Bump! Re: POLITICS: Help stop mandatory water fluoridation

[Guest guest]

Alot of folks here have " professional " accreditations to your name

and can join in on this international petition. Why haven't you done

so?

The rest of us (in the U.S.) can submit the Online message to

Congress. Australia's being assaulted with fluoride too. Following

from Connett, FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK

http://www.FluorideAlert.org

Don't forget we are also collecting ALL the U.S. signers we can get -

regardless of qualifications - on our ONLINE message to Congress,

supporting the Professionals' Statement and calling for Congressional

hearings. With a new Congress and a new President this demand is more

important than ever.

FAN Bulletin 1008. Professionals' Statement: your help needed

Nov 11, 2008

When FAN launched the Professionals' Statement Calling for an End to

Water Fluoridation worldwide on August 9, 2007, we had 600 signatures.

The total has now risen to just over 1900. But we still need many

more to help change both professional and public opinion on this

issue.

The current list of 1,913 signers includes a Nobel prize winner;

three members of the NRC (2006) panel; two advisers to the York

Review; the President of the International Society of Doctors for the

Environment; 5 Goldman prize winners; the former Federal Ministers of

Health in Australia and Belgium; the current President (and five past

Presidents) of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and

Toxicology; the 2007 Executive Board of the American Academy of

Environmental Medicine; many leading fluoride researchers and

prominent environmental activists from around the world.

The key reasons for launching this Professionals' Statement were:

1) To draw attention to the 2006 report by the National Research

Council, Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's

Standards. In our view, this report, which reviews the toxicology of

fluoride, was the scientific killer punch for fluoridation. However,

the politics keeps this practice alive. That it is why it is

important to keep reminding people that this key report is there.

2) The proponents' major two-pronged strategy has always been to

substitute " endorsements " for objective appraisal of either the

benefits or dangers of this practice and then buttress these

endorsements with attempts to denigrate opponents as not being either

professionals or scientific. Clearly, making the science visible and

showing that many professionals have concluded that it is time to

stop this practice is a crucial way of defeating the proponents'

major strategy.

3) Many professionals (especially doctors and dentists) who have

recognized the foolishness of this practice are fearful about

speaking out because of ridicule (and worse) from their peers

and " professional " organizations. The more professionals that sign

this statement the easier it becomes for them to add their names to

the list.

4) Many citizens who get involved in this issue are " put down " at

public meetings by people wearing white coats and touting their

professional qualifications. In our view, being able to hold up this

Professionals' Statement strengthens the citizen's hand.

Your help is needed to make this list grow

We are looking for professionals in many fields (doctors, dentists,

pharmacists, chiropractors, naturopaths (NDs), nurses, MPHs, dental

hygienists, veterinarians, PhDs, professional engineers, architects,

lawyers, environmental leaders, authors on public health related or

environmental issues, water department officials, etc.).

1) If you are are fluent in another language, would you translate the

Professionals' Statement? We already have French and Italian

translations. We would welcome Spanish, German and Russian

translations and any others (please don't do it until you have

checked with us to avoid unnecessary duplication). Or proof-read a

translation someone else might provide.

2) Ask professional colleagues living in countries that have rejected

fluoridation to sign, which includes most of Europe, India and China.

Of course, this will be a lot easier if we have the statement

translated into the appropriate language.

Meanwhile, since the Statement was launched there have been more

developments which make our case stronger and easier to communicate

to would-be signers.

• The number of studies indicating that fluoride lowers IQ in

children has risen to twenty three (23). This includes eleven studies

that FAN had translated from the original Chinese. See FAN's website

with the links to these studies.

• The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

announced in a September 2008 statement: " ... we believe that

fluoridation of drinking water is scientifically untenable, and

should not be part of a public health initiative or program. "

• Several video vignettes (5 minutes and shorter) featuring signers

of the statement have been posted on YouTube. They explain why they

are opposed to fluoridation. These include:

-- Bill Osmunson, DDS, MPH, who promoted the practice for 30 years

before he changed his mind. Over 82,000 people have watched this.

-- Brent , JD, the State Conservation Chair for the Oregon

Sierra Club, who led the successful fight to defeat the latest

attempt to introduce mandatory fluoridation into Oregon.

-- Vyvyan , MD, PHD, an infant and fetal pathologist from

Northern Ireland and current President of the International Society

for Doctors for the Environment.

All three of these videotapes (and others) can be accessed here.

• The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is no longer listed by the ADA

as endorsing fluoridation. An April 2008 statement by the NKF

reversed their 1981 endorsement for fluoridation to that of " no

position " on fluroidation.

• The October 6, 2007 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ

2007;335:699-702 ) carried an article by Cheng, Chalmers and Sheldon

(key players in the York Review and the methodology used) exposing

the bias of the British government on this issue and articulating the

weakness of the evidence of any benefit from fluoridation.

• The publication of the Scientific American article in January,

2008: Second Thoughts About Fluoride includes a short review of the

NRC (2006) report - see excerpts.

" Got a Brain? Reject Fluoridation "

With 23 studies now indicating that fluoride may lower the IQ in

children, the slogan " Got a Brain? Reject Fluoridation " seems

appropriate on two levels: 1) Clearly the brain is more important to

protect than the teeth (even if we assume that fluoride fights tooth

decay via ingestion, which it does not) and 2) the people most likely

to reject fluoridation are those who are well educated, have an open

mind and are prepared to read the literature.

PS You can view my latest power point presentation Why Fluoridation

Should Be Stopped Worldwide on the website of the Louisiana

Environmental Action Network (LEAN). I gave this presentation at

LEAN's annual conference in Baton Rouge on October 18 this year.