Green Tea, Fluoride, and the Thyroid
by Andreas Schuld
Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children
Vancouver, BC, Canada
September 10, 2000
I am writing this letter with the intent
to inform on various issues associated with the use of fluorides,
especially as it relates to green and black teas, and to voice our
concern about the continued promotion of green tea as a drink
"beneficial to one's health" on your radio show
"Current Health Issues".
Tea is very high
in fluoride content. Fluoride in tea is much higher
than the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set for fluoride in
drinking water.
Tea leaves accumulate more fluoride (from
pollution of soil and air) than any other edible plant (1,2,3).
Fluoride content in tea has risen dramatically over the last 20
years, as has tea consumption (4).
While in 1976 a Belgian analysis showed
content of between 50 and 125 ppm fluoride in 15 varieties of tea
(3), a Polish study in 1995 found fluoride content of up to 340
ppm in 16 varieties of black tea (5). A major Canadian study
published in 1995 reports average fluoride content in tea to be
4.57 mg/l in the 1980's.(6)
A website by a pro-fluoridation infant
medical group lists a cup of black tea to contain 7.8 mgs of
fluoride (7), which is roughly the same amount as if one were to
drink 7.8 litres of water in an area fluoridated at 1ppm. It is
well known that fluoride in tea gets absorbed by the body
similarly as the fluoride in drinking water (1,8).
Some British and African studies from the
1990's showed a daily fluoride intake of between 5.8 mgs and 9 mgs
a day from tea alone.(9,10,11)
In order to understand a
dose/concentration relationship properly, one needs to realize
that the level of fluoride at 1 part-per-million (ppm) = 1 mg/l
was set in the 40's when TOTAL intake was considered to be only
about 1 mg/day in areas with fluoridated water. It was thought
that the fluoridation of water supplies at 1 ppm (1 mg/l) would
duplicate this intake, assuming that people would drink 4 glasses
of water a day. However, average current total intake of fluorides
is approaching the 8mg/day range, according to the last official
data available from the US PHS (1991) and other publications (12).
TOTAL intake from ALL sources is the
amount to be considered for any adverse health effect evaluation.
(13,14,15)
The fact that fluorides accumulate in the
body is the reason why a MCL for fluoride content in water needs
to be set by the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) - by law
under the US Surgeon General. This is to be done specifically to
avoid a condition known as Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis (CSF).
The MCL is set so as to only avoid the
third and crippling stage of this disease. It is set at 4ppm =>
4mg/liter, assuming that people will retain half of this amount
(2mg), and therefore be at a "safe" level. The EPA
scientists, whose job and legal duty it is to set the MCL,
declared that this level was set fraudulently by outside forces,
and that 90% of the data showing the mutagenic properties of
fluoride were omitted. (16)
Virtually every
company selling green tea advertises it's high fluoride content as
"beneficial" in preventing cavities, promulgating the
misleading and false data supplied for the last 50 years
by the ADA/CDA and other dental health trade organizations, as
well as various public health agencies. There are NO double-blind
studies anywhere proving the efficacy of fluoride as a caries
preventative (17). There ARE double-blind studies proving adverse
health effects, at the level of 1ppm (1mg/l) in water.(18) There
are no studies documenting safety at any intake level..
Thyroid
Medication
Drinking a cup of tea with fluoride
content as mentioned above (7.8mg) would mean a fluoride intake
much higher(!) than amounts which were actually given as
medication to treat hyperthyroidism (-> over-functioning
thyroid) for numerous decades - in several countries -
specifically to reduce thyroid activity! [(2 -10 mg NaF/day =>
0.9mg - 4.5mg F-)] (19,20,21,22)
In the 1930's May reported having
_successfully_ treated 1,158 hyperthyroid patients within 6 years
with either sodium fluoride or fluorothyrosine, given per mouth.
Among products later released on the market were Pardinon and
Tyrosin (23, 24). Checking an older Merck Index will verify this
information.(25) Gorlizer von Mundy treated patients for more than
30 years in baths containing HF (30ccHF in 200 l water). Later
fluorides were deemed not "reliable enough" to be
recommended as an antithyroid (26).
RE: CANCER AND GREEN TEA
While there can be no doubt as to the
beneficial effects of individual antioxidants found in green tea,
the same cannot be said about green tea as a beverage. Existing
studies tend to concentrate on active ingredients of green tea,
such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound that belongs
to a family of antioxidants known as polyphenols. EGCG and other
polyphenols are constituents of tea - especially of green tea.
However, no studies
exist investigating the effects of fluorides on these
anti-oxidants. Existing studies
involving other antioxidants and fluoride compounds give evidence
that fluorides can adversely affect the action of
antioxidants(27). Thus, while isolated antioxidants may slow down
the development of some forms of cancer in experimental studies,
their effect may be annihilated in their complex natural
environment (as a sum of the action of all the substances
present).
Several reviews of available data seem
undecided in their conclusions as to the inhibition of
carcinogenesis in experimental animals by tea or tea compounds.
Data reviewed by Blot et al. (28) suggest "at most a modest
benefit, since there is considerable international variation in
tea consumption but generally small differences in cancer
rates...More relevant case-control and cohort studies show mixed
results."
Other epidemiological and human studies
have also shown varying results. In a review by Bushman (29)
thirty-one human studies and four reviews were examined. Among
five studies reporting on colon cancer,
three found an inverse association and one reported a positive
association.
For rectal cancer,
only one of four studies reported an inverse association;
increased risks were seen in two of the studies. An inverse
association was suggested for urinary bladder cancer in two of two
studies.
While lung cancer
studies have shown an inverse effect with Okinawan tea,
a tentatively increased risk was shown in another study, clearly
indicating that more research into this matter is needed. In a
recent study on Finnish men, published in 1998 by Terryl Hartman
and others, again a positive correlation between colon cancer and
tea intake was found. Colon cancer occurrence increased with
higher intake (30).
Many available
green tea/cancer studies last only a few months, and do
not take into account the cumulative effects of fluoride, which is
a known cancer promoter, and has the ability to transform healthy
cells into cancerous ones. (1,17,35,36) For any conclusive
evidence to be obtained this must be considered, for long time
fluoride ingestion has been shown to _cause_ cancer, especially
osteosarcomas and uterine cancer. (31,32)
Dean Burk, for many decades Chief Chemist
at the National Cancer Institute, testified at congressional
hearings in 1981 stating that over 40,000 cancer deaths in that
year were attributable to fluoridation (33). He has said that no
chemical causes as much cancer, and faster, than fluorides (34).
Public health officials are quick to say that this data is not
verified, which is entirely untrue, for international research as
well as congressional hearings and court proceedings HAVE verified
this information. (1,2,16,17,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38)
Dental
fluorosis (mottled teeth) is the first visible sign of fluoride
poisoning.
Studies conducted on tea consumption in
Tibetan children by Cao et al. found both dental (51.2%) and
skeletal (32.83%) fluorosis, mainly as a result from drinking
brick tea, also known as milk tea (39). More studies by Cao and
others reported similar results (40,41) as did a study from Chile
showing dental fluorosis risks in 22.1% of the children consuming
tea as a main beverage (42). Many similar studies on tea as well
as other beverages have been published in the journals of the
American Dental Association (ADA) or American Medical Association
(AMA) themselves.
Studies on hydrofluoric-acid workers from
an electronics company documented that, among the influences of
fluorine-containing foodstuff on fluoride content in the
biological fluids, the effect of black tea and/or green tea intake
was "particularly remarkable". Measuring the urine and
serum levels of fluorine ion, in the case of the
non-hydrofluoric-acid workers, the concentration increased to
about double of the control value. Similarly in a diet test on
volunteers, the concentration increased about six times. (43)
There are several other factors to
consider regarding fluoride content in tea. One is the amount of
fluoride leeching over time. Chinese teas continue to release F-
throughout the first hour of infusion, whereas release of F- from
Ceylon/Indian teas is essentially completed after 5 minutes.(44)
The first study
to investigate fluoride content in decaffeinated teas found an
even higher fluoride content in those teas as compared to their
caffeinated counterparts. (45) It is thought that this
is due to the high fluoride content in the water involved in the
de-caffeination process, which then would also make coffee
similarly decaffeinated high in fluoride content.
