Fluoride In Tap Water Linked To Bone Cancer
Biotech Business Week
July 23, 2005
Newly available research, out of Harvard University, links fluoride in tap water, at levels most
Americans drink, to osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington DC-based organization, urges that fluoride in
tap water be declared a known or probable cancer cause, based on this and previous animal and human studies, reports the New
York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
Elise Bassin, PhD writes, in her Harvard doctoral thesis, " ... for males less than twenty years
old, fluoride level in drinking water [about1partpermillion] during growth is associated with an increased risk of osteosarcoma."
According to EWG, "Research dating back decades, much of it government funded, has long suggested
that fluoride added to drinking water presents a unique cancer risk to the growing bones of young boys."
Citing a strong body of peer-reviewed evidence, including the Bassin study, EWG urges an expedited
review of fluoride for inclusion in a U.S. government report of substances known or feared to be cancer-causing in humans.
Richard Wiles, EWG's senior vice president, told the British newspaper The Observer, "I've spent
20 years in public health trying to protect kids from toxic exposure. Even with DDT, you don't have the consistently strong
data that the compound can cause cancer as you now have with fluoride."
High-quality epidemiological studies show a strong association between fluoride in tap water and
osteosarcoma in boys, reports EWG.
EWG's Wiles writes, "The safety of fluoride in America's tap water is a pressing health concern
... the weight of the evidence strongly supports the conclusion that millions of boys in these [fluoridated] communities are
at significantly increased risk of developing bone cancer as a result."
Fluoride is added to water supplies in a questionable attempt to reduce tooth decay. Pro-fluoridation
studies are outdated and flawed as revealed in British and U.S. reviews of the literature.
This article was prepared by Biotech Business Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2005,
Biotech Business Week via NewsRx.com.
