Physiologic Conditions Affect Toxicity of Ingested Industrial Fluoride

Method:

A 0.9 ppm fluoride solution in distilled water was measured for the free fluoride ion concentration over a wide concentration range of added calcium ion from aliquots of a calcium biphosphate solution. In other experiments, a 1.2 ppm fluoride concentration solution was measured for free fluoride ion level as a function of pH. Acidity was adjusted with dilute acetic acid. All readings were made at room temperature with a LaMotte Instruments fluoride ion specific electrode calibrated with a 1.00 ppm fluoride standard solution in distilled deionized water. The electrode was rinsed with the solution to be tested for each measurement. The instrument reported accurate readings for known standard solutions within ± 0.05 ppm fluoride over the temperature range 15–30 ∘C.

Conclusion:
This study indicates that industrial fluoride added to drinking water forms intact corrosive hydrofluoric acid under acidic conditions that prevail in the stomach of man (pH 1.5–3) and animals. Ingested fluoride fromwater enters the bloodstream as an artificial component, not a normal constituent, and disrupts intermolecular hydrogen bonding, forming interatomic hydrogen bonding. Fluoride influences calcium homeostasis. Accidental higher levels of fluoride known to cause acute lethality compare with calculated levels that would begin calcium precipitation at physiologic calcium concentrations in blood. The difference between the single oral acute fluoride dose of 60mg/kg body weight and the lethal bloodconcentration of 2-3 ppm, calculated here and observed clinically in blood after accidental fluoride poisonings,may be due in part to fluoride elimination by kidneys and accumulation by bone during assimilation of the ingested oral dose. It is not possible to reach an acute lethal blood level of industrial fluoride from treated water unless there were an accidental overfeed. 1 ppm water leads typically to ∼0.2 ppm blood fluoride. But only ∼1 ppm blood levels cause a chronic form of congestive heart failure (found after hemodialysis with fluoridated water) and 2-3 ppm causes acute heart failure.

The infusion of industrial fluorosilicic acid with caustic sodium hydroxide into water supplies introduces sodium, that is not a component of fresh drinking water, plus fluoride without calcium. Sodium and fluoride are the ingredients used in rodenticides and in the prescription drug Luride which is not approved by the FDA for ingestion. Ingested sodium fluoride from treated water does not reduce caries either systemically at 0.2 ppm or topically from saliva at 0.02 ppm. Instead it increases the incidence of unsightly abnormal dental fluorosis hypoplasia in all treated cities. The policy adopted by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1950 remains encouraged by the trade organization the American Dental Association, dental insurance providers, and dental officials in theOralHealthDivision. But none of these groups has authority to chemically treat public water supplies. The rationale for the infusions remains based on early observations that were not supported by careful experimentation using the scientific method. When examined in detail this proved to be an anecdotal incorrect correlation.

Federal law prohibits any requirement for substances added into water other than to sanitize water, regardless of ascribed benefit. And yet, plain water without added industrial fluoride is now scarce in U.S. public supplies. The decision to infuse industrial fluoride compounds into public water supplies to permeate the blood and organs of consumers with fluoride as an ingested dental prophylactic was an error that resulted in serious consequences including loss of life. Althoughmany believe that the infusions decrease caries without causing systemic damage, the data reported here along with other published studies do not support the policy [1, 7–12, 26, 27, 30–35, 40, 41, 52–54]. Insidious effects that can occur on musculoskeletal, neurologic, reproductive, and endocrine systems from long-term ingestion of fluoride in water [8, 9, 11] and the cardiovascular effects discussed here emphasize the seriousness of fluoridation especially in soft water regions lacking antidote calcium. Also fluoride exposure is now from diverse sources.

Adding substances in water that are unnatural, harmful, illegal, and ineffective in its stated purpose violates universally accepted consumers’ and patients’ rights of refusal. This is because fluoride at subsaturation levels is not easily filtered. A legal review described the policy as un-Constitutional (Balog [46]). Enamel hypoplasia and caries are not caused by absence of fluoride. Essentially all European countries do not fluoridate public water supplies but some do offer optional fluoridated salt that is not as extensively consumed as water. Opposition has been widely publicized in the U.S. (Abby Martin and RT News [55] and the documentary film Fluoridegate [56]), Canada, and the U.K. [52, 53, 57]. Citizens mostly vote against fluoridation but the SDWA should have been sufficient law to avoid the need for voting. The city of Portland, Oregon recently voted against fluoridation for the fourth time and remains untreated thus far. 61 cities in Nebraska voted against fluoridation over the period 2008-2009, effectively overruling a state mandate.The policy does not accommodate kidney dialysis patients and those who are normally fluoride-sensitive [12]. For all who object, the policy evades human decency.

Source:
Sauerheber, R. (2013). Physiologic Conditions Affect Toxicity of Ingested Industrial Fluoride. Journal Of Environmental & Public Health, 20131-13. doi:10.1155/2013/439490

Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
STAR Tutoring Center, Palomar Community College, San Marcos, CA 92069, USA