In addition, the
caffeine in tea has a great augmentative effect on the
bio-availability of fluoride. In 1990 researchers at
the University of Texas even theorized that "the rise in
incidence of dental fluorosis in North America is mainly due to
the replacement of water intake by caffeine-containing beverages
among the young population".(46) In 1990 German researchers
wrote that "continuous intake of black tea rich in fluorides
leads to distinct increase of fluoride content of temporary teeth.
This is to consider analogous a caries prophylaxis."(47)
Considering this, and tea market
statistics which report that, "on any given day, nearly 127
million people -- half of all Americans -- are drinking tea",
and that tea is available in 80% of US households (4), one must
seriously ask why anyone in their right mind would want to add to
the already existing load by adding fluorides to the public water
supply.
Fluoride
and Aluminum in Tea
To make matters much worse for human
health, fluorides in teas are found together with aluminum. The
combination of aluminum and fluorides in tea is of urgent concern,
due to the increased damage done by fluorides when in the presence
of aluminum, especially neurological and renal damage)(17).
A study by Wei and others reported a high
correlation (r = 0.81) found between the released F and Al in all
tested Chinese, Indian and herbal teas.(48)
Nabrzyski and Gajewska (49) report:
"..In the 16 samples of commercially available brands of
black teas, the levels of aluminum and fluoride ranged from 445 to
1552 ppm (mean = 897 +/- 264 ppm) and from 30 to 340 ppm (mean 141
+/- 85 ppm), respectively. In six herbal teas, the mean levels of
aluminum and fluoride were lower, and amounted to 218.9 +/- 150.7
ppm and 6.0 +/- 6.9 ppm, respectively..."
That the aluminum present is indeed
resorbed in the simultaneous presence of fluoride is shown in a
study by Drs. Klaus R. Koch and Colleagues at the University of
Cape Town. They examined the urinary excretion of aluminum (which
is an indicator of its resorption) in healthy male volunteers
after drinking equal volumes (1.2 litres) of tea, coffee or tap
water on separate days.
In every case the amount of aluminum
excreted over the 12-hour period increased on the day when tea was
taken. Their results indicate that tea consumption must be
considered in any assessment of the total dietary intake of
aluminum in human beings.(50)
A most important study from 1998 conducted
at the Nanchang University in China showed that in older rats fed
green tea water extract or green tea leaves, the cerebrum calcium
contents were significantly decreased and aluminum contents
increased. Zinc contents in the cerebrum were also gradually
decreased with the increase of tea leaves dose and tea
concentration(51). The cerebrum is the portion of the brain
(frontal lobes) where thought and higher function reside.(52)
The
fluoride/aluminum association is of particular importance as it
relates to Alzheimer's Disease. Aluminum by itself is
not readily absorbed by the body. However, in the presence of
fluoride ions, the fluoride ions combine with the aluminum to form
aluminum fluoride, which is absorbed by the body. In the body, the
aluminum eventually combines with oxygen to form aluminum oxide or
alumina (53). Alumina is the compound of aluminum that is found in
the brains of Alzheimer's disease.
In the brain, protein binds to the alumina,
and "that is the key to the plaques and tangles which are the
hallmarks of this terrible disease" (54). In a study by Dr.
Robert Isaacson at the State University of New York, aluminum
fluoride was added to the rats diet. This, contrary to normal
expectations, passed through the brain barrier and gave the rats
short term memory, smell sensory loss, unsteady gait, and loss of
structures of the neo-cortex and hippocampus, all symptoms of
Alzheimer's.(53,54,55,56) A Varner and Jensen study conducted with
Isaacson confirmed this in 1998.(57)
Free fluorine
ions and traces of aluminum form a complex, fluoroaluminate,
which stimulates cellular G proteins. Such a complex can form in
food, drinking water, in the organism after fluoride ingestion or
absorption, or after administration of a vaccine. Susa (58,59)
reports that "fluoroaluminate crosses the cell membrane and
directly binds to the membrane-associated inactive Ga protein
subunits. Within the Ga subunit, fluoroaluminate occupies the
position next to GDP.
The resulting Ga-GDP-AlF4- complex assumes
an active state conformation, which resembles that of Ga-GTP
complex. Under physiological conditions, Ga-GTP complex is formed
upon activation of seven transmembrane receptors that couple to
heterotrimeric G proteins...Both fluoroaluminate-activated and
receptor-activated Ga subunits are capable of transmitting
intracellular signals that lead to cellular responses."
There are hundreds of G protein-coupled
receptors. (60) The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor is
also coupled to the G protein. The TSH receptor is densely
expressed in the thyroid gland and mediates the production and
secretion of thyroid hormones. (61) To presume that the
fluoroaluminate will not interfere here is simply naive.
There have been
hundreds of scientific studies using aluminum/fluoride complexes
in the last ten years. A review of the literature by
Strunecká and Patocka reveals that aluminofluoride complexes
influence all cells and tissues of the human body with
"powerful pharmacological efficacy."(62,63)
[This MEDLINE search will return approx.
100 fluoroaluminate-related items:] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&uid=99
17518&dopt=m&dispmax=20
Neurological
Effects of Fluoride
Other numerous studies in the late 1990's
have been published documenting the effects of fluoride on the
neurological system.(65,66,67,68,69)
They are briefly addressed here in an
excerpt from a paper published by the National Treasury Employees
Union (NTEU) Local 280, formerly National Federation of Federal
Employees Local 2050, representing the approximately 1500
scientists, lawyers, engineers and other professional employees at
EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.:
"Why EPA'S Headquarters Union of
Scientists Opposes Fluoridation"
Issued May 1, 1999 (17):
"In 1995, Mullenix and co-workers
showed that rats given fluoride in drinking water at levels that
give rise to plasma fluoride concentrations in the range seen in
humans suffer neurotoxic effects that vary according to when the
rats were given the fluoride - as adult animals, as young animals,
or through the placenta before birth.
Those exposed before birth were born
hyperactive and remained so throughout their lives. Those exposed
as young or adult animals displayed depressed activity. Then in
1998, Guan and co-workers gave doses similar to those used by the
Mullenix research group to try to understand the mechanism(s)
underlying the effects seen by the Mullenix group. Guan's group
found that several key chemicals in the brain - those that form
the membrane of brain cells - were substantially depleted in rats
given fluoride, as compared to those who did not get fluoride.
"Another 1998 publication by Varner,
Jensen and others reported on the brain- and kidney damaging
effects in rats that were given fluoride in drinking water at the
same level deemed "optimal" by pro-fluoridation groups,
namely 1 part per million (1ppm). Even
more pronounced damage was seen in animals that got the fluoride
in conjunction with aluminum. These results are
especially disturbing because of the low dose level of fluoride
that shows the toxic effect in rats - rats are more resistant to
fluoride than humans.
This latter statement is based on
Mullenix's finding that it takes substantially more fluoride in
the drinking water of rats than of humans to reach the same
fluoride level in plasma. It is the level in plasma that
determines how much fluoride is 'seen' by particular tissues in
the body. So when rats get 1 ppm in drinking water, their brains
and kidneys are exposed to much less fluoride than humans getting
1 ppm, yet they are experiencing toxic effects. Thus we are
compelled to consider the likelihood that humans are experiencing
damage to their brains and kidneys at the 'optimal' level of 1 ppm."
("Optimum intake" = 1mg/day)
Toothpaste also
contains a significant quantity of Al, more so, when
packed in Al tubes. (70) That children frequently ingest too much
toothpaste is well established and the reason why since April 1997
a poison warning is to be placed on all fluoride-containing
toothpastes in the US. It is an absolute disgrace that this is not
the same in Canada, especially when the US FDA has issued several
Import Alerts and customs detention orders, documenting fluoride
amounts double that of permissable content originating in Canada!
(71)
Thyroid
Hormones
Thyroid hormones are extremely important
in the regulation of metabolic processes and brain development.
Every cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for
regulation of their metabolism.
Many of the
symptoms documented in the vast literature on the subject of
chronic or low-grade fluoride poisoning can be directly related to
thyroid functions and disorders. One of the most
prominent features of preskeletal fluorosis is the extraordinary
general fatigue experienced by most sufferers, a marked weakness
usually linked to low activity of the thyroid gland. (2)
This has been reported since the classic
1930's Roholm study on cryolite workers exposed to fluorides, a
study which still serves as the basis for occupational fluoride
exposure regulations. (73) At the time of Roholm's work the
specialized field of "endocrinology" was yet to be
recognized as a reputable discipline. Thyroid diseases were poorly
understood. From 1940 to 1970, the application of radioiodine
improved this understanding immeasurably.
