Old Bethpage - November 27, 2007 - Ignoring scientific evidence of
harm, a coalition of Nassau and Suffolk Dental Societies and the
Nassau County Department of Health wants to institute fluoridation on
Long Island, according to the Nassau County Dental Society Bulletin
(November-December 2006) and a  Nassau County Health Department report
(May 2007).

Fluoride, neither a nutrient nor essential for healthy teeth, is
intentionally added to many public water supplies, not to purify the
water but ostensibly to prevent tooth decay.

Levittowners voted out 29 years of water fluoridation in 1983. Carle
Place and the Nassau communities bordering NYC followed in 1996.  The
Suffolk County Legislature voted down their Health Commissioner's
fluoridation plan in 1991. Now Long Island is fluoridation-free yet
enjoys a lower cavity rate than most fluoridated NYS counties and NYS,
as a whole, which is 73% fluoridated.

A 2006 National Research Council (NRC) report reveals that
fluoridation poses risks to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney
patients, high water drinkers and others and can severely damage
children's teeth.

"Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must
testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence
of harm in the NRC report," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive
Director, Fluoride Action Network.

Also, ignoring their own 1990 recommendation for more kidney and
allergy fluoride research, NYS Department of Health representatives
take part in current Nassau Suffolk Oral Health Coalition meetings
where fluoridation is discussed and encouraged but fluoridation
dissent is discouraged.

Over 1,100 professionals (so far) have signed a statement urging
Congress to stop water fluoridation nationwide and to hold
Congressional hearings about why federal officials continue to promote
fluoridation in the face of new scientific evidence that fluoridation
is ineffective and has serious health risks. (
http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html )

Signers include a Nobel Prize winner, three NRC fluoride panel
members, two officers in the EPA Union representing 1500 EPA
professionals; and hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific
and environmental professionals, worldwide. Local signers include Long
Island dentists Drs. Norman Bressack, Leonard Fazio, Theodore
Kastenbaum, Krystna Wolski and physician Richard Carlton.

Signer Dr. Arvid Carlsson, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for
Medicine, says, "Fluoridation is against all principles of modern
pharmacology."

The Professionals' Statement also references:

--  new American Dental Association advisory that infant formula NOT
be prepared with fluoridated water

--  Centers for Disease Control's concession that fluoride's
predominant effect is topical not systemic

--   Fluoridation chemicals are arsenic and lead-contaminated
industrial waste, neither safety-tested  nor FDA-approved for human
ingestion.

--  CDC data shows fluoride has caused up to 51% of U.S. school
children  to have dental fluorosis (discolored teeth)

"As a Cosmetic Dentist, it is not uncommon to have patients receive
gorgeous porcelain veneers to correct their dental fluorosis, white
and brown damage from too much ingested fluoride. Costs range from
several hundred dollars to well over $25,000 and need to be retreated
every 10 to 20 years for life time costs which may exceed $100,000 per
person," writes Washington state dentist Bill Osmunson in the British
Medical Journal.

"No Long Islander is fluoride-deficient and no logical reason exists
to add fluoride chemicals to any Long Island water supply," says
lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to
Fluoridation (NYSCOF). The dental crisis that's occurring nationwide
is not from lack of fluoridation but because most dentists won't treat
Medicaid patients and 108 million Americans don't have dental
insurance," says Beeber.

"Please contact your Nassau or Suffolk County legislators to ask that
they reject unnecessary and tax-draining fluoridation initiatives,"
says Beeber

"Also, please take action to end fluoridation once and for all by
signing the online petition to end fluoridation and call for a
congressional hearing here," asks Connett.

New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc
PO Box 263
Old Bethpage, NY  11804
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Past News Releases:
http://tinyurl.com/6kqtu

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

References:

Nassau County Dental Society Bulletin, President's Message, November-
December 2006
http://www.nassaudental.org/Content.aspx?Command=File&File=html/presi...
"Our partnership has led to a coalition between the Nassau County
Dental Society, the Suffolk County Dental Society and the Nassau
County Department of Health dealing directly with the access to care
issue present in our community... The coalition is currently exploring
the possibility of re-instituting water fluoridation programs in
selected communities, recognizing the dramatic and direct positive
impact this action would have on the general dental health of these
communities."

Nassau County Community Health Assessment 2005-2010 (Updated May 2007)
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/health/docs/pdf/2005-2010_cha.pdf
Page 35 "The LHD, as part of the Nassau Oral Health Coalition, will
engage politicians, health professionals, community leaders and water
districts to reexamine the public health benefits of water
fluoridation."

"Fluoride: Benefits and Risks of Exposure," by NYS
 Department of Health employees and published in Oral Biology and
Medicine
 in 1990 advised  "The available data suggest that some individuals
may experience
 hypersensitivity to fluoride-containing agents. Further studies on
hypersensitivity are required...[and]  "Studies on the effects of
fluoride in individuals with renal
 insufficiency are needed"
http://crobm.iadrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/1/4/261.pdf

The National Academies of Science, Committee on Fluoride in
Drinking Water, National Research Council, "Fluoride in Drinking
Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's Standards," March 2006
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11571.html?onpi_newsdoc03222006

Federal Register, November 2, 2007 [Proposed Rules]
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
Food and Drug Administration
Food Labeling: Revision of Reference Values and Mandatory
Nutrients
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fr071102.html
[[Page 62151]]
"FDA did not establish a DV for fluoride in the 1995 final
rule because the 1989 NAS RDA report stated that published studies
``do
not justify a classification of fluorine\4\ as an essential element,
according to accepted standards'"

NSF International, Fluoridation Fact Sheet
http://www.nsf.org/business/water_distribution/pdf/NSF_Fact_Sheet.pdf

Centers for Disease Control, Water Fluoridation Additives
http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/fact_sheets/engineering/wfadditives.htm

Sodium Hexafluorosilicate and Fluorosilicic Acid, Review of
Toxicological Literature
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPDF/Fluorosi...

American Dental Association "e-gram" to members November 2006
http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/epubs/egram/egram_061109.pdf

                                                                *****