that a hazard is present; fluoride is associated with reduced IQ.”
Ø “…there is a robust body of evidence finding a statistically significant adverse association between fluoride and IQ.”
“The court finds there is an unreasonable risk of such injury, a risk sufficient to require the EPA to engage with a regulatory response,” ruled Judge Edward M. Chen with the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Some respected news sources have asserted that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just lost perhaps its most damning court case ever.
THIS decades-old problem was just another case in which mainstream science and mainstream media used the meme of “conspiracy theorists” onto anyone who questioned the safety or efficacy of fluoridation. As it turns out (once again), scientists were not “following the science.”
Virtually every major media network reported on this court decision which acknowledged the serious risks from fluoridation in water:
CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-fluoride-drinking-water-federal-court-ruling/
Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/fluoride-ruling-drinking-water-ccdfa11138600ab0838ebf979cbaead2
It should be noted that a new study published in JAMA shows that fluoride exposure during pregnancy poses a significant risk to the developing brain and may increase neurobehavioral problems in young children.
The below writing is excerpted here from Dana Ullman’s book, “Discovering Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st Century,” Berkeley: North Atlantic, 1991.
Needless to say, I am proud that I have been writing and expressing concern about fluoridation in our water supply since 1991!
The Questionable Safety of Water Fluoridation
Portraits of our country's first president, George Washington, rarely show him smiling and for a good reason: George Washington's false teeth were made with wood. Though they were well sculpted by his blacksmith friend Paul Revere, this crude set of teeth did not have the same polish as nature's artistry.
Dentistry has come a long way since the time of George Washington, but it still has a long way to go in order to deal with the degree of dental problems affecting people today.
It has been estimated that 98% of the American public suffers from dental disease.(1) Approximately 25 million Americans, or one in every eight people do not have any teeth. (2) And over six million teeth are removed each year. (3)
One may wonder what homeopathic medicine may offer dentistry. It initially seems that dental disease is a straightforward problem that simply requires good hygiene for prevention and the use of modern dental practices to deal with dental problems as they arise. Dentistry doesn't seem to be a controversial subject, or is it? Although there may be general agreement on the importance of prevention, there is disagreement on how to prevent dental problems, and there is significant controversy on how to deal with them when they arise.
It is generally recognized that tooth decay (caries) results from bacteria in the mouth which thrive on the sugar and refined foods that the person eats. The bacteria produce a harmful acid which can dissolve teeth. When the teeth are not kept clean through brushing and flossing, the germs are able to infiltrate through the enamel and into the dentin of the teeth or under the gums of the mouth, wreaking havoc by causing decay and periodontal disease.
When the bacteria aren't cleaned out of the mouth, it binds with corrosive waste products in the mouth and attaches itself to teeth and gums, forming plaque. Plaque destroys the connective tissues that attach gums to teeth, creating inflammation of the gums or gingivitis. If this disease process continues, the teeth will loosen and eventually either fall out or need to be removed.
Dental caries and gum problems are thought to result primarily because of the poor care and maintenance of the oral cavity. There are, however, other factors that influence the development of caries. It is recognized that the salivary glands in the mouth help fight decay by trying to neutralize the acid that the germs produce. The healthy functioning of the salivary glands is dependent on the person's overall health.
The person's overall health also directly affects gum health. Hormones, in particular, play a major role in the health of gums. If a person's thyroid is either secreting too much or too little thyroid hormones, the ligaments that hold teeth and gums together are weakened and the blood supply to gum tissues is decreased. Imbalance in sex hormones can make a person more susceptible to gum and teeth problems, which is why women experience exacerbated dental conditions during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. Anemia which can lessen the amount of blood oxygen reaching the gums can also make a person more susceptible to gum disease. Even something as general as stress can influence the strength of the connective tissues between teeth and gums.
The person's overall health also influences the strength of the person's teeth. The parathyroid regulates calcium levels in the body, and an irregularity in this gland can create various dental problems.
A person's overall health is affected by proper nutrition, and dental health is certainly influenced by it too. In particular, dentists have found that appropriate amounts of calcium and fluoride are important for dental health. There is however a major controversy on how much fluoride is necessary and how people should get it.
Homeopathic Insights on the Controversy of Fluoridation
The American Dental Association asserts that water fluoridation decreases dental caries by 50-70%. (4) Opponents of fluoridation question its value in preventing these dental problems and cite dozens of studies which show the toxic effects of fluoridation. Who's right?
The homeopathic point of view on fluoride is that it may be helpful in preventing caries, and it may cause various other dental and health problems. The basic homeopathic principle is that a substance in microdose will help cure those similar symptoms that it will cause in larger dose. Fluoride is an effective medicine in preventing caries, but it can also mottle (turn chalky white or yellow) teeth and cause various other symptoms.