Fragu (74) writes:"The main
transformations brought about by this tool were the knowledge of
radioiodine uptake mechanisms, basis of its therapeutic effect,
complete identification of thyroid hormonosynthesis, serum
transport of thyroid hormones and thyroid imaging. More recently
immunological and molecular paradigms changed the understanding of
thyroid diseases."
It is only in the last two decades during
which endocrinology has progressed so rapidly, that now
over 150 symptoms and associations can be identified in
hypothyroidism. Almost all
correlate with known symptoms of fluoride poisoning.(74)
Most of the double-blind test results of fluoride poisoning found
in Moolenburgh's study on water containing 1ppm of fluoride -
which led to the ban of fluoridation in Holland - are now
recognized symptoms of hypothyroidism. (75)
The effects of fluoride
on the thyroid gland have been studied so extensively,
that it baffles the mind how experts on thyroid disease from
Harvard or the University of Toronto can claim that fluorides do
not affect thyroid gland function, especially when it has been
used as medication to do just that! (76)
This stance just defies all knowledge
properly gained in the last 70 years of related research. One
cannot find any mention of fluorides in ANY current
"official" thyroid disease related literature. And this
at fluoride intake levels and at dental fluorosis rates as high as
they are!
Already in 1940 authors Robert H. Wilson
and Floyd DeEds from the United States Department of Agriculture
(discussing the role of fluorine in pesticide sprays), wrote:
"Should a spray residue tolerance
limit for fluorine be set to protect the normal, the hyperthyroid,
or the hypothyroid individual? ... should the tolerance limit take
into consideration that in certain areas the public is already
exposed to a fluorine intake in the drinking water?"(77)
We have posted over 100 studies
documenting the adverse effects of fluoride on the thyroid gland
from the last 70 years or so in the Virtual Library on Fluoride
Research (78)at:
http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/thyroid_studies.htm
Thyroid
SIDS and Down Syndrome
A toxicologist in the United Kingdom
recently found that perinatal deaths in a fluoridated area was 15%
higher than in neighboring non-fluoridated areas. The fluoridated
area had a higher socio-economic status and would have been
expected to have less perinatal deaths.
The fluoridated area
also had a 30% higher rate of Down's Syndrome.
(79a) Down's Syndrome is a disease associated with thyroid
pathology. (79b) Chile banned fluoridation because of research by
the world-reknowned researcher and Nobel price winner, Dr Albert
Schatz, which showed a link to infant deaths due to
fluoridation.(80) Already in the 1950s, Ionel Rapaport published
studies showing links between Down's Syndrome and natural
fluoridation.(81)
[In this context an article should be
noted which appeared in the October1995 issue of the
"Monitor", a publication by the American Psychological
Association, which reported of the similarity in neurological
signs in Down's Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.
The link between the two dates back to the
1940s when George Jervis, who later became the first director of
New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental
Disabilities, conducted autopsies on people with Down's syndrome
and found they had the same neuropathology as people with
Alzheimer's disease. People with Down's syndrome tend to age
faster than the general population and suffer a wide range of
accompanying health problems--many of which mimic or mask the
presence of Alzheimer's disease.(82)]
Thyroid
and Learning Disorders
Learning disorders such as Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) did not knowingly exist
before the fluoridation of public water supplies began.
In the 1950's ADHD spread rapidly among
school children and gained much exposure in the medical science
and health literature. In 1963 the US PHS listed dozens of
symptoms associated with hyperactivity and officially changed the
name to "minimal brain dysfunction".
By the the 1970's some leading authorities
noted that this disorder appeared to lie at the root of nearly
every type of childhood behaviour problem, and had become the most
commonly diagnosed illness among childhood counsellors. (83,84)
In 1987 the
American Medical Association acknowledged that minimal brain
damage had become the leading disability reported by elementary
schools, and "one of the most common referral problems to
psychiatry outpatients clinics" (85)
Many studies on thyroid hormones have
shown that attention deficit and/or hyperactivity disorders in
children are linked to changes in the levels of thyroid hormone in
the blood, and that irritability and aggressive behaviour are
linked to thyroid hormone levels and hypothyroidism.
(86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97).
Behaviour disorders have been
associated with thyroid function for over 100 years.
In 1997 Aronson and Dodman wrote,
"the hypothyroid human patient has been reported to show a
wider range of behavioral symptoms. Particularly in the early
stages of the disease reduced cognitive function and concentration
together with impaired short-term memory may be confused with
attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, and in one study 66% of
patients diagnosed with ADBD were found to be hypothyroid.
Supplementing their
thyroid levels was largely curative.
Visual and auditory hallucinations may result from altered
perception and have been misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or
psychosis. Other behavioral symptoms have included fear - ranging
from mild anxiety to frank paranoia, mood swings and
aggression."(98)
Many psychoactive drugs including Prozac,
Paxil and Luvox (Littleton) are fluorinated medications. Rohypnol,
the infamous date-rape drug, is fluorinated Valium, which is about
20-30 times more potent than Valium alone. In essence, these drugs
effect enzyme functions in certain areas of the brain to achieve
the desired effect.(99)
Thyroid hormone
disorders may induce almost any psychiatric symptom or syndrome,
including rage.
Peter Whybrow (100), of the University of
Pennsylvania, writes:
"An intimate association between
disturbances of thyroid hormone homeostasis and behavior has been
recognized for a long time already: Hyper- and hypothyroidism can
induce disturbances of mood and intellectual function (in severe
cases even psychosis can be mimicked). Reciprocally many
psychiatric disturbances, such as major depression and manic
depressive disease have associated with them disturbances of
peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism."
Whybrow reports on the successful
treatment of psychiatric disorder by supplementing T4 and T3, both
of which are reduced in plasma of rats after two months of
fluoride administration of 0.1 - 1mg/day.(101)
Recent Chinese studies show that the
influence of a high fluoride environment on intelligence can occur
early in development such as during the stages of embryonic life
or infancy when differentiation and growth are more rapid.
Ultramicroscopic study of embryonic brain tissue obtained from
termination of pregnancy operations in endemic fluorosis areas
showed "differentiation of brain nerve cells were poor, and
brain development was delayed."(102,103)
Highly alarming studies and reviews in the
last few years have documented the high
accumulation of fluorides in the fetus in countries all over the
world. (104,105,106,107)
Fluoride tends to fransfer freely and
immediately through the placenta, as has been shown in numerous
publications.(108,109)
It is important to note that mother's milk
passes on neglible amounts of fluoride in very high
fluoride-intake areas, as if "nature" meant to protect
the infant.(110)
Thyroid
Florine Iodine Anatagonism
Additionally, a most important factor to
consider is the role of fluoride in iodine deficiency disorders (IDD).
The antagonistic relationship between fluoride and iodine, being
at opposite ends in the halogen group, has been observed in many
studies ever since Wagner von Jauregg began a mass
iodine-supplementation program in Austrian areas endemic with
goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) in the 1920's. (112) The
late George Waldbott (2) wrote that when the total iodine pool in
the body is low, fluoride interferes with the function of the
thyroid gland and thereby produces a fluoride-iodine antagonism, a
view shared and documented by numerous others. (113,114)
However, it has
become clear within the last decade that fluoride excess, combined
with iodine excess also exert "severe damage to the human
body". (115, 116) In the study by Yang et al.(116)
on children's intelligence in high iodine and fluorine regions,
the percentage of low-intelligence children was 16.7% at dental
fluorosis rates of 72.9%. This is comparable to fluorosis rates we
see in North America, some of which are up to 80%. (117)
A study published this year on endemic
goiter occurrences in the absence of iodine deficiency again
showed higher goiter rates in high-fluoride areas in South
Africa.(118)
Could it be that the world-wide
"iodine deficiency" is actually fluoride excess? By
comparing IDD data supplied by the WHO (119) with fluorosis data
found on MEDLINE an answer may be found. You may judge for
yourself:
COUNTRY
IDD/GOITER
FLUOROSIS
India
Very High (Endemic)
Very High (Endemic)
Nigeria
High
High
Belgium
Moderately Low
Moderately Low
France
Low (3.9%)
Low (3%)
China
Very High (endemic)
Very High (endemic)
Mexico
Very High (>60% San Luis Patosi)
Very High (>60% San Luis Patosi)
Brazil
High (>30%)
High (>30%)
Italy
High (Mean 39%)
High (45% in fl.areas)
Tanzania
Very High (>60%)
Very High (60%)
Sudan
High
High
While it is well known that goiter and
hypothyroidism occur more often in mountainous areas, the same has
now been shown for dental fluorosis.(120,121)
[Note:While checking for IDD/Goiter data
for the US, we discovered that a national survey has never been
conducted. The only Canadian data available dates back 30 years,
and mentions earlier goiter occurences in the Great Lakes area.
