A lot of attention has been brought forth in recent years by alternative medical researchers and others regarding the issue of fluorine compounds (the most common are fluorides) in drinking water, toothpaste, food and beverage products, household products like Teflon(TM), and as we recently learned, as a component in a number of pharmaceutical drugs as well.

Environmentalists have become increasingly concerned about the widespread effects of fluorides in air pollution, both in gaseous and particulate form.  The leading causes of fluoride air pollution today include the manufacture of phosphates for fertilizer and other uses, the manufacture of insecticides, aluminum, plastics and many other products.  In addition, in the past, the atomic weapons industry has contributed greatly to the overall levels of toxic fluoride pollution in many communities.  These statements and more will be supported in the following article.  The EPA, charged with protecting the environment (which I take to also mean the environment people live and work in) has long dragged their heels in addressing the fluoride pollution issues.

Part I - The Wishing Well

Since the days of WWII the Federal Government in the US has made a strong push to convince all communities to fluoridate their water, and they drafted assistance the US Department of Public Health and the American Dental Association in this effort.  A push which, by the way, still continues today.  Thomas Reeves, of the CDC, is a water engineer responsible for overseeing the US fluoridation program (as of May 2001).

Declassified documents obtained by by Joel Griffiths and Chris Bryson (1) appear to show that:

"Fluoride was the key chemical in atomic bomb production, according to the documents. Massive quantities of fluoride-- millions of tons-- were essential for the manufacture of bomb-grade uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War. One of the most toxic chemicals known, fluoride rapidly emerged as the leading chemical health hazard of the U.S atomic bomb program--both for workers and for nearby communities, the documents reveal."

They also showed that there was a clear conflict of interest between dealing with the high toxicity of the fluorine by products of production and the wish of the government to give a "clean bill of health to fluoridation projects as the following selection of quotes from "Waste-not#414" (http://www.fluoridealert.org/WN-414.htm) show:

" Much of the original proof that fluoride is safe for humans in low doses was generated by A-bomb program scientists, who had been secretly ordered to provide "evidence useful in litigation" against defense contractors for fluoride injury to citizens. The first lawsuits against the U.S. A-bomb program were not over radiation,  but over fluoride damage, the documents show."

 " Human studies were required. Bomb program researchers played a leading role in the design and implementation of the most extensive U.S. study of the health effects of fluoridating public drinking water--conducted in Newburgh, New York from 1945 to 1956. Then, in a classified operation code-named "Program F," they secretly gathered and analyzed blood and tissue samples from Newburgh citizens, with the cooperation of State Health Department personnel."

 " The original secret version--obtained by these reporters--of a 1948 study published by Program F scientists in the Journal of the American Dental Association  shows that evidence of adverse health effects from fluoride was censored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) --considered the most powerful of Cold  War agencies-- for reasons of national security."

 " The bomb program's fluoride safety studies were conducted at the University of Rochester, site of one of the most notorious human radiation experiments of the Cold War, in which unsuspecting hospital patients were injected with toxic doses of radioactive plutonium. The fluoride studies were conducted with the same  ethical mind-set, in which "national security" was paramount. "

 " The U.S. government's conflict of interest--and its motive to prove fluoride "safe" -- has not until now been made clear to the general public in the furious debate over water fluoridation since the 1950's, nor to civilian researchers and health professionals, or journalists."

So it seems the government and their contractors had (and still have) a strong fiscal incentive in "whitewashing" the whole fluoride story.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta still maintain that water fluoridation is safe and effective.

Thomas Reeves, CDC water engineer and the man currently responsible for overseeing the US fluoridation program made the following statements in a letter.  (And I have to ask why is this a Federal program anyway?  Wouldn't this logically be a personal choice or at least decided at the community level? The answer to this becomes clear further down.)

"All of the fluoride chemicals used in the U.S. for water fluoridation, sodium fluoride, sodium fluorosilicate, and fluorosilicic acid, are byproducts of the phosphate fertilizer industry. The manufacturing process produces two byproducts: (1) a solid, calcium sulfate (sheetrock, CaSo4); and (2) the gases, hydrofluoric acid (HF) and silicon terafluoride (SiF4). A simplified explanation of this manufacturing process follows: Apatite rock, a calcium mineral found in central Florida, is ground up and treated with sulfuric acid, producing phosphoric acid and the two byproducts, calcium sulfate and the two gas emissions. Those gases are captured by product recovery units (scrubbers) and condensed into 23% fluorosilicic acid. Sodium fluoride and sodium fluorosilicate are made from this acid."

"The question of toxicity, purity, and risk to humans from the addition of fluoride chemicals to the drinking water sometimes arises.  Almost all of over 40 water treatment chemicals that may be used at the water plant are toxic to humans in their concentrated form; e.g., chlorine gas and the fluoride chemicals are no exception. Added to the drinking water in very small amounts, the fluoride chemicals dissociate virtually 100% into their various components (ions) and are very stable, safe, and non-toxic."

Here he reverts to what I call the "diversionary" argument, i.e.; he points out the toxicity of other chemicals such as chlorine as a defense for using fluorides.  At no point does he actually address the toxicity of fluorine/fluorides per se except to just say it is "safe".  I guess we are just supposed to take his word on that.   [the full letter from Reeves can be read at http://www.fluoridealert.org/ifin-230.htm]

"It is an ill wind blows no good"

In 1944 a severe pollution accident occurred at the E.I. du Pont du Nemours Company chemical factory in Deepwater, New Jersey.   This factory was then producing fluoride, in the millions of pounds, for the then Top-Secret Manhattan Project.  It also appears they were processing free uranium there, but that was never an issue in this accident.

