State health officials are urging Tennessee’s oldest town to keep fluoride in the water supply.

Monday night folks said they were divided on what they want Jonesborough’s leaders to do.

Back in May we told you members of the Jonesborough Board of Mayor and Alderman toured the town’s water treatment plant.

After seeing what actually goes into the water, some board members questioned if its right to get rid of fluoride.

In June, a survey was sent out to water customers in Jonesborough.

BMA members revealed the results of that survey at the meeting Monday night.

Out of 782 surveys, 376 people wanted to get rid of fluoride, while 355 said keep it. 51 were undecided.

“I see kids that haven’t brushed their teeth in 4 or 5 years, you wouldn’t believe what their teeth look like when you take that stuff off your teeth, thanks to fluoride in water its prevented them a lot of pain,” Dr. Charles Parker said.

“I want to go on record as being absolutely against this, I think we should have a choice, I think you should have a choice,” Don Larson.

Town leader’s did not make any decisions Monday night.

Jonesborough Mayor Kelly Wolfe says it’s unclear when they will.

Copyright 2016 WJHL. All rights reserved.

• See original report

• See July 19, 2016, article: Jonesborough residents have say on fluoride

A leading South Bay lawmaker and critic of safety at the former ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance has renewed his criticism of a regulatory study aimed at discovering whether a commercially viable alternative to the use of highly toxic hydrofluoric acid exists.

In his second letter in the past three months to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is conducting the study, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Manhattan Beach, accused the agency of failing to look at whether the use of the potentially deadly acid with a 10 percent additive is safe.

“The failure to do so along with an evaluation of on-site safety measures in place intended to minimize a major spill or release of the modified hydrofluoric acid undermines the intent of the entire study,” Lieu contended in a letter sent to the agency Wednesday and made available exclusively to the Daily Breeze.

“The entire way SCAQMD is going about this study is backwards,” Lieu wrote. “And one of my fears is that by intentionally failing to address the question of safety, SCAQMD is going to produce a study that is at best irrelevant and at worst used by some to maintain a status quo that could be extremely dangerous to the community.

“I am at a loss as to why SCAQMD is refusing to address the basic question of public health and safety of MHF with only 10 percent additive,” Lieu added. “I hope it is not because SCAQMD intentionally designed a study to arrive at a predetermined conclusion of preserving what could be a catastrophic status quo.”

The additive, called sulfolane, is intended to block the formation of a toxic ground-hugging cloud the acid forms at room temperatures by turning into a less dangerous liquid that falls to the ground via a process dubbed “rainout.”

The cloud has the potential to kill or injure tens of thousands in the densely populated neighborhoods surrounding the refinery.

But experts say that at the low level of 10 percent additive, there is little evidence that the supposedly modified HF is any safer than unmodified HF.

“If 10 percent or 20 percent sulfolane is being used, there is very little difference between HF and MHF in the hazard it presents in terms of concentration and travel distance downwind,” said Ron Koopman, a retired expert in the field who conducted ground-breaking experiments with HF on behalf of the oil industry in the 1980s.

“At 30 percent, there is approximately 80 percent rainout of MHF, (meaning) for example, only 20 percent travels downwind, while at 10 percent there is only 10 percent rainout, which means that 90 percent of the MHF travels downwind. This is a much bigger hazard.”

Lieu, along with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, initially criticized the scope of the study in May in a letter to Wayne Nastri, acting executive officer with the AQMD.

In response, Nastri maintained the safety of MHF and the effectiveness of safety measures in place at the Torrance refinery now owned by PBF Energy was not within the scope of the study, which he maintained was much broader in nature.

“Once this study is completed and feasibility and commercial availability of various alternatives are provided, we can evaluate what are the appropriate next steps,” Nastri wrote.

The Torrance Refinery Action Alliance has similarly taken the AQMD to task over the study for many of the same reasons as Lieu, including its response to Lieu’s initial letter.

In a July 19 letter to Nastri, TRRA President Sally Hayati pointed out that the patent for modified HF specifically pointed out that “HF may be used in combination with up to about 50 percent of various additives which may be present either to reduce the aerosol-forming tendency of HF … or to modify the properties of the HF so that any accidental release may be more readily controlled.”

