{"id":4050,"date":"2015-05-10T10:28:23","date_gmt":"2015-05-10T10:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.truthjuice.co.uk\/index.php\/clarksburg-state-health-officer-decisions-about-fluoride-should-be-based-on-science\/"},"modified":"2015-06-23T19:56:29","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T19:56:29","slug":"clarksburg-state-health-officer-decisions-about-fluoride-should-be-based-on-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.truthjuice.co.uk\/index.php\/clarksburg-state-health-officer-decisions-about-fluoride-should-be-based-on-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarksburg. State health officer: Decisions about fluoride should be based on science"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CLARKSBURG \u2014 The science supporting fluoridation of water as a safe, effective means of fighting tooth decay is clear, the state\u2019s chief public health officer says.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rahul Gupta, commissioner of the state Bureau for Public Health, said fluoridated water is the standard of care for protecting the dental health of over 200 million Americans.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFluoride has been examined from a scientific standpoint for a long time,\u201d Gupta said. \u201cDrinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces tooth decay by approximately 25 percent in children and adults.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBy preventing tooth decay, community water fluoridation has been shown to save money, both for families and the health care system,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gupta\u2019s comments came in the wake of the Clarksburg Water Board\u2019s decision to stop buying fluoride. Unless the water board reverses its decision, the public utility will cease fluoridating water once the current supply runs out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Local and state governments decide whether to fluoridate the water systems under their jurisdictions, while the federal government recommends how much they should add if they choose to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The current fluoride concentration level recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is 0.7 milligrams per liter of water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The previous range was 0.7 milligrams to 1.2 milligrams. The change was made because of increases in fluorosis \u2014 a cosmetic condition in which teeth develop white spots or stains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dick Welch, the water board\u2019s general manager, said the utility has been fluoridating water based on the low end for a while.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The West Fork River contains some fluoride, so only enough is added to bring the level to 0.7 milligrams, Welch said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe just supplement what\u2019s naturally produced to come up to the recommended dosage,\u201d Welch said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Board members Paul Howe and Charlie Thayer voted to stop adding fluoride to the water over concerns the chemical could harm human health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gupta said there are many \u201cmyths\u201d linking fluoride to numerous illnesses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Bureau for Public Health bases its recommendations on peer-reviewed data, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to comment on things based on feelings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For instance, a 155-pound man would have to ingest 5 to 10 grams of sodium fluoride to suffer acute fluoride toxicity and die, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That would be the equivalent of drinking 10,000 to 20,000 8-ounce glasses of water at once, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The water itself would kill you first, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Walter Ivey is director of the Office of Environmental Health Services for the Bureau for Public Health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ivey said too much of anything \u2014 be it fluoride or milk \u2014 can harm you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that fluoridation at a concentration of 0.7 milligrams is not harmful to human health, Ivey said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Howe said he is concerned about the cumulative effect of those small doses of fluoride in drinking water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere are no long-term studies on the health effects to your body,\u201d Howe said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some people might be predisposed to health issues caused by drinking fluoridated water, Howe said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy main concern is consent,\u201d he said. \u201cIf people don\u2019t want it in their water, there are other ways they can ingest it that\u2019s healthy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is a \u201chalo effect\u201d in which people get fluoride from other sources, Zane Satterfield said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Satterfield is an engineering scientist with the National Environmental Service Center, a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is drinking water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMost of everything we eat is processed with fluoridated water, so we possibly get enough fluoride from everything else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some of the other chemicals used to treat water are more dangerous than fluoride, Satterfield and Ivey said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chlorine gas was used in World War I to kill enemy combatants, Satterfield said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now, chlorine in lower doses is used in water to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Satterfield said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s all in the dosage amount that\u2019s used,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ivey agreed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cChlorine is one of the chemicals that has done more than any other chemical to save lives because it kills the bacteria that can impact human health,\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Howe said he has no problem with the other chemicals in water because they make the water potable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe others are used to make the water delivered to our houses clean and safe,\u201d Howe said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Furthermore, it\u2019s inexpensive for homeowners to buy a carbon filter to remove the other chemicals, while filters to remove fluoride are rather costly, Howe added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Gupta, it all comes back to the science, and the science shows that low doses of fluoride in the water are good for the teeth and not bad for the body.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s why the CDC, U.S. Public Health Service, World Health Organization, American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and nearly all other public health organizations support water fluoridation, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s why 75 percent of the U.S. population and 90 percent of the state population drink fluoridated water, Gupta said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is something that\u2019s a national norm based in science, and the science is clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLARKSBURG \u2014 The science supporting fluoridation of water as a safe, effective means of fighting tooth decay is clear, the state\u2019s chief public health officer says. Dr. Rahul Gupta, commissioner of the state Bureau for Public Health, said fluoridated water is the standard of care for protecting the dental health of over 200 million Americans. … <\/p>\n

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