Noted Risk Assessment Expert Advises TN Governor to End Fluoridation
The Lillie Center, Inc.
December 19, 2006
Noted TN Risk Assessment Expert Joins Calls for End to Water Fluoridation, Sends Letter to Governor
December 19, 2006 – Another key voice has joined the growing chorus advising Governor Phil Bredesen to end water fluoridation in Tennessee. Prominent Tennessee risk assessment expert Kathleen Thiessen, PhD, has joined Dr. Joey Hensley, the only practicing physician serving in the state legislature, in calling for a halt to fluoridation. A member of a key National Research Council committee that studied fluoride, Dr. Thiessen sent a letter to the governor last week, along with a statement of issues describing numerous concerns about risk from fluoride and questionable methods used to justify fluoridation.
Media coverage and public interest in the long-simmering issue has swelled recently after Representative Hensley sent a letter to hundreds of water districts throughout the state, advising that fluoride no longer be added to their water.
Dr. Thiessen works for Senes Oak Ridge Inc., a respected human health and ecologic risk assessment firm whose clients have included the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxics Substances and Disease Registry. In her letter to Governor Bredesen she states, “I support Representative Joey Hensley’s recent recommendation that Tennessee water agencies stop adding fluoride to their water, and I encourage you to do so as well.” She cites concerns over “uncontrolled and unmonitored intake of fluoride” as people drink fluoridated water.
Fluoride is a poison that accumulates in the body over time. It can cause joint pains that mimic and can be incorrectly diagnosed as arthritis, but are actually due to a condition called skeletal fluorosis. A National Research Council report this year advised that the upper level tolerance for fluoride in water be lowered to an unspecified level, and called for research on fluoride’s effects on human brains, thyroids, kidneys, bones, teeth, and immune systems.
The 5-page issues statement Dr. Thiessen provided to the governor includes unsettling information about the type of fluoride used in most fluoridation programs. The “silicofluorides” may leach lead into drinking water from plumbing lines, and they may contribute to increased arsenic levels in people that drink the fluoridated water. Thiessen also cites concern about fluoride increasing the risk for osteosarcoma (a bone cancer that is often fatal when it occurs in young males) and about increased risk for broken hips. Seniors with a lifetime of accumulating fluoride in their hips and other bones will want to consider Thiessen’s recommendation.
Dr. Thiessen says calculations of the true costs of fluoridation should include “…the costs of treating and repairing dental fluorosis, the costs of health effects (e.g. broken hips) on members of the population, and the cost of obtaining low-fluoride water for bottle-fed infants or for others who prefer to avoid fluoride.” She also points out that evidence claiming to show fluoride to be beneficial seems to be judged by an easier standard than evidence showing harmful effects. She states, “much of the available literature (or interpretations of the literature) shows evidence of bias or double standards.”
No state law in Tennessee requires fluoridation. Water districts that add fluoride can halt the practice if they decide to do so. Districts distributing fluoridated water supplied by other water agencies can communicate their preference for unfluoridated water to their upstream supplier. Daniel Stockin of The Lillie Center, Inc., a Brentwood firm that has been coordinating efforts to stop fluoridation, says that Hensley’s letter, and now Thiessen’s, “should cause every citizen, water district, and government leader to sit up and take action. There is an upcoming tsunami of public outcry and legal action about to happen. Water districts should turn off fluoride immediately. We’ve received a letter from the governor’s office, directing the state health commissioner to meet with us,” he says.
Citizens wishing to stop fluoridation can contact their water district and can email the governor at: phil.bredesen@state.tn.us . Inquiries to Dr. Thiessen may be directed to: kmt@senes.com or to 865-483-6111. Her letter to the governor and statement of issues may be viewed at: www.fluoridealert.org . Photos of dental fluorosis may be viewed at: http://www.fluoridealert.org/dental-fluorosis.htm . Daniel G. Stockin of The Lillie Center may be contacted at: dan@thelilliecenter.com or by phone at: 615-294-4528.
See also:
Media Coverage:
- Fluoride Debate Fueled By Doctor, Musician - WSMV, Channel 4, Nashville, January 25, 2007
- Study: Fluoride possibly harmful to infants - WSMV, Channel 4, Nashville, December 13, 2006
- Legislator-Physician asks for limit on fluoridation - Macon County Times, December 13, 2006
- Water districts cautioned against fluoride - The Herald-News, December 13, 2006
- Doctor-legislator asks utilities to stop putting fluoride in water - The Tennessean, December 11, 2006
- Should Fluoride Leave the Water? - FOX News (Nashville), December 6, 2006
You can help support our efforts to initiate legislative changes
and spread our message.