A Quick History of Water Fluoridation: How Propaganda and Deceit Convinced Millions That A Known Toxin Was Good For Us.

We never really question decade-old “truths” told to us by medical professionals.  For example “Why do we drink milk?”  The robotic response is “Because it is good for your bones” or “It is the only good source of calcium in our diet.”  Both of these are half-truths pushed on us by the milk industry, their lobbyists, and the U.S. Government who subsidizes the industry.  “Do you know what is not good for your bones?”  Fluoride!  If you ask the typical American “Why do we put fluoride in our water supply?” the typical answer is “It is good for our teeth.” Is it?  Let’s find out by reviewing the history of water fluoridation in America. (Please read the article on fluoride’s effect on the body.)

This may be before your time, but a debate raged in America when proponents of water fluoridation pushed to have it added to our water.  The official reason they supported its insertion is because fluoride in small amounts may strengthen your enamel and prevents tooth decay.  They also argued that 1 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride added to the water was an amount insignificant enough to not adversely affect our health.

The opponents of water fluoridation argued that fluoride is a known heavy metal neurotoxin that wreaks havoc on multiple organ systems.  In addition, they argued it was unethical to treat the water with fluoride without informed consent from the populace and that dosages could not be measured since individuals ingest water at a different rate.  Protests raged at city council meeting; each side presenting their own studies supporting their respective stances.  In the end, the pro-fluoride side, typically backed by thousands of dollars of contributions, won in the end.

Indeed, about 70% of U.S. public water systems are fluoridated.  But In Japan and Europe it is outlawed due to a long history of documentation showing that fluoride, either naturally-occurring or industrial-grade, was detrimental to our bodies.  But here in America it is still heralded as a savior to tooth decay despite strong independent studies showing its ineffectual abilities in combating tooth decay.  How did this come about?  Why did Americans drink the veritable “fluoride Kool-aid” while the rest of the civilized world did not?  Let’s review the history of water fluoridation.

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History of Fluoride

How did this toxic sludge end up in our water?  Since the late 19th century, at the apex of the Industrial Revolution, large manufacturing companies knew of the toxic effect of fluoride.  When we speak of fluoride we really mean Hydrofluorosilicic Acid not the slightly more benign pharmaceutical-grade sodium fluoride or even the fluoride which may be found naturally in the soil.  (For example, the camellia sinensis plant which gives us green, white, and black teas absorbs much fluoride.  That is why buying organic tea is crucial.)

In fact hydrofluorosilicic acid is produced in the smelting of aluminum.   The scrubbers that removed the fluoride from the machines mixed the fluoride with other byproducts such as silicon, arsenic, and mercury to form hydrofluorosilicic acid.  This is the fluoride placed in our water supply, not the natural fluoride found in some soils.

In the 1930s, the two big aluminum producers in America, Alcoa and Dupont, needed to find a way to dispose hydrofluorosilicic acid.  They could no longer surreptitiously dump it into rivers since it was poisoning livestock and crops.   They partnered with Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania and the American Dental Association (ADA) to create and fund a mass propaganda campaign to convince the American population that fluoride was good for their teeth, and thus should be put in the water.   (Incidentally, Carnegie-Mellon scientists at the time were known to create specious studies for Big Business.  For decades they released studies demonstrating that both asbestos and nicotine were safe to the human body.)

They incidentally enlisted the help of Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, to lead the propaganda campaign.  Bernays is a legend in advertising/public relations circles.  He is nicknamed the “Father of Modern Propaganda” who used the psychoanalytical techniques of Freud in helping Big Business and government in public relations during the 1930s-50s, many times to the detriment of the American populace.

Even prior to WWII studies were coming out that fluoridated water, even in minute amounts, led people to become less motivated, more docile, and less aggressive.  It essentially turned people into sheep.  It was so effective that both Hitler and Stalin allegedly fluoridated the water in their respective camps.

