New York – June 9 – The National Kidney Foundation withdrew its
support of water fluoridation citing the 2006 National Research
Council (NRC) report indicating that kidney patients are more
susceptible to fluoride’s bone and teeth-damaging effects.

The kidney-impaired retain more fluoride and risk skeletal fluorosis
(an arthritic-type bone disease), fractures and severe enamel
fluorosis, which may increase the risk of dental decay, reports the
NRC.

Fluoride is added to US water supplies ostensibly to reduce tooth
decay. Fluoride is also in foods, beverages, drugs and dental
products.

The  National Kidney Foundation’s (NKF) former fluoridation position
statement also carried surprising cautions.  The NKF advised
monitoring children’s fluoride intake along with patients with chronic
kidney impairment, those with excessive fluoride intake, and those
with prolonged disease. But NKF now admits, “exposure from food and
beverages is difficult to monitor, since FDA food labels do not
quantify fluoride content.”

The NKF’s April 15, 2008 statement goes further: “Individuals with
CKD  [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk
of fluoride exposure.”

“More than 20 million Americans have CKD, and most don’t even know it.
More than 20 million others are at increased risk for developing CKD,”
NKF reports.

“There is consistent evidence that impairment of kidney function
results in changes to the way in which fluoride is metabolized and
eliminated from the body, resulting in an increased burden of
fluoride,” concludes Kidney Health Australia. in a paper NKF
recommends reading

NKF’s fluoridation support was dropped when a lawyer, an academic
dentist and public health professional, Daniel Stockin, alerted it to
NRC’s findings.

“An easy way to reduce the uncontrolled flow of fluoride into our
bodies is to stop water fluoridation,” says attorney Paul Beeber,
President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. “But it
takes political will to reject fluoridation.”

The American and Louisiana Dental Associations erroneously claim the
National Kidney Foundation supports fluoridation.  However, even the
ADA reports that “decreased fluoride removal may occur among persons
with severely impaired kidney function who may not be on kidney
dialysis.”

Chronic kidney disease is a growing health problem in the United
States occurring more often in African-American populations, says the
Centers for Disease Control.

More fluoride/kidney information here:  http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/kidney/index.html

References:

1) http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Fluoride/fluoride.pdf

2)  National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney
Disease,”
April 15, 2008
 http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

3) Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation
 “Effects of fluoridation of community water supplies for people with
chronic kidney disease,” (2007) 22: 2763–2767, Ludlow et al.
 http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/KHAFluoridation_CKD-NDT_2007.pdf

4) National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride”
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=205

5) September 18, 2007 letter, Reeves to National Kidney Foundation
http://www.fluoridealert.org/NKF_letter01.pdf

6) October  , 2007 news release “Did Kidney Foundation Leave Millions
at Risk by Failing to Warn about Fluorides and Fluoridated Drinking
Water?” by Daniel Stockin, MPH, The Lillie Center
http://fluoridealert.org/press/nkf.htm

7) American Dental Association,
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/facts/compendium.asp

8) Louisiana Dental Association, “Health Smiles Coalition”
http://www.healthysmileslouisiana.org/coalition.html

9) American Dental Association, “Fluoridation Facts”
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/facts/fluoridation_facts.pdf

10) U.S. Centers for Disease Control, MMWR “Prevalence of Chronic
Kidney Disease and Associated Risk Factors --- United States, 1999—
2004
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5608a2.htm

For more information
Fluoridation 101
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Fluoride Action Network
http://www.FluorideAction.Net