I would like to congratulate the Mayor of Red Deer, Morris Flewwelling and City council for putting together an excellent presentation with Dr. John S Beck and Dr. Horne, including a Q & A session afterwards, regarding the pros and cons of fluoridation in our municipal water system. As a result of my research, I concur with Dr. Beck’s research on the harmfulness of fluoride in our municipal water. I do not agree with Dr. Horne’s statement, “That there are no negative health effects.” There is a monumental amount of evidence from around the world showing the harmfulness of fluoride.

First we need to understand the origin of fluoride in order to understand the present.

The practice of adding fluoride to municipal tap water across the U.S. began in 1945. The origins of fluoridation had nothing to do with protecting your dental health. My research found that the element used to make the bomb had the ingredient fluoride, as well as uranium. Read the declassified documents of the Manhattan Project, about the fluoride waste products from the aluminum industry, and the hazardous waste from hydrogen fluoride found in the phosphate fertilizer industry, which turns into hydrofluorosilicic acid, which is the primary source of aluminum fluoridation. These byproducts typically contain arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury (Dr. Mercola Video Library).

Why is water fluoridation, which began in 1945 and still continues today, allowed too despite the fact that the FDA has never approved it? (Environmental Science, U.S., History of Medicine Fact #8). The year before water fluoridation began in the U.S., the dental profession recognized that fluoride was detrimental to your health. In 1944, the Journal of American Dental Association reposted that using 1.6 and 4 ppm (parts per million) fluoride in water would cause 50% of adults to need false teeth. The world’s largest study looked at 400,000 students, revealing that tooth decay increased in over 25% with just 1 ppm fluoride in drinking water (healthy-cummunications.com).

Up until 2011 there have only been two studies dealing with the continued use of hydrofluorisilicic acid. These studies showed an increase in lead accumulation of bone, teeth, and other calcium-rich tissues. These heavy metals enter into areas of your body such as your brain (Dr. Mercola Video Library). It shows that fluoride is a neurotoxic chemical which interrupts the basic functions of nerve cells in the brain that can lead to Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), infertility, birth defects, diabetes, cancer and lowered IQ. Aluminum tricks the blood-brain barrier and allows chemical access to brain tissue.

If fluoride is found in military nerve gas, is considered hazardous waste, and is a common ingredient of roach and rat poison, no wonder it causes soft tissue damage and bone erosion as it leaches calcium and magnesium from the body. It also will not evaporate from water, boiling or freezing won’t help remove it either (June 25th, 2012, S.D.Wells, Environment/Science, AbundantHope.net).

So far 33 Canadian cities and towns have voted to have the fluoride removed from their municipal water, (three in 2012, Outlier, Ont., Okotoks, Amhirstburg, Ont. Calgary removed their fluoride on Feb. 8th, 2011) let’s make Red Deer number 34.

There are numerous countries throughout the world as well, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Finland, India, and Great Britain to name a few who have all rejected the use after reviewing the negative evidence. Surely they can’t all be wrong.

There are enough dental products out there as a major source of fluoride exposure, particularly to children if you so desire.

So, why do we need mandatory fluorinated municipal water? I have absolutely no control on how much I am getting in my daily life. It is in my water, coffee, tea. How much am I getting drinking my eight glasses of water a day as well as everything else? It is on my plants, vegetables, grass, crops, etc. Research has shown it does not dissolve or vaporize. It goes down my drains, and ends up in the Red Deer River and streams. It affects the fish which we eat, the birds, the animals that ingest it, etc. which in turn we eat. It goes all the way down the food chain. Meanwhile we have all of these illnesses that affect us to which I can testify to a number of them on the list. The fluoride in our municipal water is not a natural product, but is a ‘drug’ that is put in our water supply through mandatory means. We are told never throw away your drugs as it is harmful to the environment, take them to your pharmacy, etc.

Attention Red Deerians and Central Alberta Towns, it is time to wake up and take a stand. Do your own research and help City council make the correct decision on Oct. 29th.

Poldi Olafson

Red Deer