Fluoride in the Water

Like many substances purported to be safe or even beneficial to human health, fluoride is one agent that draws a great deal of criticism. It is widely consumed in the form of toothpaste, tap water, infant formula, cereals, juices, sodas, teas, wine, beer, among others, but is all that fluoride a good thing?

With new lab results just released by the New York State Department of Health, it's clear that the water supplied to the Leroy School has half the allowable amount of disinfection byproducts and does contain Flouride (0.7 ppm) and Barium. What the levels were in October when these cases first appeared will never be known.

According to fluoridealert.org:

Animal studies have documented considerable evidence of direct toxic effects of fluoride on brain tissue, even at levels as low as 1 ppm fluoride in water (Varner 1998). These effects include:

-- reduction in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors;
-- reduction in lipid content;
-- impaired anti-oxidant defense systems;
-- damage to the hippocampus;
-- damage to the purkinje cells;
-- increased uptake of aluminum;
-- formation of beta-amyloid plaques (the classic brain abnormality in Alzheimer's disease);
-- exacerbation of lesions induced by iodine deficiency; and
-- accumulation of fluoride in the pineal gland.

Fluoride alone is unlikely to have caused these disorders, but any briefly significant concentration may have been a trigger or contributor to the resulting problems.