Fluoride – The Hidden Poison

Excerpts from: Source, by Ellen and Paul Connett, Ph.D.

Incredibly, the new standards allow the use of the toxic substance sodium fluoride in organic agriculture. Many organic farmers may be unaware that this highly toxic substance has been allowed for use in the National Organic Standards (NOS), because its presence is hidden.

Fluoride is a persistent and non-degradable poison that accumulates in soil, plants, wildlife, and humans. They get around this by calling sodium fluoride an "inert" substance.

But to call sodium fluoride "inert" defies one of the NOS's stated principles: producers shall not use "natural poisons such as arsenic or lead salts that have long-term effects and persist in the environment." Fluoride is clearly in this category.

Sadly, the use of fluoride in organic farming could undermine the public's confidence and safety in organic food - both here and abroad. Fluoride in water or in foods causes many problems, including:

1. It accumulates in our bones and makes them more brittle and prone to fracture. The weight of evidence from many studies on this is overwhelming. Lifetime exposure to fluoride will contribute to higher rates of hip fracture in the elderly.



2. It accumulates in our gland, possibly lowering the production of melatonin a very important regulatory hormone (Luke, 1997, 2001).



3. It damages the enamel (dental fluorosis) of a high percentage of children. Between 30 and 50% of children have dental fluorosis on at least two teeth in optimally fluoridated communities (Heller et al, 1997 and McDonagh et al, 2000).



4. There are serious, but yet unproven, concerns about a connection between fluoridation and osteosarcoma in young men (Cohn, 1992), as well as fluoridation and the current epidemics of both arthritis and hypothyroidism.



5. In animal studies fluoride at 1 ppm in drinking water increases the uptake of aluminum into the brain (Varner et al, 1998).



6. Counties with 3 ppm or more of fluoride in their water have lower fertility rates (Freni, 1994).



7. In human studies the fluoridating agents most commonly used in the US not only increase the uptake of lead into children's blood (Masters and Coplan, 1999, 2000) but are also associated with an increase in violent behavior.

One of the unexpected results of water fluoridation was the multiplier effect caused by the processing of foods and beverages using fluoridated water. The natural food content of most foods is so small that its contribution is insignificant compared with the amount of fluoride produced through cooking and processing food in fluoridated water.

However, that does not include the contribution made by pesticide residues containing fluoride. Having one source may not be dangerous but adding up all of the possible sources results in a definite menace to health.