(Brantford (Great Lakes) was the first Canadian city to be
fluoridated.))
Meanwhile,
"iodine deficiency" is now recognized as the most common
cause of preventable brain damage and mental disability in the
world today. It affects the brain development of the
fetus. All thyroid disorders, including hypothyroidism, can
develop already in the fetus.
Regarding the findings by Dr. Phyllis
Mullenix (65), and her observation that those exposed to fluorides
before birth were born hyperactive and remained so throughout
their lives, it fits very neatly with existing research on
hypothyroidism:
"Hypothyroidism that is present from
birth is referred to as congenital hypothyroidism (CH). In North
America, CH occurs in about 1 in 4000 live-born babies. The
majority (over 90%) of affected babies in North America have a
permanent, life-long type of CH".(122)
Another thyroid/fluoride connection can be
seen in Jennifer Luke's data (123) which has shown that fluoride
accumulates in the pineal gland and inhibits its production of
melatonin. Luke showed in test animals that this
inhibition causes an earlier onset of sexual maturity, an effect
already reported in humans as well in 1956, as part of the
Kingston/Newburgh study. In fluoridated Newburgh, young girls
experienced earlier onset of menstruation than girls in
non-fluoridated Kingston (124).
The early onset of sexual puberty is a
well established symptom of thyroid hormone dysfunction. Usually
patients with low thyroid hormones also have deficient secretion
of growth hormone, and may have deficient secretion of the
gonadotropins, called LH and FSH, which stimulate puberty and
reproduction, and ACTH, which is necessary for cortisol and
hydrocortisone secretion by the adrenal gland. (125)
[In the above context it should be noted,
that aluminum fluoride also mimicks the
inhibitory action of melatonin.(126)]
Another symptom of an underactive thyroid
condition (or iodine deficiency?) - severe growth disturbances -
was observed in 1935 by DeEds and Thomas in children in areas
where the water contained F- at 1-2 ppm. (127)
Osteoporosis,
Arthritis, and Other Bone Disorders
Left undetected and untreated, thyroid
disorder can elevate cholesterol levels, cause long-term organ
complications and may lead to irregular menstrual cycles,
infertility and worsening osteoporosis.(128,129,130)
Fluorides
accumulate in your body. For this reason, as mentioned
before, a MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) must be set for fluoride
in the drinking water to avoid Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis (CSF).
The US PHS wrote in 1991 that
"fluoride increases the stability of the crystal lattice in
bone, but makes bone more brittle... the total quantity of
fluoride ingested is the single most important factor in
determining the clinical course of skeletal fluorosis; the
severity of symptoms correlates directly with the level and
duration of exposure."(131)
On page 6 of the same report it
states:"Fluoride in the drinking water may increase the risk
of elderly men and women breaking bones"..pages 56-57:
"The weight of evidence from these experiments suggests that
fluoride added to water can increase the risk of hip fracture in
both elderly women and men...If this effect is confirmed, it would
mean that hip fracture in the elderly would replace dental
fluorosis as the most sensitive endpoint of fluoride
exposure".
Since then several more studies have been
published, all showing greater incidence
of hip fractures among the elderly in fluoridated areas.
(132,133,134) The elderly are also the population suffering
greatest from hypothyroidism.
To understand the implications of fluoride
in bone disorders:
If you drink 1 cup (6oz) of
green/black tea a day, with F- content of 5mg, you can expect
Chronic Skeletal Fluorosis to appear as follows (135):
(100lbs. person)
Phase
1:.............................within 5 years
(sporadic pain; stiffness in joints;
osteosclerosis of pelvis and vertebral column)
Phase
2:.............................after 10 years
(chronic joint pain; arthritic
symptoms; slight calcification of ligaments; increased
osteoclerosis/cancellous bones; with/without osteoporosis of long
bones)
Phase 3 (crippling fluorosis).......after
23 years
(limitation of joint movement;
calcification of ligaments/neck, vert. Column; crippling
deformities/spine major joints; muscle wasting;neurological
defects/compression of spinal chord).
Comparing intake levels as high as they
are (12) with statistical data, it must become clear that this is
already happening to a significant portion of the population.
CONCLUSION:
As argued by Dean Burk and the attorneys
who established the connection between cancer deaths and
fluoridation, there is a premise in logic which states that the
most obvious cause of an event must be taken as face value while
one searches for alternative possibilities.
Because it can be documented that
fluorides were given as medication for hyperthyroid patients it
should be considered the OBVIOUS cause for hypothyroidism and
other thyroid-hormone function-related disorders, including ADHD,
arthritis, osteoporosis, etc., especially at intake levels as high
as they are.
Fluoride
poisoning can be observed in large groups of the population, in
the form of hypothyroidism. In 1995 one publication
(see 127) on hypothyroidism reported that 41 percent of women had
fatigue for no obvious reason in the past year. Of these women, 57
percent said they experience fatigue three or more times a week.
More than half of women (51 percent) had experienced three or more
symptoms commonly associated with hypothyroidism over the past
year.
Other symptoms/associations of
hypothyroidism include loss of libido, carpal tunnel syndrome,
arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, memory loss, etc. [For a more
complete list, please see (74)]
Dental fluorosis
is the first visible indicator that severe thyroid hormone
dysfunction has occurred and is occurring. It is NOT a
mere cosmetic effect as the dental profession would like us to
believe. The evidence is staggering.
We must take immediate action to protect
our children's mental and physical health from the ever-increasing
fluoride intake. Water fluoridation must be halted, all foods must
be labelled for F- content, and emissions by industry must be
strictly regulated.
Overall
fluoride intake must be radically reduced.
Andreas
Schuld
Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC)
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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113)Day,
TK;Powell-Jackson,PR -"Fluoride, Water Hardness, and Endemic
Goitre" Lancet 1:1135-1138 (1972) A study on 648 people in 13
mountaineous regions in Nepal where the iodine content in the
water was low found a close relationship between fluoride intake
and the incidence of goiter.
114)Siddiqui, A.H. -
"Incidence of Simple Goiter in Areas of Endemic Fluorosis in
Nalgonda District, Andra Pradesh, India" Fluoride 2:200-205
(1969)
In India, small visible goiters have been connected directly to
high fluoride concentrations in drinking water in persons 14 to 17
years of age.
