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Fluoride and chlorine are both abundantly present in tap water in the US and much of the rest of the developed world. Both of these elements are in the halogen family. Halogens are a family of 5 non-metallic elements that readily combine with metals to form salts. Most of these resulting compounds are toxic. The five elements in this group are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine. Fluorine and chlorine are the focus of this article.
In nature, almost all fluorine is present in the form of calcium fluoride. This compound is insoluble and almost completely non toxic. When fluoride was first added to water supplies in the 1940s, the compound used was sodium fluoride which, while more reactive than calcium fluoride, did not demonstrate toxicity. The fluoride salts added to drinking water today are usually in the form of sodium silicofluoride or fluosilicic acid (SiFs). These compounds have never been tested for safety and are waste products of aluminum mining and production of phosphate fertilizers.
SiFs are known to increase lead uptake in children and interfere with cholinesterase, a critical enzyme in the regulation of neurotransmitters. This means that SiFs can have the same effects as chemical agents used in the Gulf War and suspected in causing Gulf War Syndrome.
The symptoms of fluoride poisoning are almost identical to those of hypothyroidism. The thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate the body’s metabolism. The most commonly recognized symptoms of hypothyroidism are: fatigue, low body temperature, weight gain, depression and constipation. Other symptoms include arthritis, hair loss, infertility, atherosclerosis, swollen and waxy skin, and chronic illness.
Fluoride damages the thyroid in four ways:
Fist, thyroid hormones are composed of iodine attached to the amino acid tyrosine. Various enzymes are essential to the production of thyroid hormones (thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Fluoride is an enzyme poison; therefore the process by which iodine is attached to tyrosine and converted to thyroid hormones is slowed or blocked completely by its presence. Iodine is essential to thyroid health yet fluoride actually causes a functional iodine deficiency because the iodine in the body cannot be utilized.
Second, fluoride stimulates certain proteins which cause cells to be unable to take up thyroid hormones.
Third, fluoride decreases the amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) made by the pituitary, thus reducing the amount of hormones put out by the thyroid gland.
Fourth, fluoride competes with TSH at receptor sites on the thyroid gland so less TSH reaches the thyroid and less thyroid hormone is manufactured.
All of these effects take place at less than the 1 part per million of fluoride legally added to the water supply. In January, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services began urging the government to lower the amount of fluoride in water. While this is a start, there is no acknowledgment of the fact that fluorine is toxic to the thyroid gland. Fluoride needs to be completely removed from the water supply.
Chlorine is also implicated in thyroid disease. Chlorine, fluorine and iodine, being all chemically related, compete for the same receptor sites in the body. Like fluoride, chlorine causes iodine to be unavailable to the receptors in the thyroid gland resulting in hypothyroidism. Bromine, present in many processed foods like breads, does the same thing. Chlorine can also cause protective nutrients in plants to mutate and become toxic, thus permanently damaging the thyroid gland.
Excessive fluoride intake can cause brown mottling of teeth and bones, and is now known to actually weaken these structures. The new recommendation to lower fluoride levels in water focuses on the cosmetic mottling of teeth, not on the actual damage excess fluoride can do.
Fluoride is also toxic to the heart. If you use fluoridated toothpaste, look at the warning label: “Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately.” There is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a child. Fluorine can react with the calcium and magnesium ions necessary to normal heart rhythm and cause these levels to drop. When this occurs, the normal rhythm of the heart is disrupted. If a normal rhythm is not restored to normal quickly, the person can die.
Fluoride increases the risk of hip fracture. Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. John R. Lee, MD compiled multiple studies showing this risk and wrote:
“Conclusion: All studies of fracture rates relative to long-term fluoridation exposure indicate a significant increase in fracture risk from fluoridation. The increased fracture risk due to fluoridation appears to range from 40-100%, depending on the age of the subjects studied. For women in their seventh decade who have been exposed to life-long fluoridation, the risk of hip fracture is approximately doubled. The risk increases with fluoride concentration at all levels over 0.11 ppm. Increased bone and connective tissue injuries of US youngsters should alert us to the probability that our high fluoride environment is adversely affecting our youngsters as well as our elderly. ”
Excess consumption of fluoride during the time teeth are forming leads to a condition known as dental fluorosis which affects tooth enamel. Dental fluorosis ranges from white spots on the teeth to brownish black mottling. This is not strictly a cosmetic defect. Enamel damaged by fluorosis is brittle just like bones damaged by fluoride. In the long run the person ends up with damaged crumbling teeth.
