Page 12 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2018.indd

Too Much Fluoride Too Many Are Getting Too Much
By Bill Osmunson DDS, MPH
Too many are getting too much fluoride. How do we know? Dental uorosis. In the National Research Council (NRC) Review (2006), Fluoride in Drinking
Immigration Policy Update
What the Trump Administration has done and how these changes affect our local immigrant community.
Now that we are over one year into the Trump era, I thought I would summarize here how the new administration has impacted the everyday lives of our documented and undocumented immigrant communities.
Water: A Scienti c Review of EPA’s Standards, the authors were in unanimous agreement: “Severe Dental Fluorosis is an adverse e ect to the teeth.”
The US CDC says: “Dental uorosis only occurs when younger children consume too much uoride... when teeth are developing under the gums.” Source: cdc.gov/ uoridation/safety/dental_ uorosis.htm#a2 (accessed 10/2015)
In the 1950s, when water uoridation started, the public was assured that no more than 10-15%
of the public would have dental uorosis, and that dental uorosis rates would not increase. In 2000,
the National Health Assessment
and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES) found up to 40% of adolescents had dental uorosis,
with 60% una ected. Compare 2012 NHANES ndings showing up to 70% with dental uorosis, and only 30% una ected. Dental uorosis rates are rising.
Cancellation of the DACA Program. In September, the Trump Administration announced the rescission of the DACA program, starting March 5th. The Administration closed the program to new applicants; that means children turning 15 years old who would have been eligible for a reprieve from deportation, are out of luck and now subject to deportation.
Those who have DACA status were to begin to lose their status this month. A San Francisco judge ordered the government to continue renewals for now, but the Administration has appealed this ruling and hopes to overturn it. In fact, their lawyers have asked
Where is all the extra fluoride
the U.S. Supreme Court to take the appeal out of order because, they argued, the federal judge’s ruling halting the deportation of young people with DACA creates “a national emergency”. A decision by the Supreme Court on their petition is expected soon. As of this writing, applications for DACA renewals are still being accepted.
coming from? Fluoride pesticides,
uoride post-harvest fumigants,
uoride medications, uoride dental products, uoride industrial products, uoride gas.
In addition to dental uorosis, dental caries increase when children get too much uoride. We know insu cient calcium or iodine in the diet creates additional vulnerability to uoride retention, including dental uorosis.
There is evidence of chemicals that boost uoride harm (aluminum and lead, for example), and perhaps others still unknown, which enhance the absorption, retention, or e ect of uoride. We live in a chemical soup.
Sonoma County alone has
an estimated 4,000 young
immigrants who may lose
their DACA status soon,
barring some legislative
solution. In February,
Congress failed to approve
any of four proposed bills in Congress that would have provided that solution. Donald Trump vigorously fought all the proposals other his own, which would have made relief for DREAMers conditional upon $25 billion for his border wall and an end to most family immigration.
End of Temporary Protected Status for Central Americans and
What is the best way to reduce the excess fluoride exposure?
One size doesn’t t all. Dental uorosis, often dismissed as merely cosmetic, is really the visible evidence of uoride toxicity. Coupled with new disturbing evidence that uoride and/or uorosis are linked to cognitive decline, it’s time to stop arti cially uoridating water supplies.
Judgment requires a careful review of all streams of evidence. Again, I am requesting that uoridation proponents take time to review other streams of evidence so careful judgment can be made.
Put uoride back in doctors’ o ces where it can be better controlled. Turn o the uoride pumps. Save the money. Give people freedom to choose.
Others. For almost two decades, our federal government has given a reprieve from deportation—known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS)—to about 320,000 persons from 10 countries. Recently, the Administration took steps to end this reprieve and force these people to return to their native countries.
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IMMIGRATION cont’d on page 13
Illustration Courtesy of Dave Urban
California alone has about 50,000 Salvadorans with TPS and another 50,000 U.S.-born minor children of TPS holders from El Salvador. Many are in the Bay Area. These are families that have been here legally since 2001. Many TPS holders in Sonoma County have long-term jobs in the hospitality, winery and construction industries; many others in medicine, nance and high-tech. Many own homes here and they are virtually all integrated into our community. This Administration is now expecting them all to return to countries where they haven’t lived for 20 years.
Deportation of the Undocumented. Shortly after his election, Donald Trump went on national TV and vowed to deport 2-3 million immigrants “immediately”. The truth is that it is not possible to deport most immigrants quickly; it takes 5 years to go through the deportation process now and there are only a fraction of that number currently in the process. An expansion
of deportation on the scale Trump promised would require increasing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) budget about ve-fold.