I have been busy researching and doing homework. Yes I have. For my course. Here is some stuff I wrote for it lately:
The phosphate-fertilizer industry has long been known as an industrial polluter. Air, water, land, vegetation, livestock and people all suffer from the effects of having a phosphate manufacturing plant located near them. Lawsuits, like the one in Garrison, Montana (Merson, 1969) and Salem County, New Jersey (Philidephis record, 1946) started appearing all over the world, when plants and livestock began to die, people began to sicken, and water, air and land became intolerable.
The fluoride added to drinking water is a by-product of the fertilizer industry.
"In the manufacture of super-phosphate fertilizer, phosphate rock is acidulated with sulfuric acid, and the fluoride content of the rock evolves as volatile silicofluorides. In the past, much of this volatile material was vented to the atmosphere, contributing heavily to pollution of the air and land surrounding the manufacturing site. (Bellack 1970)
The by-products of the phosphate industry contain the fluorosilicic acid that is added to drinking water as well as other by-products, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and various decay-products of uranium (Connett, 2003). This slurry is so toxic that it cannot be disposed of anywhere in North America and is very expensive to process to turn it into a usable product. Industry came up with the solution of what to do with this slurry, add it to municipal water supplies as a way to prevent tooth decay.
That government and health agencies sanction of the addition of fluoride in drinking water has been a blessing to industrial polluters. Acknowledgment of the health and environmental damage caused by the industrial effluent of phosphate-fertilizer plants would indicate that perhaps fluoride was not such a health boon. Industries started to reverse the trend of fluoride removal from their by-products "as regulatory agencies have maintained -- ever since water fluoridation - that industrial fluoride emissions are harmless to humans" (Griffiths, 1992). In an endless cycle industry provides favourable studies and cash donations to government and government makes concessions towards industry. Overwhelming evidence has forced both the Canadian Dental Association and the American Dental Association to advise against fluoridating water supplies, but they both still advocate its topical usage.
Fluoridation of municipal water supplies has been an instrumental part in many nations plans to prevent and decrease cavities. Industry was an early proponent of the implementation of fluoridation of water. "In a historic moment in 1939, the first public proposal that the U.S. should fluoridate its water supplies was made not by a doctor, or dentist, but by Cox, an industry scientist working for a company threatened by fluoride damage claims" (Cox, 1938) after he fluoridated rats and proclaimed them cavity reduced. Early studies done on fluoridated populations proved controversial or inclusive. Current studies are more definitive. Due to the controversy surrounding fluoridation many communities have stopped fluoridating their water and studies done have shown "prevalence of caries decreased over time in the fluoridation-ended community while remaining unchanged in the fluoridated community" (Maupome et al., 2001). Many scientific journals have reported that ingestion of fluoride does not reduce tooth decay and recommend a topical usage. Unfortunately, most tooth decay occurs in the pits and fissures of teeth and fluoride is thought to be "most effective in preventing decay on the smooth surfaces of teeth" (Loe, 1984).
Fluoride has many acute and chronic effects on an individuals health. Common infant fluoride drops list "nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, blood in vomit, tiredness, increased salivation, tingling, and seizures" (Pharmacy Health, 2001) which could also result in case of an accidental ingestion after a fluoride treatment at the dentist, ingestion of fluoridated toothepaste, and drinking too much fluoridated water or substances manufactured in fluoridated water. Another acute health effect caused by fluoride is death, as in the 3 year old boy in Brooklyn who ingested his fluoride treatment instead of spitting it out and died (New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, 2003). Chronic effects of fluoride have been harder to prove, with government and industry discouraging long term studies. In India, water and land are both naturally fluoridated. Studies have shown that fluoride ingestion over a period of time can affect the structure and function of cells, tissues, organs and systems resulting in a variety of clinical manifestations (Susheela, 1998). Fluoride has also been linked lower IQ scores and mental retardation (Xiang et al., 2003), decrease in melatonin production (Luke, 2001), skeletal fluorosis (Bo, 2003), cancer (Grandjean and Olsen, 2004), thyroid problems (Galletti and Joyet, 1958), reproduction deficiencies (Chinoy and Sharma, 2000), allergies (Feltman and Kosel, 1961) and kidney stones (Singh et al, 1961). The early stages of these conditions may be reversible, if the source of fluoride is removed and the diet is enriched with calcium, vitamin C and vitamin E (Susheela and Bhatnagar, 2002).
I didn't include the intro or conclusion because it just says the same thing, although abbreviated of this.
