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Testimony Before the California Legislature in Opposition to Artificial Fluoridation
Testimony given before the Assembly Public Health Committee of the California Legislature, May 16, 1967.
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Gentlemen:
It is a privilege to appear before you in order to present ideans which I hope will be of help to you in reaching a decision on this seemingly complex subject.
Since the subject of fluoridation is controversial, I must make it clear at this point that I speak only for myself and for the Pure Water Association of America of which I have the honor to be President.
Curriculum Vitae
In 1930 I received my M.D. degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. My internship included two years at Presbyterian and two years at Bellevue Hospital in New York. I have been in private practice for 30 years, specializing primarily in allergy with special emphasis on nutrition. I am a member of the American Medical Association and numerous other professional societies including Fellowship in the American College of Allergists, the International Association of Allergists and the International College of Applied Nutrition. I am a past president of the American Academy of Applied Nutrition and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Nutrition. I am a former Speaker of the House of Delegates, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and served for eight years on the Board of Directors.
My remarks are based upon a 15 year study of artificial fluoridation of public water supplies.
You are faced with a most important decision regarding fluoridation. Separating the wheat from the chaff is difficult, particularly when this measure is supported and promoted by such powerful and respected organizations as the Public Health Service, the American Dental Association and has received the endorsement (meaningless as that may be) of many medical and civic groups. Nevertheless, the mounting evidence of harm to individuals consuming fluoridated water and other factual evidence which will be presented by witnesses today should leave little doubt in your minds that the question has not been decided and therefore legislative action is fraught with many risks. For lack of time my remarks will be devoted to two main areas, namely:
- Evidence of toxicity and of serious allergic reactions from the consumption of fluoridated water.
- Evidence that the primary cause of tooth decay is inadequate nutrition which accompanies the ingestion of refined carbohydrates, principally white flour and sugar. Sticky candy is the most effective in producing dental caries.
Toxicity and Allergy
1. The world’s literature contains more than 35 reports of serious crippling from the consumption of naturally fluoridated water mostly at concentrations of 2 to 6 parts per million and some as low as .5 parts per million. These include areas in India, South Africa, China and others. Such crippling has also been reported in animals grazing in the vicinity of fertilizer plants. Crippling fluorosis is characterized by the composition of bony substances in joints and ligaments, especially those of the lower spine. Calcium and phosphorus are withdrawn from the bones and redeposited on the outside of the bones and in ligaments and joints. There is also a temporary hardening of the bones, teeth and nails subsequently followed by softening. The end result is deformity of the long bones, marked erosion of the teeth in cattle and eventually bony ankylosis (solidification) of the joints between the ribs and the spine and between the vertebrae resulting in ”poker back”. Cows die of starvation and humans usually of pneumonia.
The kidneys, blood vessels, internal organs such as the heart and liver, as well as the nervous system may be affected by smaller amounts of fluoride in those susceptible to its action. The mucous membranes of the mouth, stomach, intestines and urinary tracts may be directly affected.
Since fluorine is the most active enzyme inhibitor known to man, every body cell may be affected. Each tiny cell contains as many as 15,000 enzymes which are responsible for the biochemical reactions essential to life. These are composed of amino acids (the building blocks of protein), of trace elements (or minerals) and vitamins. Since fluorine has a marked affinity for metals such as magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc, iron and calcium, it is easy to understand how a combination of these metals with fluorine could render them incapable of performing their normal function in enzyme systems.
2. Three cases of death have been reported in the United States. Two of these occurred in individuals drinking fluoridated water at a concentration averaging about 2 parts per million. The third was a nurse with serious kidney trouble who was treated several times by means of the “artificial kidney”. The water used was artificially fluoridated at 1 part per million.
George L. Waldbott, M.D., has reported more than 100 cases of toxicity or hypersensitivity to water fluoridated at the recommended concentration. The symptoms described and the signs observed in his patients included “severe backache, gastric pain, partial blindness, extreme physical and mental sluggishness, partial paralysis of nerves in the arms and legs”. The partial blindness was due to an involvement of blood vessels in the retina of the eye. All his cases cleared in a few weeks after discontinuing the fluoridated water. The symptoms reappeared upon the resumption of fluoride. More than 15 of his cases were hospitalized and double blind studies carried out so that the patients, with their permission, were once again given fluorides without their knowledge. The reproduction of symptoms in this manner ruled out the power of suggestion.
Dr. Reuben Feltman, D.D.S., Health Commissioner of Clifton, New Jersey, made a 14 year study of the effects of 1 mg. of fluoride on pregnant women and their progeny. He found that one percent of his patients developed symptoms similar to those described by Dr. Waldbott. He also observed sore mouths, gastric upsets which included bloody nausea and vomiting, colitis with diarrhea and severe headaches. Symptoms disappeared when the tablets were stopped, did not reappear with the use of placebo tablets containing no fluorides, but promptly recurred when the original tablets were used. Whereas he observed a moderate reduction in dental caries in deciduous teeth the permanence of this effect remains to be seen. He also noted a delay in the eruption of teeth, which has also been described in Public Health studies of fluoridated cities, and which may be due to an effect on the thyroid gland.
As a result of Dr. Feltman’s studies the Clifton Board of Health is providing tablets of sodium fluoride through dentists and physicians for those who wish to use them. The cost of this program per individual citizen is a little more than one-twentieth of the estimated cost of fluoridating the water supply. Tablets are given only to children through age eight. They were being given to pregnant women but the Food and Drug Administration recently banned the use of fluoride tablets for gravid women claiming that there is no proof of benefit during this period. The Food and Drug Administration now requires all drug companies distributing vitamin tablets with fluoride to list on container the toxic symptoms which may follow their use.
Severe mouth irritation from the use of fluoridated toothpaste has been reported and I have seen five or six cases in my own practice. Many more should be reported once physicians and dentists are alerted to this possibility.
If sixty million people are drinking fluoridated water, as claimed by the fluoridators and Dr. Feltman’s figure of one percent toxic reactions is applied to this group, it is possible that 600,000 people in the United States may be ill from drinking fluoridated water–and neither they nor their physicians know why. Fluorides should only be taken in measured doses under close supervision. This is impossible through the water supply.
Primary Cause of Dental Caries
The primary cause of dental caries is sugar, candy, soft drinks and refined carbohydrates. This has been proven beyond doubt through animal experiments, clinical observations and the studies of Doctor Weston A. Price, D.D.S. He found that natives in all parts of the world before contacting “civilization” had almost no tooth decay, perfect dental arches and usually robust health. Consumption of sugar and white bread produced marked tooth decay in adults and crowded dental arches as well as tooth decay in their children. When some of these natives returned to their original diets their cavities became inactive! Moreover, children born after their return to previous tribal diets, had perfect dental arches and no tooth decay. The dental hierarchy is, or should be, aware of these facts. I am supplying each committee member with one of Dr. Price’s reprints and a summary of his findings. I request these be marked exhibits 1 and 2 and that they be incorporated as part of my testimony. His photographs leave no doubt as to the importance of nutrition in the prevention of dental caries.
If the Public Health Service and the American Dental Association would spend the millions of dollars wasted in world wide fluoridation promotion, on educational programs for better nutrition, this would be a fundamental approach. The addition of one toxic chemical to public water supplies is not the answer.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if the State of California is fluoridated some of your constituents are going to be badly hurt. I am sure that no member of this committee would knowingly harm another individual by use of the State police power when citizens desiring fluorides can obtain them through the use of tablets or a concentrated solution in water to be given in measured doses and only to those who might benefit.
Respectfully submitted,
Granville F. Knight, M.D.