The essential question then is: what is the proper dose to prevent caries and what is the toxic dose? This question is more difficult than it seems. People have varying needs, and what may be helpful to one person may be too much to another. A 1982 article in Science noted that the 1 part per million of fluoride which is commonly added to water may be too much after all. (5) Studies have found that 28% of children between 11 and 13 years of age who lived in communities with fluoridation experienced mottling of the teeth.
Fluoride, as an enzyme poison, may in fact help reduce the formation of bacterial acid in the mouth that corrodes teeth. However, even in the same dose, fluoride may create various symptoms because of its side effects on bodily enzymes which are beneficial for health. A new study reported in the New Scientist has provided strong evidence that "fluoride switches off the enzyme by attacking its weakest links--the delicately-balanced network of hydrogen bonds surround the enzyme's active site." (6)
The researchers theorize that fluoride may interfere with the hydrogen bonding of DNA in the same way that it interferes with certain enzymes, which may then explain how fluoride can cause a wide variety of symptoms and syndromes.
Anti-fluoridationists readily acknowledge that dental caries declined significantly when fluoridation was first tested. However, they also cite the fact that dental caries declined for people in non-fluoridated cities as well. (7)
According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, fluoride is not considered an essential nutrient. (8) A deficiency of fluoride is extremely unusual for those eating a standard American diet. Whereas the American Dental Association asserts that fluoridation assures that people will get amounts of fluoride that will prevent caries, anti-fluoridationists rebut that we are already getting enough, perhaps even too much. The anti-fluoridationists have expressed concern that additional fluoride in the diet will cause a wide variety of serious health problems. It has been estimated that dried cereals, ready-to-drink fruit juices, infant formula, and strained baby food processed with fluoridated water contain up to 20 times as much fluoride as products made with non-fluoridated water. (9)
Those who oppose fluoride have been portrayed as wild-eyed, crazy, health nuts who see communist conspiracies in everything. This accusation has no basis in fact, especially when one considers that most countries in Europe have not fluoridated their water, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Austria, and Belgium.
Further, recent scientific research has begun to verify several of the health concerns of the anti-fluoridationists. Dr. John Yiamouyiannis, a biochemist who is one of the leaders of the anti-fluoridation movement, noted that the mottling of teeth is "merely a reflection of the metabolic disturbances of soft tissue cells" from an overdose of fluoride. (10) The 1983 Physician’s Desk Reference has noted that 1/2 milligram of fluoride, an amount equal to only one pint of fluoridate water, can cause skin problems, gastric distress, headaches, and weakness in hypersensitive individuals.
Yale professor Dr. J.A. Albright reported that as little as one part per million of fluoride decreases bone strength and elasticity. (11) A study published in the Journal of Dental Research showed that one part per million of fluoride fed to animals inhibited their immune system. (12)
Research has also shown that levels of one-half to one part per million of fluoride causes increased tumor growth in mice by 15-25%. (13) Based on this research, one might expect that those who live in cities with fluoridated water may have a higher cancer rate than those who live in non-fluoridated cities. Dr. Yiamouyiannis in conjunction with former chief chemist with the U.S. National Cancer Institute Dr. Dean Burk did this comparison and found that people living in fluoridated cities did, in fact, have higher cancer death rates than those in other cities in surrounding geographical areas. (14) However, a careful analysis of these statistics which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that this study was not age-adjusted research.* (15)
This critique of the Yiamouyiannis and Burk study indicates that there is no proven link between fluoridation and cancer.
[* Age-adjusted research is a means of comparing populations based on similar age groups. Without this adjustment certain cities with elderly populations would seem to have significantly higher death rates than other cities, which is just what happened in the Yiamouyiannis-Burk study.]
Although there may not be definite evidence that fluoridation may lead to cancer, many clinicians have found that it can cause diarrhea, muscular pains, excessive thirst and urination, episodes of acute abdominal pain, skin rashes, and progressive exhaustion. George Waldbott, M.D., a practicing allergist for over 50 years and author of Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma, as noted that many physicians misdiagnose this sensitivity as "nerves," and then prescribe drugs which ultimately exacerbate the problem. (16)
In addition to the potential problems that fluoride in water may cause, new research published in the highly respected scientific journal Nature has found that using fluoridated water in aluminum pots tends to leech more aluminum into the food or water. (17) Since ingestion of aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, it may be prudent to avoid aluminum cookware, especially if one uses fluoridated water.
Whereas homeopathic organizations do not have a formal position on fluoridation, there is general acknowledgement in the homeopathic community that certain individuals in populations will be hypersensitive to fluoride. Although the American Dental Association (ADA) acknowledges this hypersensitivity in a very small number of Americans, homeopaths generally assume that there are greater numbers than those assumed by the A.D.A.
There is also concern among homeopaths about what long-term exposure to small doses of fluoride may cause.
There is further concern among some homeopaths that fluoridation amounts to forced medication. Even those who get bottled water will receive additional fluoride as the result of increased fluoride in the food chain from watering fruits and vegetables, from washing fruits or vegetables in tap water, and from feeding fluoridated water to animals who will be consumed. Ralph Nader expressed a similar concern when he spoke at a college in 1974, saying, "Fluoridation has been promoted without giving consumers their free choice." (18)
Some anti-fluoridationists have flippantly advocated that we "fluoridate candy, not water." Perhaps even this isn't a good idea.
