ALERT: Avoid Feeding Babies Fluoridated Water, Researchers Caution
NYSCOF
water increase dental fluorosis risk, according to a research published
in the April 2004 Journal of the American College of Nutrition(1) and
other studies.
"Very young infants are unlikely to benefit from the caries-prevention
effects of fluoride," said Dr. Teresa A. Marshall, co-author of the
study reported Reuters Health. "They may be at increased risk of dental
fluorosis." (1a)
To prevent this tooth staining, researchers caution against mixing
infant formulas with fluoridated water.
Fluorosis, white-spotted, yellow or brown stained, sometimes pitted or
crumbly teeth, is the too-late warning sign that babies overdosed on
fluoride, creating a new lucrative market for dentists - covering up
those fluorosed teeth(6). Neither a nutrient nor essential to health,
fluoride, can also damage bones.(1b)
Up to 63 percent of children living in optimally fluoridated areas
(from 0.7-1.2 parts per million, ppm) show fluoride overdose symptoms
as dental fluorosis according to Beltran-Aguilar and colleagues in
"Prevalence and trends in enamel fluorosis in the United States from
the 1930s to the 1980s. reported in the Journal of the American Dental
Association (13)
Researchers Marshall and colleagues found more fluorosed teeth in
children who consumed the most fluoridated water either alone or
through infant formulas(1).
Researchers, Brothwell and Limeback, urge breastfeeding, or mixing
infant formula with non-fluoridated water, to avoid dental fluorosis,
in a November 2003 Journal of Human Lactation study. They found three
times more fluorosis in children consuming 1 milligram per liter
fluoridated water compared to those who drank non-fluoridated water.(2)
Breastfeeding does not increase cavity risk, according to a recent
Journal of the American Dental Association study(3).
Researcher Mascarenhas also advised parents to avoid fluoridated water
for infant formula preparation to prevent fluorosis, in a 2000
Pediatric Dentistry study(4)
At least eleven other studies link reconstituted formula with
fluorosis.(5a-k).
"To our knowledge, no U.S. dental or governmental agency promoting
fluoridation as a cavity preventive, such as the American Dental
Association or the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), warns parents to
avoid fluoridated water for infant feeding. Why not?" asks lawyer Paul
Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
However, the Academy of General Dentistry, who does not zealously
promote fluoridation, recommends against mixing infant formulas with
fluoridated water.(6a)
Formula prepared with optimally fluoridated water provides 100 times
more fluoride than the amount in breast milk(7). And newborns do not
have "fully developed renal handling capacity for fluoride at this
early stage of life..."(8) which can lead to dangerous bone-fluoride
build up and more.
Not only is infant fluoride intake risky, it's unnecessary. According
to the CDC, "Fluoride works primarily after teeth have erupted?"(9).
Further, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration never safety-tested
fluoride for ingestion(10).
In 2000, after extensively reviewing fluoride and health studies, a
panel of British scientists report, "We were unable to discover any
reliable good-quality evidence in the fluoridation literature
world-wide,"(11) despite incorrect news reports disseminated by
prominent fluoride proponents about this review(12).
References:
1) "Associations between Intakes of Fluoride from Beverages during
Infancy and Dental Fluorosis of Primary Teeth,"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15047676
1a) "Too Much Fluoride May Harm Babies' Teeth," Reuters Health, May 5,
2004
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4GXNLSKIWJWDECRBAELCFEY?type=healthNews&storyID=5050390&pageNumber=1
1b) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, "Public Health
Statement for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride, and Fluorine"
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs11.html
2) "Breastfeeding is protective against dental fluorosis in a
nonfluoridated rural area of Ontario, Canada"
"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14620452
3) "The relationship between healthful eating practices and dental
caries in children aged 2-5 years in the United States, 1988-1994"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14959875
4)"Risk factors for dental fluorosis: a review of the recent
literature"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10969430
c)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9829868
d)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8639113
e)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7776294
f)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2589311
g)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=3198847
k)
http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2004Hawaii/techprogram/abstract_40477.htm
6) "Using microabrasive material to remove fluorosis stains"
http://www.pmbrowser.info/pmdisplay.cgi?issn=00028177&uids=15058619
6a) http://www.agd.org/consumer/topics/baby/fluoride.html
7) The Ecologist, 1986, Volume 16 "Fluoride: New Grounds for Concern,"
By Mark Diesendorf and Philip R.N. Sutton
http://www.fluoridealert.org/ecologist-1986.htm
8) Caries Research 1984 "Fluoride Balance Studies on Infants in a
1-ppm-water-fluoride area" by Ekstrand J, Hardell LI, SpakCJ
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=6580961
9) U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5014a1.htm
10) Suite 101 - Fluoridation - includes e-mail correspondence between
Suite 101 author and the FDA "Fluoride - Not FDA Approved for
Ingestion," March 21, 2004
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/11749/107324
11) "What the 'York Review' on the fluoridation of drinking water
really found," 28 October 2003, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination,
University of York, York, UK
http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/fluoridnew.htm
12) National Center for Fluoridation Policy & Research and Oral Health
America's Center for Fluoridation,
Michael W. Easley, D.D.S., M.P.H.; Director
http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/papers/2000/stpetersburgtimes100700.htm
(13) Prevalence and Trends in Enamel Fluorosis in the United States
>From the 1930s to the 1980s Beltrán-Aguilar E.D., Griffin S.O.[2],
Lockwood S.A., The Journal of the American Dental Association, February
2002, vol. 133, no. 2,pp. 157-165
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