Churchill residents will soon have their say on the fluoride issue that has been looming for the past few months. A grass roots movement aptly dubbed Churchill No Fluoride has been vehemently advocating the removal of  fluoride from the town’s water supply. If the September vote goes through against fluoridation, Churchill will join a growing list of communities worldwide that have already banned adding fluoride to their water supply. Two Canadian cities have recently joined the club. Flin Flon banned fluoride in January and Calgary did the same just this past May.

Closer to home, Winnipeg recently lowered the added dosage from .85 milligrams per liter to .7 mg/L based on reccomendations from Manitoba Health as well as Health Canada. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends the maximum lifetime exposure to fluoride be 4.0 mg/L and a secondary standard of 2.0 mg/L for areas that have high levels of naturally occurring fluoride.

Mark Brackley, spokesman and founder of Churchill No Fluoride, states that fluoride is naturally  pervasive in water and there’s no way of knowing how much people are absorbing. The chemical has recently been linked through studies to facilitation of lead in children, arthritis prior to old-age, dental fluorosis in adolescents, and even cancer in young men. “It’s a toxic waste product,” said Brackley of fluoride, adding that no scientific evidence supports any claims it prevents cavities.

 Conversely, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States said past and current reviews of scientific studies found no basis to claims that fluoride poses a health hazard. The CDC describes fluoride as one of the “ten great public health achievements” of the last century, along with vaccinations, motor-vehicle safety and family planning. It does state children’s exposure to fluoride from birth to age six should be restricted. This introspective video below on fluoride gives excellent background information on the entire issue. Enjoy and learn!

 

 

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