I have reservations about consuming Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). I definitely object to becoming one. But, avoiding becoming a GMO requires vigilance and diligent effort.
Many substances in the environment that can induce or increase the frequency of genetic mutation (mutagens) and/or the risk of cancer have insidiously found their way into the food and water supply. Arsenic is one of these.
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of arsenic at 10 parts per billion (ppb) with a goal level of zero.
What would you think if government officials suddenly told you that arsenic was an “essential nutrient” and that it would prevent dental decay when added to the public drinking water at a concentration of 700-1,200 ppb? Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to answer that one, does it?
Well, this is essentially what has happened with fluoride, another known mutagen. For nearly 60 years, it has been touted as a solution for tooth decay at an optimal concentration of 1,000 ppb or 1 part per million (ppm). Prior to 1945, it was known primarily as rat poison.
Fluoride is a generic term that refers to any of about 700 compounds of the toxic element fluorine. Generally speaking, fluoride is a cumulative poison, more toxic than lead and only slightly less toxic than arsenic. About half of it is excreted; the rest is stored in the body for life. Not only does it cause genetic changes, but it also has been associated with numerous serious health conditions, including hip fracture, hypothyroidism (low thyroid), kidney disease, lowered IQ in children, and bone cancer, just to name a few.
Virtually everyone is familiar with the danger of lead. The EPA has set the MCL for lead at 15 ppb with a goal of zero. What do you think the MCL for fluoride is? Take a really wild guess. The MCL for fluoride is 4,000 ppb! Is this insane, or what?
How did this insanity come about? The answer is simple. We have been taken in by trusted authorities who have either lied to us or perpetuated lies out of ignorance or arrogance. They have not told us that fluoride is a pollutant with enormous potential for producing human and environmental damage.
An EPA report in 1972 makes the government’s double-speak on fluoride very apparent. Quoting from the report, investigative medical writer Joel Griffiths writes: “The fluorides currently emitted [by industry] may damage economic crops, farm animals, and materials of decoration [i.e., flowers and ornamental plants] and construction [i.e. buildings, statuary and glass]….however, the potential to cause fluoride effects in man is negligible.” He goes on to say, “In other words, the stuff withers plants, cripples cows, and even eats holes in stone, but it doesn’t hurt people. Nature ever surprises.”
Fluoride is all about us and within us. We are poisoning our bodies on a daily basis just by eating, drinking, breathing, and bathing. It becomes virtually impossible to avoid this toxic stuff altogether. Industry releases at least 155,000 tons of fluoride a year into the atmosphere. Emissions into lakes, rivers, and oceans have been estimated to be as high as 500,000 tons annually.[2] One type of pollutant, hydrogen fluoride, travels with air currents until it is deposited as a wet acid e.g., acid rain, acid fog, etc.