Although adamantly denied by the ADA, AMA and FDA, private research has shown an irrefutable link between cancer and fluoride. The cancer most associated with fluoride is osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and most at risk are boys exposed to fluoride between the ages of 5 and 10 who may then be diagnosed with osteosarcoma between the ages of 10 and 20. There appears to be no increased risk for girls, possibly because boys store more fluoride in their bones than do girls.
Fluorine acts as a free radical in the body, floating around reacting with everything it comes in contact with, altering and damaging cells, blood vessels, organs and tissues. Free radicals are much worse than most cancer causing compounds because they react with any and everything indiscriminately. Free radicals are simply unstable pieces of molecules floating around in the body and this instability turns them into powerhouses of destruction to body tissues.
Government funded tests were designed to determine whether water fluoridation results in an increase in human cancer risk. They were conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) under the auspices of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The results were overwhelmingly positive for the danger of fluoride, yet they have been covered up. The truth is only available on “alternative health” websites and buried in obscure publications. The CDC, PHS and ADA continue to promote a campaign of disinformation denying all problems related to fluoride, not just cancer.
Research conducted by St Louis University, the Nippon Dental College in Japan, and the University of Texas shows that fluoride has the ability to induce tumors, cancers and stimulate tumor growth rate. Studies with similar results performed by Proctor and Gamble were submitted to the Public Health Service (a leading proponent of water fluoridation) but have been covered up for over 4 years.
Fluoride is impossible to completely avoid. It is used in most pesticides, so it is present in conventionally grown produce. It is present in the water used for canning, making soda and reconstituting juices. Virtually any food processing that requires water will add fluoride to the product. The daily dose the average person receives today is hundreds of times more than when fluoride was first added to drinking water in the 1940s.
Unfortunately, because of the similarity in size to the water molecule, fluoride is difficult to effectively remove even by reverse osmosis or distillation. These forms of water purification, on their own, provide 50% removal at best. There are now filters which use aluminum to remove fluoride effectively; however these run the risk of adding aluminum, another toxin, to your water unless you have a block carbon filter BELOW the fluoride filter. There are also new reverse osmosis systems that use ionizing demineralization that are more effective in removing fluoride. Well water as well as spring water can be contaminated with fluoride from nature or from agricultural or mining run-off. If possible have water from those sources analyzed.
Don’t drink coffee, tea and any other beverages prepared with tap water. Don’t drink your tap water, cook with it or bathe in it. Drink only reverse osmosis filtered, distilled, well or spring water known to be safe and free of fluoride and chlorine. If you can, install a whole house water filter. This is impossible for most people. At the very least, install a filter on your shower that removes both chlorine and fluoride. The filters are not able to remove all fluoride and tend to remove about 50%. The skin is the largest organ and readily absorbs fluoride and chlorine from bathing water. Check with the manufacturer of your filter or distiller to determine exactly what and how much is removed from your water.
Sources:
http://www.enerex.ca/articles/chlorine_the_paradox.htm
Bromine is another halogen which fills iodine receptors in the body. It is an everyday food additive widely used as an anti-caking agent in bakery products—read labels. It is used in brominated vegetable oils, which are used as emulsifiers, and in citrus-flavored soft drinks. It is also in conventional produce because crops are often sprayed with bromide-based fumigants. With sufficient iodine supplementation AND making sure you avoid all sources of chlorine, bromine and fluoride, you will regain your normal thyroid function – it takes time, years.
Our family is forced to live with chlorinated and fluoridated water. After much research I decided on the PureMaster V-700 whole house system for chlorine. But it also filters out heavy metals, and other contaminants, including – chloramines, cysts, copepods, VOCs, atrazine, benzene, xylene, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides. It had a great price for its large capacity, and has 6-month 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, and the over-the-phone support is excellent. I also got the FluorideMaster whole house filter. It filters fluoride out of typical municipal water. Its a more reasonable option than the whole house reverse osmosis systems. Its not perfect, but at less than $1,100 it is reasonable. It uses a large amount of bone char, which does an excellent job with typical municipal water, and it has a 6 month money back guarantee. The after-the-sale support has been very good. Maintenance is straightforward and not a burden, time-wise or money-wise. I recently added a second system for my kitchen sink to virtually eliminate all fluoride.