References:
1. Melvin Denholz and Elaine Denholtz, How to Save Your Teeth and Your Money, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977, 12.
2. Thomas McGuire, The Tooth Trip, New York: Random House, 1972,
3. Denholz, 12.
4. J.H. Shaw, Fluoridation as a Public Health Measure, Washington, DC: AAAS, 1954. J.J. Murray, Fluorides in Caries Prevention, Bristol, England: Wright, 1976. E. Newbrun, editor, Fluorides and Dental Caries, Springfield, Il.: Thomas, second edition, 1975.
5. Dennis H. Leverett, "Fluorides and the Changing Prevalence of Dental Caries," Science, 217, July 2, 1982, 26-30. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.7089534
6. "How Fluoride Might Damage Your Health," New Scientist, February 28, 1985, 20.
7. Leverett, 26-30. M. Diesendorf, "The Mystery of Declining Tooth Decay," Nature, 322:125-9, 1986.
8. "Is Fluoride an Essential Element?" Fluorides, Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1971, 66-68. Richard Maurer and Harry Day, "The Non-Essentiality of Fluorine in Nutrition," Journal of Nutrition, 62, 1957, 561-573.
9. Ellen Ruppel Shell, "The New Flap Over Fluoride," American Health, October, 1984, 60-63.
10. John Yiamouyiannis, Fluoride: The Aging Factor, Delaware, Ohio: Health Action, 1983, 172. https://archive.org/details/fluorideagingfac00yiam
11. J.A. Albright, "The Effect of Fluoride on the Mechanical Properties of Bone," Transactions of the Annual Meeting of the Orthopedics Research Society, 1978, 3, 98.
12. D.W. Allmann and M. Benac, "Effect of Inorganic Fluoride Salts on Urine and Tissue 3'5' Cyclic-AMP Concentration in Vivo," Journal of Dental Research, 55 (supplement B), 1976, 523.
13. Alfred Taylor and Nell Carmichael Taylor, “effect of Sodium Fluoride on Tumor Growth, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 119(1965):252-255. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3181/00379727-119-30150
14. John Yiamouyiaanis and Dean Burk, “Fluoridation and Cancer: Age Dependence of Cancer Mortality Relation to Artificial Fluoridation,” Fluoride, 10 (1977):102-123.
15. J. David Erickson, “Mortality in Selected Cities with Fluoridated and Non-Fluoridated Water Supplies,” New England Journal of Medicine, 298 (May 18, 1978):1112-16. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/643029/
16. George L. Waldbott with A.W. Burgstahler and H.L. McKinney. Fluoridation: The Great Dilemma. Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, 1978. https://www.amazon.com/Fluoridation-Dilemma-George-L-Waldbott/dp/0872910970
17. Quoted in Dr. Dean Edell's Medical Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 1987.
18. Quoted in John Yiamouyiannis, Fluoride: The Aging Factor, 118.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCE: B. Hileman, "Fluoridation of Water," Chemical and Engineering News, August 1, 1988, 26-42. (After this article was published, this journal had a year-long dialogue in their “Letters to the Editor” section which ultimately verified how much controversy fluoridation has had even amongst chemists and engineers. When one considers that fluoride was MANDATED to be inserted into water in many cities and counties, it is shocking that any mandate would have this much controversy.
BIO:
DANA ULLMAN, MPH, CCH, received his Bachelor’s degree (1975) and his masters in public health from UC Berkeley (1978). UC Berkeley’s alumni magazine published a feature interview with Dana Ullman here.
He is one of America’s leading advocates for homeopathy. He has authored 10 books, including The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy, Homeopathy A-Z, Homeopathic Medicines for Children and Infants, Discovering Homeopathy, and (the best-selling) Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (with Stephen Cummings, MD). Dana also created an e-course How to Use a Homeopathic Medicine Kit which integrates 80 short videos with his famous ebook that is a continually growing resource to 400+ clinical studies published in peer-review medical journals testing homeopathic medicines. This ebook is entitled Evidence Based Homeopathic Family Medicine.
Dana Ullman has also authored chapters on homeopathic medicine that included in medical textbooks published by Oxford University Press, the American Academy of Pain Management, and Mosby.
He is the founder of Homeopathic Educational Services, also known as www.homeopathic.com, America’s leading resource center for homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, software, and e-courses. Homeopathic Educational Services has co-published over 40 books on homeopathy with North Atlantic Books.
Dana previously wrote a regular column for the popular website, www.huffingtonpost.com (to access these articles, click HERE!)
I am impressed by your balanced and thoughtful consideration of both 'sides' of the fluoride debate. However, for me the inverse correlation between fluoridation and IQ, especially in early fluoride exposures, settles any question.
We have more than enough to stupefy us these days...