That’s far higher than the 10 percent additive being used in Torrance. At 50 percent or so, ExxonMobil found that MHF simply doesn’t work in the production process for refining crude oil, Hayati wrote.

“This explains why Mobil promised to use 50 percent additive in 1990 … but quietly slashed it to 10 percent in 1998,” Hayati wrote. “MHF is 90 percent HF and scarcely different from HF in airborne toxic cloud formation.

“MHF is not ‘safer’ than HF, only marginally less deadly.”

(This article was updated on June 22)

Tina Gorjanc, a wildly ambitious student at Central Saint Martins in London, has proposed a rather odd fashion design idea: to use lab-grown human skin as fabric. Which is, admittedly, better than using synthetic human skin. And it’s not just any human skin either; using Alexander McQueen‘s DNA, Gorjanc is building a replica of the late iconic designer’s skin, which she will then use as the material for her collection, Pure Human. Apparently, with this collection—which is her final project with the two-year CSM master’s course MA Material Futures—the London design student is attempting to “address shortcomings concerning the protection of biological information.”

From Tina Gorjanc’s project ‘Body Spam.’

At this point, you’re probably wondering how Gorjanc plans to get her hands on McQueen’s DNA. But before you chalk it up to “grave digging,” remember that McQueen attached a lock of his hair to every piece of his first collection, “Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims.” It was from a piece in this collection that Gorjanc was able to procure a lock of his hair. After extracting genetic material from said hair, she was able to harvest the cells into skin tissue, and then tan the material to produce “human leather.” If you’re not already covered in goosebumps, then you probably need to think about your life choices.

And if that weren’t enough, in May, Gorjanc filed a patent application to use McQueen’s genetic information with her technical processes, potentially making Alexander McQueen leather her own. “If a student like me was able to patent a material extracted from Alexander McQueen’s biological information as there was no legislation to stop me,” Gorjanc said, “we can only imagine what big corporations with bigger funding are going to be capable of doing in the future.”
For Pure Human, Gorjanc plans to make backpacks, bags, and jackets. She’s already made a few prototypes from pig skin, which she embellished with decorative freckle designs in order to give them a real flesh feeling.

While it certainly pushes the limits of fashion, this project isn’t the first time Gorjanc has played with human skin. In a previous project entitled Body Spam, the Londoner incorporated synthetic bacterial systems, the logos of popular brands, and a horror movie villain attitude into surreal works. The synthetic materials were created as an implant on one’s skin using plaster, silicone, and body paint to look like a Chanel logo was rising from under the skin. The final product doesn’t actually break the skin, but the result looks realistic enough to make you do a double take—and question humanity.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE >>>

In a new short video produced by the Fluoride Action Network, Griffin Cole, DDS–dentist and member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology–explains why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should ban all fluoride supplements from the market.

In January 2016, the FDA ordered a manufacturer of fluoride “supplements” to immediately cease producing these drugs because the FDA has never approved them as either safe or effective. FAN’S investigation revealed that the largest pharmacies continue to sell unapproved fluoride drugs, which not only violates the federal prohibition on introducing unapproved drugs into interstate commerce, but violates the laws of at least 17 states which prohibit the sale of any drug not approved by the FDA.

Not only are the nation’s largest pharmacies systemically violating these laws, our investigation found that their pharmacists are providing false information to inquiring customers and concerned parents about the FDA approval status of these drugs.  Listen to our audiotaped conversations with the pharmacists to hear the extent of misinformation being provided.

We have created an online social media campaign targeting one of these negligent pharmacies, and we need your help to get their attention.  Please take a minute to participate in our easy-to-use social media campaign that will allow you to quickly tweet a message to Walgreens, and post a separate message to their Facebook page.  These days, companies are much more responsive to criticism on social media, so the more comments they get, the greater the chance they will pull fluoride from their pharmacies.  Please take action now:

TELL WALGREENS TO STOP SELLING FLUORIDE SUPPLEMENTS

Please also join over 10,000 people who have signed the online petition urging the FDA to end the manufacture and sale of these drugs: https://fluoridealert.org/fda/

Help FAN continue to make educational and influencial videos, as well as work to hold government and corporate actors accountable for their roles in overexposing citizens to fluoride.  Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.

