News over the weekend regarding fluoride in tap water is evidence that the debate regarding the safety and effectiveness of the chemical process continues to be heated discussion.
Fluoride enthusiasts are having their way here in California, having succeeded in prying open the valve that controls additives to municipal water. Fluoride has the distinction of being the only chemical (so far) to be added to public water for the purpose of treating the person, rather than treating the water.
The “father of fluoridation,” Dr. Trendley Dean assured everyone in the 1930s and 1940s that the addition of fluoride to water was “safe and effective,” even “necessary” for strong bones and teeth. Dr. Dean later gave courtroom testimony on two separate occasions that his original claims were based on invalid statistics. Perhaps we are now in a position to realize that “safe and effective” is a powerful secret code used by captains of American industry in place of a different term, “hideously toxic.”
There is fluoride in the water supply. The question is are we consuming a bone cancer and brain damage causing toxic substance or is this just one of those things a handful of crazy scientists with nothing better to do are up in arms about?
So I’m reading my morning newspaper, enjoying a first cup of steaming hot coffee. Decaffeinated. Made with unfluoridated water, naturally.
News over the weekend regarding fluoride in tap water is evidence that the debate regarding the safety and effectiveness of the chemical process continues to be heated discussion.
Fluoride enthusiasts are having their way here in California, having succeeded in prying open the valve that controls additives to municipal water. Fluoride has the distinction of being the only chemical (so far) to be added to public water for the purpose of treating the person, rather than treating the water.
The “father of fluoridation,” Dr. Trendley Dean assured everyone in the 1930s and 1940s that the addition of fluoride to water was “safe and effective,” even “necessary” for strong bones and teeth. Dr. Dean later gave courtroom testimony on two separate occasions that his original claims were based on invalid statistics. Perhaps we are now in a position to realize that “safe and effective” is a powerful secret code used by captains of American industry in place of a different term, “hideously toxic.”
There is fluoride in the water supply. The question is are we consuming a bone cancer and brain damage causing toxic substance or is this just one of those things a handful of crazy scientists with nothing better to do are up in arms about?
So I’m reading my morning newspaper, enjoying a first cup of steaming hot coffee. Decaffeinated. Made with unfluoridated water, naturally.