FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
September 21, 2005
Environmental
groups petition EPA to retract fluoride pesticide tolerances
on food
Two national
environmental organizations, Environmental Working Group and
Beyond Pesticides, joined today with the Fluoride Action Network
in challenging the safety of new food tolerances issued by the
EPA for the fluoride based pesticide, sulfuryl fluoride. This
action marks growing concern among mainstream scientists and
environmental organizations that total exposure to fluoride,
from water, food, and dental uses like toothpaste and rinses,
is not safe for vulnerable populations, particularly young children.
The challenge was directed at the maximum legal limits for the
fluoride-based pesticide in foods, which have been set at levels
that dwarf the amount allowed in tap water. In just one case,
the EPA is allowing 900 parts per million of fluoride in dried
eggs, as opposed to the maximum 4 ppm allowed in tap water.
One third of the nation’s eggs are sold and consumed in dried,
reconstituted form.
The groups noted that 900 ppm set for dried eggs is extremely
close to the amount used in toothpaste (1,000 ppm), a level
that is considered toxic if consumed in greater than pea sized
portions. “How can the EPA consider 900 ppm in eggs safe, while
the Food and Drug Administration directs parents to call poison
control centers if their children consume more than a pea sized
portion of toothpaste with fluoride at 1,000 ppm?” asked Paul
Connett, PhD, Executive Director of FAN. “Unlike toothpaste,
eggs are meant to be eaten, not spit out.”
The precise FDA required label on toothpastes with fluoride
levels of 1000 ppm is:
"WARNING: Do not swallow. Use only a pea-sized amount for
children under six… If you accidentally swallow more than used
for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control
center immediately."
The EPA has set fluoride tolerances for over 200 foodstuffs
ranging from 5 ppm in cheese all the way up to 900 ppm in powdered
eggs. The groups warn that at the maximum level of fluoride
a serving of scrambled eggs made with as few as two egg equivalents
could make a child vomit and a four egg omelet could have the
same effect on an adult.
The tolerances were requested by Dow AgroSciences, which is
expanding its use of the pesticide sulfuryl fluoride (trade
named ProFume) to fumigate food processing facilities and storage
areas. Dow has never conducted crucial safety tests on fluoride
residues yet scientific studies point to serious health risks
from ingesting even small amounts. A wealth of independent,
peer reviewed studies have found adverse effects on children's
developing brains, the male reproductive system, kidneys, and
bones.
According to Fluoride Action Network (FAN) researcher Chris
Neurath, “It isn't just powdered eggs that will have dangerous
levels of fluoride allowed. All processed foods will be allowed
70 ppm fluoride residues. That includes everything from breakfast
cereal to hamburger helper to cake mix. Wheat flour is allowed
up to 125 ppm. For comparison, the maximum level of fluoride
allowed in drinking water is 4 ppm and the natural level of
fluoride in mothers’ milk is approximately 0.008 ppm. The EPA
argues that most fumigated foods won’t contain the highest allowed
levels so there is no need to worry. Yet the USDA’s surveillance
program for pesticide residues on foods routinely finds samples
bought at stores that exceed the EPA tolerances. The potential
for a significant number of acute poisoning cases every year
is very real.”
"We are very concerned that total fluoride exposure is
not safe for children,” said Richard Wiles, Senior Vice-President
of Environmental Working Group (EWG). “EPA is relying on outdated
science to support this increase in fluoride exposure, and in
our view has not discharged its legal duty to thoroughly consider
the effects of fluoride on infants and children, from all routes
of exposure, based on a thorough review of the most recent peer-reviewed
science.”
Jay Feldman of Beyond Pesticides adds, "This is yet another
example of the EPA pesticide division protecting the bottom
line of Dow AgroSciences rather than the health of the American
public.”
According to Connett, "It is ironic that, while 11 EPA
Unions, representing over 7000 professionals, are calling for
a moratorium on water fluoridation because of its likely role
in causing osteosarcoma in young males, the EPA’s pesticide
division has approved the highest fluoride tolerances in US
history. With the Centers for Disease Control admitting that
1 in 3 American children have dental fluorosis [the telltale
sign of overexposure to fluoride during early childhood] now
is not the time to be adding more fluoride to the nation's food
supply.”
The appeal
by FAN, EWG, & Beyond Pesticides can be accessed at:
http://www.fluorideaction.org/pesticides/epa-sf/submission.html
The EPA Unions resolution can be found here:
http://www.fluorideaction.net/epa-unions1.pdf
###
For further
information, contact:
Paul Connett,
PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network
315-379-9200 or 315-229-5853; paul@fluoridealert.org