"No" to fluoridated water

To The Eagle,

As a dental hygienist, I was taught how beneficial fluoride is to prevent dental decay, but my curiosity led me to discover some horrible facts about fluoride. I’ll list only two for brevity.

One is that during the formation of the fetus - through the first years of life - fluoride actually lowers the IQ of that child. And if the mother has hypothyroidism while pregnant, the IQ is lowered even more. Further studies have also shown fluoride also damages the central nervous system, causes permanent changes in behavior, like ADHA, and accumulates in the brain. A neurotoxin. How that is accomplished is fluoride covers the iodine receptors, which prevents the thyroid from having iodine available to make thyroid hormone. Without thyroid hormones, development is stunted.

Another discovery was that the fluoride added to public water supply, fluorosilicic acid (FSA), isn’t naturally occurring. FSA is derived primarily as a chemical byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum production industries, which all are contaminated with arsenic. Not only are we drinking FSA, but we water our vegetable gardens and crops with it.

Once thought to be a “conspiracy theory,” fluoride’s intelligence-lowering effects have been well established in the last 30 years through studies funded primarily through the National Institutes of Health. Please vote “no” on fluoridating our drinking water!

Shirley Rheault,

Elochoman Valley