Fluoride, response to GPIWA Letter
To the editor:
After reading last week’s “Letter To The Editor” by the Greater Pine Island Water Department Board of Directors, I feel that I must address some miss-statements.
Points #1 and 3. The natural fluoride in raw water is filtered out by the reverse osmosis system and it should be left out, as fluoride is not required for any bodily function.
The GPIWA now plans to replace it with hydroflurosillic acid, which is labeled a “hazardous material” and is used in industrial processes such as wood preservatives and metal finishing processes. They claim it to be a nutrient, but it is classified as a non-approved drug by the Federal Drug Administration. Raw materials for hydroflurosillic acid will be imported from Spain and refined in Florida but could be purchased from any other source at any time with 30 days notice. Think China.
Point # 2. The Board of Directors are elected and have full power and authority under Article IX in matters of running the GPIWD business but nowhere in Article IX or any other article are they granted the authority to administer any drug much less a non- approved drug. The FDA requires a licensed physician to prescribe a drug and it must be administered in a specific dose, in a specific time frame to a specific individual. It is impossible for a private corporation such as the GPIWA to do so under current law. The GPIWA Board claims there is no precedent of the voting members making decisions. That may be true but Article VII, Section 2, of the by-laws grants the voting membership the right to petition the Board of Directors to call a special meeting to call for a vote on fluoridation. In addition Article XIV, Section 2, grants the voting membership the right to petition to place on the agenda of the annual meeting, a by-law amendment that would limit the addition of chemicals and/or materials to production and sanitizing processes only. Citizens For Safe Water Inc. is in the process of meeting all requirements of Article VII and XIV as approved by the attorney for GPIWA. The Board of Directors must honor these actions.
Point # 4. The board members wanted to provide the benefits of fluoride to the membership. I can understand their concern, but they did not consider the physiological and neurological side effects of their action. They are sacrificing the health of many for the debatable benefits of a few. They want to over ride the individual rights of the membership for an unproven gain.
Point # 5. The US fluoridates through natural water fluoridation and added unnatural fluoride acid approximately 185 million people. Florida is ranked #30, with only 67.4 percent of the 13 million claimed. The total of the world population that fluoridates is only 5 percent. The United States accounts for 52 percent of the world total. Canada, Australia New Zealand, Ireland are 50 percent users and Great Briton at 17 percent. Europe is 99 percent fluoride free. Only about 20 out of 194 countries fluoridate and some of that is natural. Japan and China have banned fluoride. China exports theirs.
Recently the American Heart Assn., American Cancer Society., National Kidney Assn., American Academy of Allergies and Immunology., American Diabetes Assn., Society of Toxicology, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Activation Network, American Psychiatric Assn., American Chiropractic Assn., American Civil Liberties Union, and National Institute of Law Municipal Officers, among others, have dropped support for fluoridation
Citizens For Safe Water is only asking for a vote on fluoridation and a simple change to the by-laws, no more no less.
Jack Mills
St James City