Controlled Study Cities

The propaganda machine began to crank out in earnest for water fluoridation.  The two largest studies were the Newburgh/Kingston, NY and Grand Rapids/Muskegon, MI projects of the 1950s.   Newburgh and Grand Rapids water supplies were fluoridated while nearby neighbors, Kingston and Grand Rapids were not as a control.  After 10 year longitudinal study, children from the fluoridated cities exhibited lower IQ & cognition, hemoglobin & red blood cell counts as well as, vision problems, bone fragility, and infertility problems.  Coincidentally, in both studies, the cavity rates fell equally showing even then the inefficacy of fluoride as a stalwart fighter against cavities.  The results of both studies were suppressed and only declassified a few decades ago.  (To see Newburgh Study Click Here.)

Outspoken scientists during the Cold War fulminated against fluoridated water, but were stifled by powerful business lobbies who profit enormously by selling hydrofluorosilicic acid to local municipalities year-in and year-out.  Even as recent as the 1990s, one scientist, Dr. William Marcus, Senior Science adviser of the EPA’s Office of Water whistleblew the organization by saying that test results all showed that fluoride, in any form, was carcinogenic and highly pernicious to the body.  He further stated these studies were covered up by higher officials in the EPA.  Marcus demanded that fluoride be removed from all municipal water supplies.  He was summarily fired and the mainstream media machine of the time discredited him. (Not too dissimilar to Linus Pauling and their attack against his groundbreaking studies on the panacea of high-dose Vitamin C.)

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Do We Still Need To Fluoridate?

Fast forward to today…The World Health Organization (WHO) discloses that teeth decay rates are falling throughout the world.  The large majority of which does NOT fluoridate its water.  The rate of tooth decay of the nations that DO fluoridate their waters (i.e. New Zealand, Australia, U.S.) is falling no faster than that of the non-fluoridated world.  That begs the question, “Then why are we fluoridating our water supply?”  

Not much has changed vis-a-vis the public debate on water fluoridation in America.  The proponents for it are either earnest “useful idiots” parroting ADA/Big Business-financed studies or deceitful scientists knowing full well the effect that fluoride has on the body.   The question may arise in some people’s minds “Why would people intentionally allow something to be put in our bodies that is toxic to our health?”  The answer to this question is the crux of Naturopathic Earth.

There is a silver lining.  Fluoride toxicity awareness is spreading.  A few smaller American towns, such as Jonesborough, TN, have demanded that their water be de-fluoridated.   Even more impressive 25% of Canadian cities have removed fluoride from their water since 2008.

Some Quick Facts

Some of the anti-fluoridation arguments mentioned in the debate (in addition to the numerous medical side-effects which are mentioned in the follow-up article on Naturopathic Earth) are as followed:

• Then and now the FDA has never approved a study showing that fluoride in any form should be ingested.
• Cities with fluoridated water have HIGHER cavity rates than those that don’t.
• It is impossible to control the dose given to each person.  Athletes for example are exposed to more fluoride since they ingest more water.  People who live in warmer climates (like Texas) likely consume more water than those in northern climes.
• It is unethical to administer a dose of any chemical/agent/drug without informed consent from the public.
• Most children in America reach their daily dose of recommended fluoride just by toothpaste exposure ALONE.
• It is illegal to dump fluoride into a river, but legal to put directly into our bodies.
• 40% American teenagers show signs of fluoride overdosing called dental fluorosis.
• 50 Independent studies show that fluoride lowers I.Q. points. 

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The tide may be turning, but so more needs to be done.  Instead of parroting what Big Business/Big Pharma tells us we need to have an honest discussion over long-held tenets of public health, such as water fluoridation, mandatory vaccinations, plastics, and much more.

A great, well-sourced book covering the history of fluridated water is Christoper Bryson’s The Fluoride Deception.  Click here to peruse it on Amazon.   A great website for more information and links to actual published studies of fluoride toxicity visit the Fluoride Action Network.

In the second-part of this study on fluoridated water, we will look at the some of the deleterious health effects of all forms of fluoride have on the body.

Subscribe to NPE Radio to learn more about “medical conspiracies,” food toxins, clean eating tips and much more!!  Listen to NPE Radio #37 & #38 on fluoride!

I would appreciate your insight and comments below.

A. Gregory Luna