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EDITOR'S CHOICE: Fiona Godlee Tooth and nail BMJ 2007; 335: 0 [Full text]

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Fluoridation - Bad To The Bone

Maureen C. Jones   (9 October 2007)

Fluoridation - Bad To The Bone 9 October 2007
Maureen C. Jones, Archivist, Citizens for Safe Drinking Water Retired Send response to journal: Re: Fluoridation - Bad To The Bone	Regarding the health effects of ingested fluoride and the debate over reliability of various study designs, not mentioned is the elephant in the middle of the room; age-specific exposure. It is well documented that fluoride is incorporated more readily into mineralizing new bone than into existing bone. Substitution of fluoride for hydroxyl ion in the crystal lattice makes bone more brittle and by predominately decreasing tensile strength, mechanical failure and fracture propagation are strongly influenced. (Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Feb. 1991. It is also known that the pharmacokinetics of fluoride in infants reveal a completely different pattern compared to that found in adults. Infants retain 87% of fluoride dosage compared to about 50% for adults (Adv Dent Res June 1994). Taking her cue from KJ Rothman (Am J Epidemiol 1981, 114:253-259), who warned that age-specific effects must be evaluated: “failure to identify the appropriate time window for exposure may result in misclassification which can adversely affect the ability to detect an association,” Elise Bassin limited her analysis of osteosarcoma to cases less than 20 years old and found a “robust” link between fluoridation and osteosarcoma (Cancer Causes Control 2006, 17:421-428). Hip fracture is likewise an age-specific effect. Exposure to 1 ppm fluoridated water for 20 years prior to menopause, a period of increased bone remodeling, resulted in a 100% increase in hip fracture for women at age 75 (J Am Med Asso. Vol 268 No 2, 1992, Fig. I). Had these women grown up on fluoridated water the results may have been even more significant. Therefore, a hip fracture study that selects women age 55 and older, an osteosarcoma study that includes adult subjects, or a meta-analysis that conceals the age-specific factor by blending all data together, will never reveal the true nature of fluoride’s toxicity to bone. And any government entity that propagates and defends such transparently shoddy science while refusing to fund studies based on age-specific exposure is clearly in the business of shunning the well being of a nation’s citizens in order to defend a failed and libelous public health policy. Sincerely, Maureen Jones, Archivist Citizens for Safe Drinking Water 1205 Sierra Ave. San Jose, CA 95126 408 297-8487 Competing interests: None declared