August 22, 2013
FAN has some very exciting news about our expanding influence in Washington, D.C., but first there was a fluoride-free victory this week that we would like to share.
On August 19, city councilors in Woodland, Washington, voted 6-1 to stop adding fluoride to the public water supply for the town’s approximately 6,000 residents. All 20 residents who attended the council meeting spoke in opposition to fluoridation. Council members said they spent a “significant” time studying both sides of the debate and made their decision to protect personal freedom and patient rights. According to Councilman Benjamin Fredricks, “Even if fluoridation prevents tooth decay, the city shouldn't make a medical decision for citizens without their consent."
FAN strengthens its position in DC
With the fluoride-free movement achieving so many successes around North America and the rest of the English-speaking fluoridating world, FAN has chosen this moment to strengthen its position in Washington, DC.
We have done this by hiring Dr. William Hirzy, who has just retired from his teaching position at American University. He brings to the FAN team a unique combination of experience and scientific knowledge on the fluoridation issue. A chemist by profession, he has worked in academia, industry and at the US Environmental Protection Agency. He gives a short summary of this experience below.
Many of FAN’s supporters will be familiar with Dr. Hirzy’s videotaped testimony on the dangers of fluoridation during a US Senate hearing held in 2000. They will also have heard of his (and Dr. Bob Carton’s) leadership efforts in the Union (which represented the professional employees at the EPA headquarters) to get the EPA to uphold scientific integrity and abandon its unscientific support for the fluoridation program. We are thrilled to have Bill join our team.
Meanwhile, several weeks ago I joined Bill in lobbying members of the U.S. House and Senate in opposition to Dow AgroSciences’ effort to overturn the EPA's proposal to phase out its food fumigant sulfuryl fluoride. If Dow achieves this it will reverse one of FAN’s major victories, which was 8 years in the making.
MESSAGE FROM BILL HIRZY
Background. For those who know little about me, I am a chemist who worked in industry for 19 years and the U.S. EPA for 27 years as a senior risk assessment scientist. I recently retired from a full time chemistry and environmental science teaching position at American University that I held for 5 years, after having taught chemistry part time for over 25 years.
While at EPA I worked with Bob Carton, a fellow union president, on the issue of fluoride toxicity as part of our union’s fight for scientific integrity in EPA’s missions. Bob and I spoke before many governmental and citizens groups about EPA’s lack of professional ethics and integrity regarding drinking water standards for fluoride.
Recent Published Research. Bob and I, along with three of my A.U. students recently published a paper in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Science and Policy, Vol. 29 pp 81-86 (May 2013), comparing use of pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride (NaF) and the phosphate waste product hydrofluorosilicic acid (HFSA) as fluoridating agents. We showed that HFSA causes between 100 and 1200 times more lung and bladder cancer because of HFSA’s arsenic contamination. Our calculations used only EPA’s own risk numbers for arsenic published in the Agency’s Drinking Water Regulations for Arsenic. Our paper also cited peer reviewed work published by Roger Masters, Mike Coplan and others showing that use of HFSA and its sodium salt is linked to increases in blood-lead levels and violent crime.
Help FAN Get 1,700 More Petition Signatures
Over 8,300 people have already signed the AVAAZ.org petition to end fluoridation. Please help FAN keep the momentum going by signing the petition, sharing it on Twitter and Facebook, and emailing it to friends and neighbors who oppose fluoridation. Our goal is to get over 10,000 signers by the end of September. Please take a moment to show your support for fluoride-free water and to help us make 10,000 signers a reality:
HELP US GET OVER 10,000 SIGNATURES – SIGN TODAY
Sincerely,
Stuart Cooper
FAN, Campaign Manager
No comments:
Post a Comment