FW: Fluoride: Unlicenced drug used for babies condemned by health NGOs

[Guest guest]

From: Alliance for Natural Health

Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:57 AM

Subject: Press release: Unlicenced drug used for babies condemned by health

NGOs

PRESS RELEASE

Issued by:

The Alliance for Natural Health

The Dr. Rath Health Foundation

The National Health Federation

VOICE

MayDay

For immediate release

Tuesday, 12 December, 2006

Unlicenced drug used for babies condemned by health NGOs

Five non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Alliance for Natural Health,

the Dr Rath Health Foundation, the National Health Federation, VOICE and

MayDay, have formed a new alliance to challenge national and international

regulations and guidelines that continue to allow the use of synthetic

fluorides in infant formulas.

After decades of use in drinking water in certain parts of the world, such

as USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand, fluoride’s risk to

health is demonstrated by a growing body of scientific evidence, including

increased risk of cancer, osteoporosis, bone fractures and dental fluorosis

(mottling of the teeth), that may outweigh its purported benefit: the

reduced incidence of dental caries. This concern has been most recently

voiced by the American Dental Association (ADA), which issued interim

guidance on 9th November 2006, advising parents to mix powdered infant

formula with fluoride-free water.

Fluoride represents a range of compounds that occur naturally in both spring

and river waters, and a group of synthetic compounds, which are by-products

of industrial wastes. These latter compounds are then added to water

supplies for the purpose of killing bacteria implicated in tooth decay.

Dr Verkerk, Executive Director of the Alliance for Natural Health,

said: “Fluorides are extremely reactive molecules which have been shown to

cause considerable harm in biological systems. They continue to be used by

health authorities for a specific medicinal purpose, namely the treatment

and prevention of dental caries, yet they have never been subjected to the

full risk/benefit analysis which is required in order to bring other drugs

to the market. Drinking water medicated with fluoride clearly amounts to

government-sponsored use of an unlicenced drug. It is staggering that

international bodies such as the United Nations’ Codex Alimentarius

Commission could have overruled the substantial scientific concerns about

fluoride in infant formula raised by several countries in November’s Codex

meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand and that babies, the most vulnerable members

of our society, are made the innocent victims”

, on behalf of the Dr Rath Health Foundation, added: “It

is deeply irresponsible of governments to force all sectors of society to

consume fluoride along with our single most required form of sustenance –

water, especially when the toxic dose overlaps the therapeutic dose meaning

there is no safety margin. The recent meeting of the Codex Committee on

Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses in Chiang Mai, exemplified the

irrational and inconsistent behaviour of regulators in relation to fluoride.

On the basis of consensus voting procedures, the same committee, in the same

meeting, voted to prevent fluoride from being added to powdered formulas

during their manufacture, while allowing the same contaminant to be added to

water used in the manufacture of ready-to-use formulas.”

Long time anti-fluoridation campaigner, Pocock of VOICE in Ireland,

has welcomed the united front being developed against ingested fluoride.

“VOICE has been waging a long battle against the Irish government’s

fluoridation of drinking water”, says Pocock, “given the high toxicity of

synthetic fluorides and their uncontrolled dosage, there are undeniable

risks to the human body and there is no safety margin between the amounts

required to yield a therapeutic effect and the amounts that are universally

safe. Since babies are among the most susceptible groups exposed, it is

deeply irresponsible for any regulator to continue allowing this unlicenced

drug to be used for babies, especially when no specific scientific studies

have been undertaken to demonstrate its safety. Worse still is that

increasing numbers of cell, animal and human studies reveal significant

risks to adults and children, risks that have now been raised by prestigious

bodies such as the American Dental Association. ”

“Putting this into perspective”, added Verkerk, “the UN World Health

Organization has set for fluoride a maximum guideline level of 1.5 mg per

litre in drinking water without making any reference to consumption by

infants. Looking more closely at the guidelines most recently agreed by

another UN body, Codex, the situation is preposterous. We have calculated

that, in physiological terms, the Codex guideline level for babies allows a

baby to potentially be exposed to the equivalent amount of fluoride to which

an adult would be exposed when drinking 16 litres of fluoridated water.”

The US-based National Health Federation (NHF) has strongly opposed since the

1950s the fluoridation of public water supplies, and has long fought against

the contradictory consensus views at Codex meetings. Tips, NHF’s Legal

Counsel, said: “This disproportionate behaviour at Codex must be stopped and

we welcome the support of other high-profile NGOs in this important struggle

in which the most vulnerable sector of our society – babies - are the

innocent victims. Even the Canadian Dental Association has stated that

‘Fluoride supplements should not be recommended for children less than three

years old.’ This demonstrates a most definite awareness that fluoride is

not the innocuous substance that it is passed off as being, particularly

where the forms used (hydrofluosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride, and

sodium fluoride) are nothing more than the by-products of commercial

fertilizer or aluminium production. In fact, while many governments struggle

with the fluoride issue, increasing amounts of scientific evidence

contraindicate the use of fluoride in the public water supply.”

Also adding its voice to this campaign, the Danish civil health rights

organization, MayDay has been publicizing the health risks of fluoride for

many years. Tamara Thérèsa Mosegaard, MayDay’s chairwoman, noted, “Our

focus is upon working for optimal health for all. As such, clean drinking

water without any added medicinal substances is a basic human right.”

The alliance of NGOs opposed to fluoride is arguing that drinking water is

an inappropriate medium for the delivery of fluoride, because – amongst

other objections – it is impossible to control dosage owing to different

levels of consumption. Additionally, toxicity varies greatly between

different groups, with babies being the most sensitive group of all. The

NGOs propose that any government wishing to promote fluoride for the purpose

of reducing dental caries should make it, at most, optional and should

ensure that in whatever appropriate form fluoride is delivered (e.g. as

tablets, in toothpastes or mouthwashes) the dosage can be controlled

according to body weight, age, medical condition and individual consent. The

NGOs are also calling for an international ban on the fluoridation of

drinking water, involving as it does, a medicine that is consumed

involuntarily that has never been licenced by any national drugs regulator

worldwide. Its use by governments is thus seen as a violation of the rights

of individuals.

ENDS.

CONTACTS

Alliance for Natural Health

The Alliance for Natural Health

The Atrium, Curtis Road

Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1306 646600

Fax: +44 (0) 1306 646552

Email: info@...

Website: www.anhcampaign.org

Dr Rath Health Foundation

Dr. Rath Health Foundation

Stralauer Platz 33/34

10243 Berlin

Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 30 246 479 100

Fax: +49 (0) 30 246 479 101

Email: info@...

Website : www4.dr-rath-foundation.org

National Health Federation

The National Health Federation

P.O. Box 688

Monrovia, California 91017

USA

Tel: +1 626 357 2181

Fax: +1 626 303 0642

Email: contact-us@...

Website: www.thenhf.com

VOICE

Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment

9 Upper Mount Street

Dublin 2

Ireland

Tel: +353 1 642 5741

Media Contact: +353 86 811 3071

Email: avoice@...

Website: www.voiceireland.org

MayDay

MayDay, civil health rights movement

Rundforbivej 2, Troeroed

DK – 2060 Vedbaek

Denmark

Tel. +45 7020 7770

Fax : +45 7020 7771

E-mail: kontakt@...

Main website: www.mayday-info.dk

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