115)Zhao, W;Zhu, H; Yu,
Z;Aoki, K; Misumi, J; Zhang, X -"Long-term Effects of Various
Iodine and Fluorine Doses on the Thyroid and Fluorosis in
Mice" Endocr Regul 32(2):63-70 (1998)
116)Yang Y, Wang X, Guo
X - "Effects of high iodine and high fluorine on children's
intelligence and the metabolism of iodine and fluorine" Chung
Hua Liu Hsing Ping Hsueh Tsa Chih 15(5):296-8 (1994)
117)Health Effects of
Ingested Fluoride, Subcommittee on Health Effects of Ingested
Fluoride, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Environmental Studies
and Toxicology, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research
Council pp.37,48 (1993)
118)Jooste PL, Weight MJ,
Kriek JA, Louw AJ - "Endemic goitre in the absence of iodine
deficiency in schoolchildren of the Northern Cape Province of
South Africa" Eur J Clin Nutr 53(1):8-12 (1999)
119)IDD by COUNTRY
http://www.people.Virginia.EDU/~jtd/iccidd/
120)Yoder KM, Mabelya L,
Robison VA, Dunipace AJ, Brizendine EJ, Stookey GK "Severe
dental fluorosis in a Tanzanian population consuming water with
negligible fluoride concentration" Community Dent Oral
Epidemiol
26(6):382-93 (1998)
121)Rwenyonyi C,
Bjorvatn K, Birkeland J, Haugejorden O- "Altitude as a Risk
Indicator of Dental Fluorosis in Children Residing in Areas with
0.5 and 2.5 mg Fluoride per Litre in Drinking Water." Caries
Res 33(4):267-274 (1999)
122)CONGENITAL
HYPOTHYROIDISM - The Thyroid Society
http://www.the-thyroid-society.org/med_letter2.html
123)Luke, J.A.-
"Effect of fluoride on the physiology of the pineal
gland" Caries Research 28 204 (1994)
124)Schlesinger, E.R.,
Overton, D.E., Chase, H.C., and Cantwell, K.T.-
"Newburgh-Kingston caries-fluorine study XIII. Pediatric
findings after ten years" JADA 52 296-306 (1956)
125)Thomas P. Foley, Jr;
M.D.; Professor of Pediatrics University of Pittsburgh and
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The MAGIC
Foundation Clinical Hypothyroidism Divison
http://www.magicfoundation.org/clinhypop.html
126)Morgan, P.J;
Hastings, M.H; Thompson, M; Barrett, P; Lawson, W; Davidson, G. -
"Intracellular signalling in the ovine pars tuberalis: an
investigation using aluminium fluoride and melatonin" J Mol
Endocrinol 7(2):137-44 (1991)
127)DeEds,F; Thomas,O.-
Chem Zbl 3542 (1935)
128)Press Releases -
Thyroid Federation International
http://www.thyroid-fed.org/publications/didyou.html
129)Press Release -
Gland Central
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/DFD6.htm
130)Wood, Lawrence C.,
David S. Cooper, and E. Chester Ridgway. "Your Thyroid, A
Home Reference," New York: Ballantine Books, 1995
131)Review of Fluoride:
Benefits and Risks, Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service, February 1991
132)Jacobsen, S.J.,
Goldberg, J., Miles, ,T.P. et al. - "Regional variation in
the incidence of hip fracture: U.S. white women aged 65 years and
older" JAMA 264 500-502 (1990)
133)Danielson, C., Lyon,
J.L., Egger, M., and Goodenough, G.K. - "Hip fracture and
fluoridation in Utah's elderly population" JAMA 268 746-748
(1992).
134)Jacobsen, S.J.,
Goldberg, J., Cooper, C. and Lockwood- "The Association
between water fluoridation and hip fracture among white women and
men aged 65 years and older: a national ecological study , S.A.
Ann. Epidemiol.2 617-626 (1992)
135)Toxicological
Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride and Fluorine, ATSDR/U.S.
Public Health Service, 1993, page 46
Related Articles:
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for Fluoride Information
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Increases Lead Absorption In Children
The
Fluoride Controversy
Toothpaste
and Other Fluoride Sources Can Damage Preschoolers' Teeth
Return
To Table of Contents Issue #170
Green Tea, Fluoride, and the Thyroid
I am writing this letter with the intent to inform on various
issues associated with the use of fluorides, especially as it
relates to green and black teas, and to voice our concern about
the continued promotion of green tea as a drink "beneficial
to one's health" on your radio show "Current Health
Issues". Tea is very high in fluoride content. Fluoride in
tea is much higher than the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set
for fluoride in drinking water. Tea leaves accumulate more
fluoride (from pollution of soil and air) than any other edible
plant (1,2,3). Fluoride content in tea has risen dramatically over
the last 20 years, as has tea consumption (4). While in 1976 a
Belgian analysis showed content of between 50 and 125 ppm fluoride
in 15 varieties of tea (3), a Polish study in 1995 found fluoride
content of up to 340 ppm in 16 varieties of black tea (5). A major
Canadian study published in 1995 reports average fluoride content
in tea to be 4.57 mg/l in the 1980's.(6) A website by a
pro-fluoridation infant medical group lists a cup of black tea to
contain 7.8 mgs of fluoride (7), which is roughly the same amount
as if one were to drink 7.8 litres of water in an area fluoridated
at 1ppm. It is well known that fluoride in tea gets absorbed by
the body similarly as the fluoride in drinking water (1,8). Some
British and African studies from the 1990's showed a daily
fluoride intake of between 5.8 mgs and 9 mgs a day from tea
alone.(9,10,11) In order to understand a dose/concentration
relationship properly, one needs to realize that the level of
fluoride at 1 part-per-million (ppm) = 1 mg/l was set in the 40's
when TOTAL intake was considered to be only about 1 mg/day in
areas with fluoridated water. It was thought that the fluoridation
of water supplies at 1 ppm (1 mg/l) would duplicate this intake,
assuming that people would drink 4 glasses of water a day.
However, average current total intake of fluorides is approaching
the 8mg/day range, according to the last official data available
from the US PHS (1991) and other publications (12). TOTAL intake
from ALL sources is the amount to be considered for any adverse
health effect evaluation. (13,14,15) The fact that fluorides
accumulate in the body is the reason why a MCL for fluoride
content in water needs to be set by the US Environment Protection
Agency (EPA) - by law under the US Surgeon General. This is to be
done specifically to avoid a condition known as Crippling Skeletal
Fluorosis (CSF). The MCL is set so as to only avoid the third and
crippling stage of this disease. It is set at 4ppm =>
4mg/liter, assuming that people will retain half of this amount
(2mg), and therefore be at a "safe" level. The EPA
scientists, whose job and legal duty it is to set the MCL,
declared that this level was set fraudulently by outside forces,
and that 90% of the data showing the mutagenic properties of
fluoride were omitted. (16) Virtually every company selling green
tea advertises it's high fluoride content as
"beneficial" in preventing cavities, promulgating the
misleading and false data supplied for the last 50 years by the
ADA/CDA and other dental health trade organizations, as well as
various public health agencies. There are NO double-blind studies
anywhere proving the efficacy of fluoride as a caries preventative
(17). There ARE double-blind studies proving adverse health
effects, at the level of 1ppm (1mg/l) in water.(18) There are no
studies documenting safety at any intake level.. Thyroid
Medication Drinking a cup of tea with fluoride content as
mentioned above (7.8mg) would mean a fluoride intake much
higher(!) than amounts which were actually given as medication to
treat hyperthyroidism (-> over-functioning thyroid) for
numerous decades - in several countries - specifically to reduce
thyroid activity! [(2 -10 mg NaF/day => 0.9mg - 4.5mg F-)]
(19,20,21,22) In the 1930's May reported having _successfully_
treated 1,158 hyperthyroid patients within 6 years with either
sodium fluoride or fluorothyrosine, given per mouth. Among
products later released on the market were Pardinon and Tyrosin
(23, 24). Checking an older Merck Index will verify this
information.(25) Gorlizer von Mundy treated patients for more than
30 years in baths containing HF (30ccHF in 200 l water). Later
fluorides were deemed not "reliable enough" to be
recommended as an antithyroid (26). RE: CANCER AND GREEN TEA While
there can be no doubt as to the beneficial effects of individual
antioxidants found in green tea, the same cannot be said about
green tea as a beverage. Existing studies tend to concentrate on
active ingredients of green tea, such as epigallocatechin gallate
(EGCG), a compound that belongs to a family of antioxidants known
as polyphenols. EGCG and other polyphenols are constituents of tea
- especially of green tea. However, no studies exist investigating
the effects of fluorides on these anti-oxidants. Existing studies
involving other antioxidants and fluoride compounds give evidence
that fluorides can adversely affect the action of
antioxidants(27). Thus, while isolated antioxidants may slow down
the development of some forms of cancer in experimental studies,
their effect may be annihilated in their complex natural
environment (as a sum of the action of all the substances
present). Several reviews of available data seem undecided in
their conclusions as to the inhibition of carcinogenesis in
experimental animals by tea or tea compounds. Data reviewed by
Blot et al. (28) suggest "at most a modest benefit, since
there is considerable international variation in tea consumption
but generally small differences in cancer rates...More relevant
case-control and cohort studies show mixed results." Other
epidemiological and human studies have also shown varying results.
In a review by Bushman (29) thirty-one human studies and four
reviews were examined. Among five studies reporting on colon
cancer, three found an inverse association and one reported a
positive association. For rectal cancer, only one of four studies
reported an inverse association; increased risks were seen in two
of the studies. An inverse association was suggested for urinary
bladder cancer in two of two studies. While lung cancer studies
have shown an inverse effect with Okinawan tea, a tentatively
increased risk was shown in another study, clearly indicating that
more research into this matter is needed. In a recent study on
Finnish men, published in 1998 by Terryl Hartman and others, again
a positive correlation between colon cancer and tea intake was
found. Colon cancer occurrence increased with higher intake (30).
