The Fluoride Wars

R. Allan Freeze is one of North America's leading researchers in the field of environmental water quality, and has acted as the consulting engineer on drinking water quality at a number of sites across North America. He was a member of the University of British Columbia's engineering faculty in Vancouver for twenty years and is the author of over 150 technical articles and the coauthor of several books. Jay H. Lehr is Senior Scientist with The Heartland Institute and Chief Scientist for EarthWater Global, an international water supply company. A graduate of Princeton University, he developed the first PhD program in hydrology at the University of Arizona and was on the faculty at The Ohio State University. Lehr has authored or coauthored over twenty books, hundreds of journal and magazine articles, and is an internationally renowned expert who speaks worldwide on environmental topics.

Acknowledgments ix

1 A Story of Our Times 1

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Four O’Clock Eastern Wartime 1

The Longest-Running Circus in Town 3

Pro or Con? 6

References 8

2 A Clash of Absolutes 9

Dueling Websites 9

Quack, Quack 14

The $100,000 Cash Offer 16

As One Voice 19

Who Drinks Fluoridated Water and Who Doesn’t 25

Fear and Loathing 30

Fluoridation Facts, Dr. Y, and the Lifesaver’s Guide 32

What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate 36

References 40

3 A Tale of Two Cities 44

Spokane, Washington 46

Cumberland, Maryland 52

Fluoridation, 2000 56

The Push for Statewide Mandates 59

On the Phone and in the Booth 60

The Early Studies: Social Dynamics and Pop Psychology 61

The Later Studies: Just Plain Politics 64

Spokane and Cumberland: Reprise 67

References 68

4 Two Women 71

Darlene Sherrell: The Canary in the Mine 72

Jackie Speier and the Legacy of Jonestown 78

The California Mandate 83

San Diego, Escondido, and the Golden Fleece 87

References 90

5 The Road to Fluoridation 92

Beautiful Women and Black Teeth 92

Frederick McKay and the Mystery of the Colorado Stain 94

H. Trendley Dean and the Towns without Toothaches 98

Lathered Up to Go 102

Little Girls in Gingham Dresses 106

Fluoride on Trial 111

Blind Examiners and Confounding Factors 116

The Mavericks Emerge 120

References 122

6 Fluorophobia 127

Satan’s Metal 128

ALCOAnoia 133

Toxic Coup? 137

The Donora Death Fog 138

Project F 141

The Far Side 145

Let There Be Light: An Assessment of Anti-fluoridation Conspiracy Claims 146

The Perils of Obsession 164

References 165

7 Look, MA. No Cavities: Fluoride and Teeth 170

Teeth 172

The People’s Disease 175

Reversal of Misfortune 178

The Fluoride Cycle: From Apatite to Apatite 185

How Fluoride Works 187

More Studies and Diminishing Returns 191

The Halo Effect 197

Flossers and Cheeseheads 201

The Back of the Coin: The Increase in Dental Fluorosis 204

The Bottom Line on Fluoride and Teeth 209

References 212

8 Fluoride and Health 219

Exposure, Intake, and Dose 219

The Roots of Contention 221

Acute Fluoride Poisoning 223

Kaj Roholm’s Legacy 224

The Tragedy of Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis 225

Fluoride as Medicine: The Osteoporosis Experiments 227

Bone Health and Hip Fractures: Legitimate Questions and Equivocal Answers 228

The Special Case of Kidney Dialysis 230

Allergic Reactions and Psychological Distress 231

Affairs of the Heart 234

Fluoride and Genetics 235

Fluoride, Cancer, and Credibility 238

The Osteosarcoma Controversy 242

Alzheimer’s, Intelligence, Crime, and Addiction 245

References 248

9 EPA and the MCLs 255

Fluoride as Jekyl and Hyde 256

Brinksmanship 259

Amicus Curiae 263

The Marcus Affair 266

A Question of Allegiance 269

A Question of Motive 271

References 275

10 Riding the Tiger: The Dosage Issue 278

The Concept of a Maximum Acceptable Daily Dose 279

Fluoride Intake in Our Diet 282

Do Not Swallow 285

Contesting Conventional Wisdom 287

Too Much of a Good Thing? 290

References 294

11 Science and Not Science 298

Junk Science: Values and Bias in Scientific Research 299

Single-Minded Science: The ISFR and the Journal Fluoride 302

The Shunning of Phyllis Mullneix 307

John Colquhoun Falls Off the Wagon 310

Science, Funding, and Self-Interest 312

Fluoridation in the Courts: The Anti-fluoridationists’ Last Stand 315

The Congressional Pulpit 321

References 325

12 Money, Motive, and Risk 329

The Uneasy Science of Risk–Cost–Benefit Analysis 329

The Cost of Fluoridation 331

The Wrangle Over Benefits 333

The Ultimate Battleground 338

Engineered Systems and Human Error 340

The Concept of Acceptable Risk 344

The Precursors 346

Public Health or Home Remedy? 349

The Bottom Line on the Economics of Fluoridation 351

References 352

13 the Light at the End of the Tunnel 356

Teeth 356

Health Risk 357

Dosage 360

Credibility 361

The Need for Civil Discourse 364

Index 365