SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 1996-- Declassified documents, studies showing lower IQ bolster voter rejection of fluoridation As citizens of California prepare to introduce an initiative to repeal a questionable state mandate scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1 calling for fluoridation of most of California's public water supplies, evidence continues to be presented around the world showing the danger of forcing entire populations to ingest fluoride in their water without considering its harmful cumulative effect, or being able to control total intake. Once considered untouchable, topical applications such as toothpaste and fluoride rinses are also coming under fire. In what is believed to be the first of many such cases, Colgate-Palmolive made a 1,000-English-pound "goodwill" payment to the parents of a 10-year-old boy in Essex, England, who was diagnosed by an independent specialist as suffering from dental fluorosis: having mottled and/or stained enamel that appears as the first visible sign of fluoride poisoning. A letter from Colgate-Palmolive shows the company believed the amount to be the cost of coating the young boy's teeth again when he reaches 17. He has already had the mottled enamel removed. The boy's mother, Sharon Isaacs of Highams Park, Essex, told The Sunday Telegraph, Nov. 24 edition, that her family did not drink fluoridated water and had never used fluoride tablets. "I always used Colgate's Minty Gel and the pea-sized amount as recommended. Kevin didn't eat sweets, and I used to make sure he brushed his teeth twice a day. He did use to swallow the toothpaste. I rang Colgate, but they said he would be all right." Isaacs said her son Kevin was teased at school over his "rotten teeth." One contention of those who warn of fluoride's danger is that although manufacturers of toothpaste recommend that only a pea-sized amount be used by children or adults, advertisements normally depict an amount covering the entire toothbrush; and while flavor is an important element in encouraging young children to brush, it may also contribute to what studies show as approximately 50 percent of the toothpaste in a child's mouth being swallowed by children under 7. David C. Kennedy, DDS, past president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology and the author of the petition to ban fluoridation in California, pointed out: "Dental fluorosis affects from 8 percent to 51 percent of the children in fluoridated communities and as high as 80 percent of children with poor nutrition. It is not just cosmetic, as the promoters of fluoride would have us believe. "Colgate's settlement payment of 1,000 pounds shows the ridiculousness of the dental fluorosis trade-off. Promoters of fluoridation agree that dental fluorosis is going to happen, no matter how much they try to minimize the issue. Paying thousands of dollars for veneers and crowns to repair permanently fluoride-poisoned teeth so that we can save what amounts to less than one filling if the nonexistent benefits were true, which studies show they are not, is criminal. "All of the large-scale blinded studies show no difference in decay rates between fluoridated communities and unfluoridated communities. People are getting too much fluoride now, whether its from toothpaste or all the foods that contain fluoride. With 3 percent to 26 percent of all children in non-fluoridated areas in the U.S. already suffering from dental fluorosis, putting more fluoride in the water does not appear to be too intelligent." Not being too intelligent is exactly how Dr. Phyllis Mullenix described the rats she studied after exposing them to fluoride concentrations comparable to a fluoride rinse performed in a dental office, and longer-term low doses comparable to drinking fluoridated water. In both cases, Mullenix, who founded the first dental toxicology department in the U.S at Forsyth (dental) Research Institute of Harvard Medical School, and currently a toxicologist at Children's Hospital in Boston, found that fluoride did not just accumulate in the bones but actually accumulated in the brain, with a result that the test subjects displayed what could best be described as the rat version of "couch potato," with a diminishment of IQ. The Mullenix study also dovetails with reports from China, whose population suffers extensively from skeletal fluorosis caused primarily from the use of coal for domestic heating, cooking and grain drying. In two separate studies comparing Chinese children living in areas which differed in the amount of fluoride present in the environment, one study found that there is an approximate 5- to 19-IQ-point decrease for the children ages 8 to 13 living in the severe fluorosis area compared with the non-fluorosis area; the second study found a 6- to 12-IQ-point decrease in the children consuming higher fluoride levels (4.12 pm, just above the EPA's maximum contaminant level of 4 ppm) compared with the children consuming lower levels of fluoride in their drinking water. The fact that the central nervous system is vulnerable to fluoride poisoning and that dental fluorosis is a visible sign that an individual has been exposed to too much fluoride should not be news to us. According to recently declassified documents shared at an Oct. 24 forum on fluoridation at Clark University, prior to the almost-2-to-1 defeat of fluoridation for Worcester, Mass., scientists were aware in 1944 that exposure to fluoride caused confusion, drowsiness and listlessness. That the discovery was made by toxicologists working on the Manhattan Project, where large quantities of fluorine were used in the separation of uranium isotopes, will surely stand as the reason for keeping this information classified "secret" from the American public for 50 years while at the same time being told of fluoride's safety; but these same declassified documents show that further study of these effects were requested and authorized, with funds appropriated, before an abrupt command six months later, "Not to start (or to discontinue if it has been started)." Other declassified government documents revealed at the Clark University forum offer more insight. Upon being confronted with the problem of the windows of school classrooms being etched from fluorine gases emitted from nearby factories, the declassified memo does not address the safety of the children in the school, but instead asks, "Would there be any use in making attempts to counteract the local fear of fluoride on the part of residents of Salem and Gloucester counties through lectures on fluoride toxicology and perhaps the usefulness of fluoride in tooth health?" Worcester residents were not alone in their educated decision to reject fluoridation this fall. The residents of Kelowna, the first city in Canada to agree to fluoridate its water after a 1954 referendum, voted against continued fluoridation of the city's water system. The Kelowna Daily Courier (Nov. 20) cited a recent study showing minimal difference between children's dental health on Kelowna (fluoridated) water compared to those drinking unfluoridated Vernon water. Peter Chataway, a key player in Kelowna Citizens Against Fluoride, explained Kelowna's trend-setting 1954 acceptance of fluoridation. "That's because Alcan Aluminum was putting a smelter in Kitimat and fluoridating water was cheaper than disposing of the waste," he said. "They chose Kelowna because it was the premier's home riding and if it went here, people would think it was safe." British Columbia is already the least fluoridated province in Canada, with the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island already fluoride-free. Despite the U.S. Public Health Service and American Dental Association claims of fluoride's complete safety and their aggressive goal of forcing all of America into fluoridation (now 62 percent fluoridated), the rest of the world remains unconvinced. Europe is currently only 2 percent fluoridated, and The Sunday Telegram reports that Sir Ivan Lawrence, Tory MP for Burton, who heads a group of MPs campaigning against fluoride in England said, "I think the evidence will continue to mount and there will be a ban in five or 10 years." Meanwhile lawyers observing the Colgate-Palmolive payout said that the fluorosis settlement was a significant breakthrough, even though the manufacturer has denied any liability and is refusing to discuss the case. More than 200 parents in England are already attempting to sue toothpaste manufacturers. Julian Middleton, a Nottingham-based solicitor acting for more than 200 children with fluorosis, said the payment could help families in their battle for legal aid. "We regard it as extremely significant -- albeit it has been made without liability. Fluoride is one of the most poisonous substances known to man. Experts say it is the cause of fluorosis. Yet there is nothing to say what is a safe dose for children." Preventive Dental Health Association, a nonprofit educational organization has 3/4-inch public-access-quality tapes of the Clark University forum presenting more of these details. Ask your public access station to play them. 1/2-inch VCR-viewable tapes are also available.