Many available green tea/cancer studies last only a few months,
and do not take into account the cumulative effects of fluoride,
which is a known cancer promoter, and has the ability to transform
healthy cells into cancerous ones. (1,17,35,36) For any conclusive
evidence to be obtained this must be considered, for long time
fluoride ingestion has been shown to _cause_ cancer, especially
osteosarcomas and uterine cancer. (31,32) Dean Burk, for many
decades Chief Chemist at the National Cancer Institute, testified
at congressional hearings in 1981 stating that over 40,000 cancer
deaths in that year were attributable to fluoridation (33). He has
said that no chemical causes as much cancer, and faster, than
fluorides (34). Public health officials are quick to say that this
data is not verified, which is entirely untrue, for international
research as well as congressional hearings and court proceedings
HAVE verified this information.
(1,2,16,17,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38) Dental fluorosis (mottled
teeth) is the first visible sign of fluoride poisoning. Studies
conducted on tea consumption in Tibetan children by Cao et al.
found both dental (51.2%) and skeletal (32.83%) fluorosis, mainly
as a result from drinking brick tea, also known as milk tea (39).
More studies by Cao and others reported similar results (40,41) as
did a study from Chile showing dental fluorosis risks in 22.1% of
the children consuming tea as a main beverage (42). Many similar
studies on tea as well as other beverages have been published in
the journals of the American Dental Association (ADA) or American
Medical Association (AMA) themselves. Studies on hydrofluoric-acid
workers from an electronics company documented that, among the
influences of fluorine-containing foodstuff on fluoride content in
the biological fluids, the effect of black tea and/or green tea
intake was "particularly remarkable". Measuring the
urine and serum levels of fluorine ion, in the case of the
non-hydrofluoric-acid workers, the concentration increased to
about double of the control value. Similarly in a diet test on
volunteers, the concentration increased about six times. (43)
There are several other factors to consider regarding fluoride
content in tea. One is the amount of fluoride leeching over time.
Chinese teas continue to release F- throughout the first hour of
infusion, whereas release of F- from Ceylon/Indian teas is
essentially completed after 5 minutes.(44) The first study to
investigate fluoride content in decaffeinated teas found an even
higher fluoride content in those teas as compared to their
caffeinated counterparts. (45) It is thought that this is due to
the high fluoride content in the water involved in the de-caffeination
process, which then would also make coffee similarly decaffeinated
high in fluoride content. In addition, the caffeine in tea has a
great augmentative effect on the bio-availability of fluoride. In
1990 researchers at the University of Texas even theorized that
"the rise in incidence of dental fluorosis in North America
is mainly due to the replacement of water intake by
caffeine-containing beverages among the young
population".(46) In 1990 German researchers wrote that
"continuous intake of black tea rich in fluorides leads to
distinct increase of fluoride content of temporary teeth. This is
to consider analogous a caries prophylaxis."(47) Considering
this, and tea market statistics which report that, "on any
given day, nearly 127 million people -- half of all Americans --
are drinking tea", and that tea is available in 80% of US
households (4), one must seriously ask why anyone in their right
mind would want to add to the already existing load by adding
fluorides to the public water supply. Fluoride and Aluminum in Tea
To make matters much worse for human health, fluorides in teas are
found together with aluminum. The combination of aluminum and
fluorides in tea is of urgent concern, due to the increased damage
done by fluorides when in the presence of aluminum, especially
neurological and renal damage)(17). A study by Wei and others
reported a high correlation (r = 0.81) found between the released
F and Al in all tested Chinese, Indian and herbal teas.(48)
Nabrzyski and Gajewska (49) report: "..In the 16 samples of
commercially available brands of black teas, the levels of
aluminum and fluoride ranged from 445 to 1552 ppm (mean = 897 +/-
264 ppm) and from 30 to 340 ppm (mean 141 +/- 85 ppm),
respectively. In six herbal teas, the mean levels of aluminum and
fluoride were lower, and amounted to 218.9 +/- 150.7 ppm and 6.0
+/- 6.9 ppm, respectively..." That the aluminum present is
indeed resorbed in the simultaneous presence of fluoride is shown
in a study by Drs. Klaus R. Koch and Colleagues at the University
of Cape Town. They examined the urinary excretion of aluminum
(which is an indicator of its resorption) in healthy male
volunteers after drinking equal volumes (1.2 litres) of tea,
coffee or tap water on separate days. In every case the amount of
aluminum excreted over the 12-hour period increased on the day
when tea was taken. Their results indicate that tea consumption
must be considered in any assessment of the total dietary intake
of aluminum in human beings.(50) A most important study from 1998
conducted at the Nanchang University in China showed that in older
rats fed green tea water extract or green tea leaves, the cerebrum
calcium contents were significantly decreased and aluminum
contents increased. Zinc contents in the cerebrum were also
gradually decreased with the increase of tea leaves dose and tea
concentration(51). The cerebrum is the portion of the brain
(frontal lobes) where thought and higher function reside.(52) The
fluoride/aluminum association is of particular importance as it
relates to Alzheimer's Disease. Aluminum by itself is not readily
absorbed by the body. However, in the presence of fluoride ions,
the fluoride ions combine with the aluminum to form aluminum
fluoride, which is absorbed by the body. In the body, the aluminum
eventually combines with oxygen to form aluminum oxide or alumina
(53). Alumina is the compound of aluminum that is found in the
brains of Alzheimer's disease. In the brain, protein binds to the
alumina, and "that is the key to the plaques and tangles
which are the hallmarks of this terrible disease" (54). In a
study by Dr. Robert Isaacson at the State University of New York,
aluminum fluoride was added to the rats diet. This, contrary to
normal expectations, passed through the brain barrier and gave the
rats short term memory, smell sensory loss, unsteady gait, and
loss of structures of the neo-cortex and hippocampus, all symptoms
of Alzheimer's.(53,54,55,56) A Varner and Jensen study conducted
with Isaacson confirmed this in 1998.(57) Free fluorine ions and
traces of aluminum form a complex, fluoroaluminate, which
stimulates cellular G proteins. Such a complex can form in food,
drinking water, in the organism after fluoride ingestion or
absorption, or after administration of a vaccine. Susa (58,59)
reports that "fluoroaluminate crosses the cell membrane and
directly binds to the membrane-associated inactive Ga protein
subunits. Within the Ga subunit, fluoroaluminate occupies the
position next to GDP. The resulting Ga-GDP-AlF4- complex assumes
an active state conformation, which resembles that of Ga-GTP
complex. Under physiological conditions, Ga-GTP complex is formed
upon activation of seven transmembrane receptors that couple to
heterotrimeric G proteins...Both fluoroaluminate-activated and
receptor-activated Ga subunits are capable of transmitting
intracellular signals that lead to cellular responses." There
are hundreds of G protein-coupled receptors. (60) The thyroid
stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor is also coupled to the G
protein. The TSH receptor is densely expressed in the thyroid
gland and mediates the production and secretion of thyroid
hormones. (61) To presume that the fluoroaluminate will not
interfere here is simply naive. There have been hundreds of
scientific studies using aluminum/fluoride complexes in the last
ten years. A review of the literature by Strunecká and Patocka
reveals that aluminofluoride complexes influence all cells and
tissues of the human body with "powerful pharmacological
efficacy."(62,63) [This MEDLINE search will return approx.
100 fluoroaluminate-related items:] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?db=m&form=6&uid=99
17518&dopt=m&dispmax=20 Neurological Effects of Fluoride
Other numerous studies in the late 1990's have been published
documenting the effects of fluoride on the neurological
system.(65,66,67,68,69) They are briefly addressed here in an
excerpt from a paper published by the National Treasury Employees
Union (NTEU) Local 280, formerly National Federation of Federal
Employees Local 2050, representing the approximately 1500
scientists, lawyers, engineers and other professional employees at
EPA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.: "Why EPA'S Headquarters
Union of Scientists Opposes Fluoridation" Issued May 1, 1999
(17): "In 1995, Mullenix and co-workers showed that rats
given fluoride in drinking water at levels that give rise to
plasma fluoride concentrations in the range seen in humans suffer
neurotoxic effects that vary according to when the rats were given
the fluoride - as adult animals, as young animals, or through the
placenta before birth. Those exposed before birth were born
hyperactive and remained so throughout their lives. Those exposed
as young or adult animals displayed depressed activity. Then in
1998, Guan and co-workers gave doses similar to those used by the
Mullenix research group to try to understand the mechanism(s)
underlying the effects seen by the Mullenix group. Guan's group
found that several key chemicals in the brain - those that form
the membrane of brain cells - were substantially depleted in rats
given fluoride, as compared to those who did not get fluoride.