Two Big Victories This Week

There were two big fluoride-free campaign victories this week, ending fluoridation for approximately 80,000 people in Australia and the U.S.

Gladstone, Australia – Councilors on the Gladstone Regional Council passed a motion to cease adding fluoride chemicals to the drinking water of more than 73,000 residents.  Councilor Kahn Goodluck introduced the motion after hearing from “a large number of people” in the region that wanted the practice to end, including local campaigners from Gladstone Area Fluoride Free and FAN Australia.  The additive will be phased out over the next 40 days.

Twenty-six Councils (including at least 50 towns) in the state of Queensland, Australia have now REJECTED fluoridation since the state reversed its mandate law in 2012.  These victories are the perfect example of what happens when fluoridation isn’t mandated and citizens are given a choice.

Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee – On Tuesday, the Northwest Utility District Commission in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee voted 6-1 to end fluoridation, which they physically turned off Wednesday morning.  The decision impacts 7,500 residents in Soddy-Daisy, Sale Creek, Falling Water, and Mowbray Mountain.  Councilors felt that fluoride was readily available from toothpaste and mouthwash, and were concerned about the significant corrosion to the water infrastructure caused by the fluoridation chemical and brought to their attention by whistleblowing water employees.

This victory continues the strong trend in Tennessee of communities ending the practice; 13 cities with over 120,000 residents have voted to stop artificial fluoridation since 2010, bringing the percentage of public water supplies in the state with added fluoride down to about 50%. The decision is also likely to influence the upcoming vote in Jonesborough, TN, paving the way for their rejection of the practice.

Paul Connett’s New Zealand Presentation

Last week FAN Senior Consultant Paul Connett, PhD was in New Zealand for a speaking and campaign tour of the country where residents are facing the threat of a fluoridation mandate.  During his visit he made a serious of presentations.  Thanks to Vinny Eastwood, who uploaded the video to YouTube, you can enjoy Connett’s presentation–Water Fluoridation: Poor Practice & Poor Science–from the comfort of your own home.  I encourage you to share this presentation with local decision-makers, neighbors, and community leaders.

WATCH CONNETT’S PRESENTATION

He Said, She Said: Science in Crisis

The next International Fluoride Free Teleconference will be held on Saturday, August 13^th at 5PM (Eastern time-U.S.).  The call will feature social science professor Brian Martin, PhD, who will discuss the battle over “scientific evidence and the struggle for scientific credibility, the exercise of professional power to suppress opponents, and the role corporate interest play in the fluoridation debate.”  Campaigners will learn how to prevail in today’s climate of perpetual scientific controversy.

REGISTER FOR THE AUGUST TELECONFERENCE

Latest Fluoride News

–Port Angeles City Council Delays Vote on Fluoride and Government (Washington)

–Houston City Council to Leave Fluoride In Water Supply (Texas)

–Legal Fees in Fluoride Case Top $90,000 Through May 31 (Alabama)

–Not Debating Fluoride—Just Want Awareness (Alabama)

–Is Water Fluoridation Helpful or Harmful (North Carolina)

–Silver Diamine Fluoride, Not a Complete Solution to Caries Risk (Arkansas)

–Judge Reluctant to Dip Toes into Water on Merits of Fluoride (New Zealand)

–Celebrity Chef’s Wife Suggests Fluoride-Free Toothpaste (Australia)

–Drinking Water Must Be Tested for Fluoride (Tanzania)

-Drinking Water Contaminated in Over 70,000 Villages (India)

–The Truth About Fluoride – Victor Zeines, DDS (New York)

–Topical Fluoride For Adults: Is an Unneeded “Profit Center” Unethical? (U.S.)

For more fluoride related media, please visit FAN’s News Archive.

Sincerely,

Stuart Cooper
Campaign Director
Fluoride Action Network

See all FAN bulletins online

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