The farms directly downwind of this factory in two counties were adversely affected, causing blighted crops and "burned up peaches" as one farmer put it.  Poultry died.  Farmhand who ate the produce sickened quickly and "frequently vomited all night and into the next day"  The horses were sick and too stiff to work and the cattle were so weak they had to graze crawling.  The humans were reported to have an abnormally high fluoride content in their blood.  This account was confirmed by Philip Sadtler of Sadtler Laboratories of Philadelphia, who had personally conducted the initial investigation into the incident.  In 1946, after the wars end, the farmers filed the first ever lawsuit to come out of the Atom Bomb project:

From the Philadelphia Record, October 18, 1946

"First Atom Bomb Suit - for Ruined Peaches - Filed by Salem County Growers for $400,000

A dozen orchard owners in Salem County (NJ) blamed the atomic bomb yesterday for their ruined 1944 peach crop. And - they're not fooling.

"For they filed suit in New Jersey Supreme Court for $400,000 to make good for their losses. Named in the suit - first of its kind- are three chemical manufacturers whose products went into the manufacture of atomic bombs.  They are E.I. duPont de Nemours Company, which has a plant at Deepwater, Salem County; the Sun Oil Company and the General Chemical Company, both of Marcus Hook, Pa. The bill of complaint made no mention of the atomic bomb but attributed the damage to hydrogen fluoride and hydrofluoric acid."

This got the attention of the government swiftly.  Manhattan Project chief Major General Leslie R.Groves convened secret meetings between U.S War Department, the Manhattan Project, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture and Justice Departments, the U.S Army's Chemical Warfare Service and Edgewood Arsenal, the Bureau of Standards, and du Pont lawyers.  Declassified documents reveal that they agreed to mobilize all resources necessary to effect a defeat of the farmers' claims. 

27 August 1945

 Subject: Investigation of Crop Damage at Lower Penns Neck, New Jersey

To: The Commanding General, Army Service Forces, Pentagon Building, Washington D.C.

"At the request of the Secretary of War the Department of Agriculture has agreed to cooperate in investigating complaints of crop damage attributed... to fumes from a plant operated in connection with the Manhattan Project."

Signed, L.R. Groves, Major General U.S.A

Manhattan Project Lieutenant Colonel Cooper B. Rhodes wrote in a memo to General Groves: [these agencies] "are making scientific investigations to obtain evidence which may be used to protect the interest of the Government at the trial of the suits brought by owners of peach orchards in ... New Jersey,"

General Groves wrote "The Department of Justice is cooperating in the defense of these suits," to the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Atomic Energy, in a Feb. 28, 1946 memo.

So a few farmers apparantly generated, in the words of Griffiths and Bryson, "a national-security emergency".  Why?  Because at this point the US was in full scale production of atomic weapons deemed essential to US post-war domination and leadership and the lawsuits were seen as a potential "roadblock".  A favorable ruling for the farmers would set a precedent and potentially derail the whole program, dependant as it was, on the production of fluoride.

Griffiths and Bryson write:

"In a subsequent secret Manhattan project memo, a broader solution to the public relations problem was suggested by chief fluoride toxicologist Harold C. Hodge.   He wrote to the Medical Section chief, Col. Warren: 'Would there be any use in making attempts to counteract the local fear of fluoride on the part of residents of  Salem and Gloucester counties through lectures on F toxicology and perhaps the usefulness of F in tooth health?' Such lectures were indeed given, not only to New  Jersey citizens but to the rest of the nation throughout the Cold War."

This is the origin of the entire national water fluoridation project.  Hodge's suggestion was brilliant, if somewhat Machiavellian, in that by creating a large "background" presence of fluorine compounds in the environment, esp. the water supply, any future claims of fluoride damage by civilians would be very hard to document and prove in court.

Evidence that the government was well aware of the toxicity problems associated with fluorides in any form dates to at least 1943.  Here is a memo reporting on that discussion:

29 September 1943

SUBJECT: Report on Meeting of 31 August 1943 for discussion of Toxicology Program.

On 31 August a meeting was held to discuss the allocation of a portion of the experimental program involving the study of the toxicological effect of various special materials. Present at the meeting were: Dr. Col. Ruhoff, Major Hadlock, Lt. Sturgie (Special Materials), Dr. Wensel, Dr. Stone, Dr. Tannenbaum (Chicago Project), Dr. Hodge (Rochester Project), Dr. Warren, Major Friedell, Capt. (Medical Section).

It was decided that a conference on the toxicity of fluorine compounds should be held with the view to orienting those concerned with the specific problems which may arise. It was recommended that a program be arranged by the Public Health Service since some of their members have more exhaustive studies into the biological effects of fluorine and its compounds. The tentative arrangements met with approval of Lt. Col. Ruhoff, and it was contemplated that those companies actively engaged in the production of F, F2, and fluorides be invited. The meeting was also to be attended by representatives of the Manhattan District but their association with the District would be concealed by appropriate measures. . .

(Unsigned)

cc: Lt. Col. Ruhoff

Dr. R.S. Stone

For more information about this meeting see:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/1944-conference.htm

Footnotes to Part 1

(1) Joel Griffiths is a medical writer in New York City, author of a book on radiation hazards and numerous articles for medical and popular publications. Joel can be  contacted at 212-662-6695.

Chris Bryson holds a Masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and has worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Manchester Guardian, The Christian Science Monitor and Public Television. Chris can be contacted at 212-665-3442.

Tags: health, government, fluoride, fluorine, fluoridation, environment, conspiracy

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