Prominent
Researcher Apologizes for Pushing Fluoride
By
Barry Forbes
The Tribune, Mesa, AZ/Thompson Newspapers. Sunday, December 5,
1999
"Why'd you do
it, Doc? Why'd you toss the fluoride folks overboard?"
I had just tracked
down Dr. Hardy Limeback, B.Sc., Ph.D in Biochemistry, D.D.S.,
head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry for the University
of Toronto, and president of the Canadian Association for Dental
Research. (Whew.)
Dr. Limeback is Canada's
leading fluoride authority and, until recently, the country's
primary promoter of the controversial additive.
In a surprising newsmaker
interview this past April; Dr. Limeback announced a dramatic change
of heart. "Children under three should never use fluoridated
toothpaste," he counseled. "Or drink fluoridated water.
And baby formula must never be made up using Toronto tap water.
Never."
Why, I wondered? What
could have caused such a powerful paradigm shift?
"It's been building
up for a couple of years," Limeback told me during a recent
telephone interview. "But certainly the crowning blow was
the realization that we have been dumping contaminated fluoride
into water reservoirs for half a century. The vast majority of
all fluoride additives come from Tampa Bay, Florida smokestack
scrubbers. The additives are a toxic byproduct of the super-phosphate
fertilizer industry."
"Tragically,"
he continued, "that means we're not just dumping toxic fluoride
into our drinking water. We're also exposing innocent, unsuspecting
people to deadly elements of lead, arsenic and radium, all of
them carcinogenic. Because of the cumulative properties of toxins,
the detrimental effects on human health are catastrophic."
A recent study at
the University of Toronto confirmed Dr. Limeback's worst fears.
"Residents of cities that fluoridate have double the fluoride
in their hip bones vis-à-vis the balance of the population.
Worse, we discovered that fluoride is actually altering the basic
architecture of human bones."
Skeletal fluorosis
is a debilitating condition that occurs when fluoride accumulates
in bones, making them extremely weak and brittle. The earliest
symptoms?
"Mottled and
brittle teeth," Dr. Limeback told me. "In Canada we
are now spending more money treating dental fluorosis than we
do treating cavities. That includes my own practice."
One of the most obvious
living experiments today, Dr. Limeback believes, is a proof-positive
comparison between any two Canadian cities. "Here in Toronto
we've been fluoridating for 36 years. Yet Vancouver - which has
never fluoridated -has a cavity rate lower than Toronto's."
And, he pointed out;
cavity rates are low all across the industrialized world - including
Europe, which is 98% fluoride free. Low because of improved standards
of living, less refined sugar, regular dental checkups, flossing
and frequent brushing. Now less than 2 cavities per child Canada-wide,
he said.
"I don't get
it, Doc. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ran
a puff piece all across America saying the stuff was better than
sliced bread. What's the story?"
"Unfortunately,"
he replied, "the CDC is basing its position on data that
is 50 years old, and questionable at best. Absolutely no one has
done research on fluorosilicates, which is the junk they're dumping
into the drinking water."
"On the other
hand," he added, "the evidence against systemic fluoride
in-take continues to pour in."
"But Doc, the
dentists…"
"… have
absolutely no training in toxicity," he stated firmly. "Your
well-intentioned dentist is simply following 50 years of misinformation
from public health and the dental association. Me, too. Unfortunately,
we were wrong."
Last week, Dr. Hardy
Limeback addressed his faculty and students at the University
of Toronto, Department of Dentistry. In a poignant, memorable
meeting, he apologized to those gathered before him.
"Speaking as
the head of preventive dentistry, I told them that I had unintentionally
mislead my colleagues and my students. For the past 15 years,
I had refused to study the toxicology information that is readily
available to anyone. Poisoning our children was the furthest thing
from my mind."
"The truth,"
he confessed to me, "was a bitter pill to swallow. But swallow
it I did."
South of the border,
the paradigm shift has yet to dawn. After half a century of delusion,
the CDC, American Dental Association and Public Health stubbornly
and skillfully continue to manipulate public opinion in favor
of fluoridation.
Meantime, study after
study is delivering the death knell of the deadly toxin. Sure,
fluoridation will be around for a long time yet, but ultimately
its supporters need to ready the life rafts. The poisonous waters
of doubt and confusion are bound to get choppier.
"Are lawsuits
inevitable?" I asked the good doctor. "Remember tobacco,"
was his short, succinct reply.
Welcome, Dr. Hardy
Limeback, to the far side of the fluoride equation. It's lonely
over here, but in our society loneliness and truth frequently
travel hand in hand.
Thank you for the
undeniable courage of your convictions.
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