"Another 1998 publication by Varner, Jensen and others
reported on the brain- and kidney damaging effects in rats that
were given fluoride in drinking water at the same level deemed
"optimal" by pro-fluoridation groups, namely 1 part per
million (1ppm). Even more pronounced damage was seen in animals
that got the fluoride in conjunction with aluminum. These results
are especially disturbing because of the low dose level of
fluoride that shows the toxic effect in rats - rats are more
resistant to fluoride than humans. This latter statement is based
on Mullenix's finding that it takes substantially more fluoride in
the drinking water of rats than of humans to reach the same
fluoride level in plasma. It is the level in plasma that
determines how much fluoride is 'seen' by particular tissues in
the body. So when rats get 1 ppm in drinking water, their brains
and kidneys are exposed to much less fluoride than humans getting
1 ppm, yet they are experiencing toxic effects. Thus we are
compelled to consider the likelihood that humans are experiencing
damage to their brains and kidneys at the 'optimal' level of 1 ppm."
("Optimum intake" = 1mg/day) Toothpaste also contains a
significant quantity of Al, more so, when packed in Al tubes. (70)
That children frequently ingest too much toothpaste is well
established and the reason why since April 1997 a poison warning
is to be placed on all fluoride-containing toothpastes in the US.
It is an absolute disgrace that this is not the same in Canada,
especially when the US FDA has issued several Import Alerts and
customs detention orders, documenting fluoride amounts double that
of permissable content originating in Canada! (71) Thyroid
Hormones Thyroid hormones are extremely important in the
regulation of metabolic processes and brain development. Every
cell in the body depends upon thyroid hormones for regulation of
their metabolism. Many of the symptoms documented in the vast
literature on the subject of chronic or low-grade fluoride
poisoning can be directly related to thyroid functions and
disorders. One of the most prominent features of preskeletal
fluorosis is the extraordinary general fatigue experienced by most
sufferers, a marked weakness usually linked to low activity of the
thyroid gland. (2) This has been reported since the classic 1930's
Roholm study on cryolite workers exposed to fluorides, a study
which still serves as the basis for occupational fluoride exposure
regulations. (73) At the time of Roholm's work the specialized
field of "endocrinology" was yet to be recognized as a
reputable discipline. Thyroid diseases were poorly understood.
From 1940 to 1970, the application of radioiodine improved this
understanding immeasurably. Fragu (74) writes:"The main
transformations brought about by this tool were the knowledge of
radioiodine uptake mechanisms, basis of its therapeutic effect,
complete identification of thyroid hormonosynthesis, serum
transport of thyroid hormones and thyroid imaging. More recently
immunological and molecular paradigms changed the understanding of
thyroid diseases." It is only in the last two decades during
which endocrinology has progressed so rapidly, that now over 150
symptoms and associations can be identified in hypothyroidism.
Almost all correlate with known symptoms of fluoride
poisoning.(74) Most of the double-blind test results of fluoride
poisoning found in Moolenburgh's study on water containing 1ppm of
fluoride - which led to the ban of fluoridation in Holland - are
now recognized symptoms of hypothyroidism. (75) The effects of
fluoride on the thyroid gland have been studied so extensively,
that it baffles the mind how experts on thyroid disease from
Harvard or the University of Toronto can claim that fluorides do
not affect thyroid gland function, especially when it has been
used as medication to do just that! (76) This stance just defies
all knowledge properly gained in the last 70 years of related
research. One cannot find any mention of fluorides in ANY current
"official" thyroid disease related literature. And this
at fluoride intake levels and at dental fluorosis rates as high as
they are! Already in 1940 authors Robert H. Wilson and Floyd DeEds
from the United States Department of Agriculture (discussing the
role of fluorine in pesticide sprays), wrote: "Should a spray
residue tolerance limit for fluorine be set to protect the normal,
the hyperthyroid, or the hypothyroid individual? ... should the
tolerance limit take into consideration that in certain areas the
public is already exposed to a fluorine intake in the drinking
water?"(77) We have posted over 100 studies documenting the
adverse effects of fluoride on the thyroid gland from the last 70
years or so in the Virtual Library on Fluoride Research (78)at: http://www.bruha.com/fluoride/html/thyroid_studies.htm
Thyroid SIDS and Down Syndrome A toxicologist in the United
Kingdom recently found that perinatal deaths in a fluoridated area
was 15% higher than in neighboring non-fluoridated areas. The
fluoridated area had a higher socio-economic status and would have
been expected to have less perinatal deaths. The fluoridated area
also had a 30% higher rate of Down's Syndrome. (79a) Down's
Syndrome is a disease associated with thyroid pathology. (79b)
Chile banned fluoridation because of research by the world-reknowned
researcher and Nobel price winner, Dr Albert Schatz, which showed
a link to infant deaths due to fluoridation.(80) Already in the
1950s, Ionel Rapaport published studies showing links between
Down's Syndrome and natural fluoridation.(81) [In this context an
article should be noted which appeared in the October1995 issue of
the "Monitor", a publication by the American
Psychological Association, which reported of the similarity in
neurological signs in Down's Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. The
link between the two dates back to the 1940s when George Jervis,
who later became the first director of New York State Institute
for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, conducted
autopsies on people with Down's syndrome and found they had the
same neuropathology as people with Alzheimer's disease. People
with Down's syndrome tend to age faster than the general
population and suffer a wide range of accompanying health
problems--many of which mimic or mask the presence of Alzheimer's
disease.(82)] Thyroid and Learning Disorders Learning disorders
such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) did not
knowingly exist before the fluoridation of public water supplies
began. In the 1950's ADHD spread rapidly among school children and
gained much exposure in the medical science and health literature.
In 1963 the US PHS listed dozens of symptoms associated with
hyperactivity and officially changed the name to "minimal
brain dysfunction". By the the 1970's some leading
authorities noted that this disorder appeared to lie at the root
of nearly every type of childhood behaviour problem, and had
become the most commonly diagnosed illness among childhood
counsellors. (83,84) In 1987 the American Medical Association
acknowledged that minimal brain damage had become the leading
disability reported by elementary schools, and "one of the
most common referral problems to psychiatry outpatients
clinics" (85) Many studies on thyroid hormones have shown
that attention deficit and/or hyperactivity disorders in children
are linked to changes in the levels of thyroid hormone in the
blood, and that irritability and aggressive behaviour are linked
to thyroid hormone levels and hypothyroidism.
(86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97). Behaviour disorders have
been associated with thyroid function for over 100 years. In 1997
Aronson and Dodman wrote, "the hypothyroid human patient has
been reported to show a wider range of behavioral symptoms.
Particularly in the early stages of the disease reduced cognitive
function and concentration together with impaired short-term
memory may be confused with attention deficit-hyperactivity
disorder, and in one study 66% of patients diagnosed with ADBD
were found to be hypothyroid. Supplementing their thyroid levels
was largely curative. Visual and auditory hallucinations may
result from altered perception and have been misdiagnosed as
schizophrenia or psychosis. Other behavioral symptoms have
included fear - ranging from mild anxiety to frank paranoia, mood
swings and aggression."(98) Many psychoactive drugs including
Prozac, Paxil and Luvox (Littleton) are fluorinated medications.
