Symptoms experienced during periods of actual and supposed water fluoridation

Abstract

Fluoridation of water is a controversial measure because of the suspicion that it has harmful effects on health. Opinions differ as to the reality of these fears. In Kuopio, after distressing disputes over the fluoridation issue, the City Council decided to stop fluoridation at the end of 1992. In fact, however, it was discontinued at the end of November, one month early, without the public being told. The aim of this study was to find out whether the occurrence of 25 selected symptoms was connected with exposure to fluoridated water. In order to do this we compared the prevalence of symptoms during the months before and after the undisclosed cessation of fluoridation and after the cessation had been officially announced. Postal inquiries concerning symptoms were sent to 1000 randomly selected adults in November, to a further 1000 in December 1992 and again to the same 2000 people in March 1993. The response rates were 40-26%. The percentage of those with two or more symptoms was the same (45%) in November and in December but decreased to 32% in March. The mean number of symptoms per respondent decreased from 1.9 in November to 1.4 in March (P < 0.001) and in December-March from 1.8 to 1.2. The decrease was most significant for symptoms related to the skin. Since the occurrence and mean number of symptoms were fairly similar during actual and supposed fluoridation, the results do not support the theory that the symptoms considered in this study are caused by the physical effect of fluoridated water. On the other hand, the significant reduction in the number of symptoms only after the respondents had become aware of the discontinuation of fluoridation reveals that fluoridation may have psychological effects which present as perceived symptoms.

Exposure to high fluoride concentration in drinking water will affect spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in male albino rats

“…Fluoride has a tendency to accumulate in the organisms, if the exposure persists over time, even at low concentrations (Groth 1975). Excess fluoride is reported to cause severe harmful effects on plants (Boese et al 1995;Dogeroglu et al 2003), insects (Davies et al 1998), frogs (Agalokova et al 2000;Goh & Neff 2003), livestock (Suttie 1977(Suttie , 1980 and humans (Lamberg et al 1997).…”

Water fluoridation, dentition status and bone health of older people in Ireland

“…It has been noted that there could be health risks associated with drinking fluoridated water over an extended time and various studies have investigated links between fluoridation and cancer, skin diseases, neurological disorders and skeletal diseases (6,9,(48)(49)(50). In this study, the prevalence of fluoridated water was not significantly associated with predicted osteopenia and osteoporosis.…”

Efficiency of fluoride programs in the light of reduced caries levels in young populations

“…No other community in Finland was willing to take the same step as Kuopio, even although the health authorities of the state repeatedly recommended water fluoridation programs. Opposing civic groups were very active during all the years of fluoridation and it was claimed that fluoride in water brought about various illnesses and ailments (10). After repeated disputes and bitter local campaigns, the City Council of Kuopio decided to discontinue the water fluoridation program at the end of year 1992.…”