Topic: WorldNetDaily
The last time WorldNetDaily did an article on the purported menace of fluoride in municipal water supplies, it fell to one of WND's own columnists, Phil Elmore, to debunk it.
But WND is back in the fluoride-conspiracy business again with a May 7 article by Steve Elwart pushing the bizarre idea that fluoride in water has "civil rights implications." Actually, all that happened is that a couple people formerly involved in the civil rights movement expressed concerns about fluoride:
[F]ormer Atlanta mayor and former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young and Civil Rights leader Gerald Durley, pastor of Providence Baptist Church in Atlanta, both asked Georgia legislators to repeal the state’s mandatory water fluoridation law.
Young and Durley both expressed concerns about the fairness, safety and full disclosure regarding fluoridation in letters to the state’s minority and majority legislative leaders.
Young wrote: “My father was a dentist. I formerly was a strong believer in the benefits of water fluoridation for preventing cavities. But many things that we began to do 50 or more years ago we now no longer do, because we have learned further information that changes our practices and policies. So it is with fluoridation.”
He goes on to note that most cavities occur in the crevices of the molars of teeth where the food can tend to accumulate. Fluorides in water do little to stop cavities caused this way. Tooth sealants are a much more effective way to stop cavities in these areas and there is an emphasis on using tooth sealants as part of a child’s dental health with fluoride being applied to the surface of the teeth (known as a topical application).
Young goes on to say that not only does water fluoridation have a limited effect on cavity prevention, but also presents risks of adverse side effects on the human body. He urges that communities weigh these limited benefits against the potential risks to infants, diabetics and others as a result of using fluorides.
Elwart also repeats a claim from a review of fluoride research that "our results support the possibility of adverse effects of fluoride exposures on children’s neurodevelopment." But the study also stated that "very little is known of its effects on children’s neurodevelopment," which means more research is needed -- which you wouldn'tknow from Elwart's selective editing.
Elmore's earlier debunking stated that "The correlation found between fluoride and IQ levels is not causation." Looks like he needs to weigh in again and do the job WND's so-called reporters won't.
