CONTACT: Environmental Working Group
- Bill Walker, (510) 444-0973 x301; Jovana Ruzicic, (202)
939-9144
METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT URGED
TO WARN
CUSTOMERS
OF FLUORIDE RISKS TO INFANTS
American Dental Assn. Cautions Against
Fluoridated Water in
Formula
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21 Plans to add fluoride to Southern
Californians' tap water this summer are raising concerns that parents may not
know of the potential risks of using fluoridated water to mix infant
formula.
The Metropolitan Water District (MWD), which supplies 18 million
people in six counties throughout the region, in July will begin adding fluoride
to the water it delivers to 26 local water districts, some of which already
fluoridate. But since MWD made the decision to fluoridate, the American Dental
Association (ADA) the nation's leading authority on dental health has for
the first time acknowledged the dangers of fluoridation to children and issued a
warning to the public.
In a Feb. 20 letter to MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger,
the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has led a national campaign to
re-examine the risks and benefits of fluoridation, urged the district to take
aggressive action to make sure all its customers are fully informed of the ADA's
warning.
"It is deeply troubling that children, including bottle-fed
infants, will begin drinking fluoridated water without the benefit of the ADA
warning and in spite of the many [other] serious concerns [about fluoridation]
raised by the National Academy of Sciences last spring," EWG wrote. "Public
water supplies should be safe for all consumers, young and old alike." (The
letter is available at www.ewg.org.)
Last November, the ADA long a strong advocate of fluoridation,
said: "Infants less than one year old may be getting more than the optimal
amount of fluoride" if they consume formula or food prepared with fluoridated
water. ADA added: "If using a product that needs to be reconstituted, parents
and caregivers should consider using water that has no or low levels of
fluoride."
(www.ada.org/prof/resources/positions/statements/fluoride_infants.asp
)
EWG calculated that about 240,000 babies under one year old live
in the MWD service area. "Many of these babies will be bottle-fed for at least
some portion of their first year, and their parents need to know about the ADA
warning and the risks that fluoride may pose to their children's health.," said
the letter to Kightlinger. Copies were sent to the MWD board, representatives
from local water agencies, and local and state elected officials.
The group urged MWD to provide the ADA warning to every customer
it serves, and to make sure information about the warning is provided to the
news media, medical and dental offices, schools, day care centers and other
facilities.
ADA's warning said babies exposed to fluoridated water may
ingest more fluoride than recommended by the National Academy of Sciences'
Institute of Medicine, placing them at elevated risk of developing fluorosis, a
defect of the permanent teeth resulting in dark staining and, in severe cases,
substantial corrosion of the enamel. The Centers for Disease Control estimate
that about 30 percent of children drinking fluoridated water have some degree of
fluorisis.
Fluorosis, however, is not the only health risk of childhood
fluoride exposure. A March 2006 report from the National Academy of Sciences
identified fluoride as a potent hormone mimic that may affect normal thyroid
function. A 2006 peer-reviewed study by four Harvard scientists and doctors
strongly supports ongoing concerns that fluoridated water is linked to
osteosarcoma (an often fatal form of bone cancer) in boys.
-30-
Full text of the EWG letter to
MWD:
http://www.ewg.org/issues/fluoride/20070221/index.php
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