Rohypnol, the infamous date-rape drug, is fluorinated Valium,
which is about 20-30 times more potent than Valium alone. In
essence, these drugs effect enzyme functions in certain areas of
the brain to achieve the desired effect.(99) Thyroid hormone
disorders may induce almost any psychiatric symptom or syndrome,
including rage. Peter Whybrow (100), of the University of
Pennsylvania, writes: "An intimate association between
disturbances of thyroid hormone homeostasis and behavior has been
recognized for a long time already: Hyper- and hypothyroidism can
induce disturbances of mood and intellectual function (in severe
cases even psychosis can be mimicked). Reciprocally many
psychiatric disturbances, such as major depression and manic
depressive disease have associated with them disturbances of
peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism." Whybrow reports on
the successful treatment of psychiatric disorder by supplementing
T4 and T3, both of which are reduced in plasma of rats after two
months of fluoride administration of 0.1 - 1mg/day.(101) Recent
Chinese studies show that the influence of a high fluoride
environment on intelligence can occur early in development such as
during the stages of embryonic life or infancy when
differentiation and growth are more rapid. Ultramicroscopic study
of embryonic brain tissue obtained from termination of pregnancy
operations in endemic fluorosis areas showed "differentiation
of brain nerve cells were poor, and brain development was
delayed."(102,103) Highly alarming studies and reviews in the
last few years have documented the high accumulation of fluorides
in the fetus in countries all over the world. (104,105,106,107)
Fluoride tends to fransfer freely and immediately through the
placenta, as has been shown in numerous publications.(108,109) It
is important to note that mother's milk passes on neglible amounts
of fluoride in very high fluoride-intake areas, as if
"nature" meant to protect the infant.(110) Thyroid
Florine Iodine Anatagonism Additionally, a most important factor
to consider is the role of fluoride in iodine deficiency disorders
(IDD). The antagonistic relationship between fluoride and iodine,
being at opposite ends in the halogen group, has been observed in
many studies ever since Wagner von Jauregg began a mass
iodine-supplementation program in Austrian areas endemic with
goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) in the 1920's. (112) The
late George Waldbott (2) wrote that when the total iodine pool in
the body is low, fluoride interferes with the function of the
thyroid gland and thereby produces a fluoride-iodine antagonism, a
view shared and documented by numerous others. (113,114) However,
it has become clear within the last decade that fluoride excess,
combined with iodine excess also exert "severe damage to the
human body". (115, 116) In the study by Yang et al.(116) on
children's intelligence in high iodine and fluorine regions, the
percentage of low-intelligence children was 16.7% at dental
fluorosis rates of 72.9%. This is comparable to fluorosis rates we
see in North America, some of which are up to 80%. (117) A study
published this year on endemic goiter occurrences in the absence
of iodine deficiency again showed higher goiter rates in
high-fluoride areas in South Africa.(118) Could it be that the
world-wide "iodine deficiency" is actually fluoride
excess? By comparing IDD data supplied by the WHO (119) with
fluorosis data found on MEDLINE an answer may be found. You may
judge for yourself: COUNTRY IDD/GOITER FLUOROSIS India Very High
(Endemic) Very High (Endemic) Nigeria High High Belgium Moderately
Low Moderately Low France Low (3.9%) Low (3%) China Very High
(endemic) Very High (endemic) Mexico Very High (>60% San Luis
Patosi) Very High (>60% San Luis Patosi) Brazil High (>30%)
High (>30%) Italy High (Mean 39%) High (45% in fl.areas)
Tanzania Very High (>60%) Very High (60%) Sudan High High While
it is well known that goiter and hypothyroidism occur more often
in mountainous areas, the same has now been shown for dental
fluorosis.(120,121) [Note:While checking for IDD/Goiter data for
the US, we discovered that a national survey has never been
conducted. The only Canadian data available dates back 30 years,
and mentions earlier goiter occurences in the Great Lakes area.
(Brantford (Great Lakes) was the first Canadian city to be
fluoridated.)) Meanwhile, "iodine deficiency" is now
recognized as the most common cause of preventable brain damage
and mental disability in the world today. It affects the brain
development of the fetus. All thyroid disorders, including
hypothyroidism, can develop already in the fetus. Regarding the
findings by Dr. Phyllis Mullenix (65), and her observation that
those exposed to fluorides before birth were born hyperactive and
remained so throughout their lives, it fits very neatly with
existing research on hypothyroidism: "Hypothyroidism that is
present from birth is referred to as congenital hypothyroidism
(CH). In North America, CH occurs in about 1 in 4000 live-born
babies. The majority (over 90%) of affected babies in North
America have a permanent, life-long type of CH".(122) Another
thyroid/fluoride connection can be seen in Jennifer Luke's data
(123) which has shown that fluoride accumulates in the pineal
gland and inhibits its production of melatonin. Luke showed in
test animals that this inhibition causes an earlier onset of
sexual maturity, an effect already reported in humans as well in
1956, as part of the Kingston/Newburgh study. In fluoridated
Newburgh, young girls experienced earlier onset of menstruation
than girls in non-fluoridated Kingston (124). The early onset of
sexual puberty is a well established symptom of thyroid hormone
dysfunction. Usually patients with low thyroid hormones also have
deficient secretion of growth hormone, and may have deficient
secretion of the gonadotropins, called LH and FSH, which stimulate
puberty and reproduction, and ACTH, which is necessary for
cortisol and hydrocortisone secretion by the adrenal gland. (125)
[In the above context it should be noted, that aluminum fluoride
also mimicks the inhibitory action of melatonin.(126)] Another
symptom of an underactive thyroid condition (or iodine
deficiency?) - severe growth disturbances - was observed in 1935
by DeEds and Thomas in children in areas where the water contained
F- at 1-2 ppm. (127) Osteoporosis, Arthritis, and Other Bone
Disorders Left undetected and untreated, thyroid disorder can
elevate cholesterol levels, cause long-term organ complications
and may lead to irregular menstrual cycles, infertility and
worsening osteoporosis.(128,129,130) Fluorides accumulate in your
body. For this reason, as mentioned before, a MCL (Maximum
Contaminant Level) must be set for fluoride in the drinking water
to avoid Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis (CSF). The US PHS wrote in
1991 that "fluoride increases the stability of the crystal
lattice in bone, but makes bone more brittle... the total quantity
of fluoride ingested is the single most important factor in
determining the clinical course of skeletal fluorosis; the
severity of symptoms correlates directly with the level and
duration of exposure."(131) On page 6 of the same report it
states:"Fluoride in the drinking water may increase the risk
of elderly men and women breaking bones"..pages 56-57:
"The weight of evidence from these experiments suggests that
fluoride added to water can increase the risk of hip fracture in
both elderly women and men...If this effect is confirmed, it would
mean that hip fracture in the elderly would replace dental
fluorosis as the most sensitive endpoint of fluoride
exposure". Since then several more studies have been
published, all showing greater incidence of hip fractures among
the elderly in fluoridated areas. (132,133,134) The elderly are
also the population suffering greatest from hypothyroidism. To
understand the implications of fluoride in bone disorders: If you
drink 1 cup (6oz) of green/black tea a day, with F- content of
5mg, you can expect Chronic Skeletal Fluorosis to appear as
follows (135): (100lbs. person) Phase
1:.............................within 5 years (sporadic pain;
stiffness in joints; osteosclerosis of pelvis and vertebral
column) Phase 2:.............................after 10 years
(chronic joint pain; arthritic symptoms; slight calcification of
ligaments; increased osteoclerosis/cancellous bones; with/without
osteoporosis of long bones) Phase 3 (crippling fluorosis).......after
23 years (limitation of joint movement; calcification of
ligaments/neck, vert. Column; crippling deformities/spine major
joints; muscle wasting;neurological defects/compression of spinal
chord). Comparing intake levels as high as they are (12) with
statistical data, it must become clear that this is already
happening to a significant portion of the population. CONCLUSION:
As argued by Dean Burk and the attorneys who established the
connection between cancer deaths and fluoridation, there is a
premise in logic which states that the most obvious cause of an
event must be taken as face value while one searches for
alternative possibilities. Because it can be documented that
fluorides were given as medication for hyperthyroid patients it
should be considered the OBVIOUS cause for hypothyroidism and
other thyroid-hormone function-related disorders, including ADHD,
arthritis, osteoporosis, etc., especially at intake levels as high
as they are. Fluoride poisoning can be observed in large groups of
the population, in the form of hypothyroidism. In 1995 one
publication (see 127) on hypothyroidism reported that 41 percent
of women had fatigue for no obvious reason in the past year. Of
these women, 57 percent said they experience fatigue three or more
times a week. More than half of women (51 percent) had experienced
three or more symptoms commonly associated with hypothyroidism
over the past year. Other symptoms/associations of hypothyroidism
include loss of libido, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, lupus,
fibromyalgia, memory loss, etc. [For a more complete list, please
see (74)] Dental fluorosis is the first visible indicator that
severe thyroid hormone dysfunction has occurred and is occurring.
It is NOT a mere cosmetic effect as the dental profession would
like us to believe. The evidence is staggering. We must take
immediate action to protect our children's mental and physical
health from the ever-increasing fluoride intake. Water
fluoridation must be halted, all foods must be labelled for F-
content, and emissions by industry must be strictly regulated.
Overall fluoride intake must be radically reduced. Andreas Schuld
Parents of Fluoride Poisoned Children (PFPC) Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada References:
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