Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
B.A. Biology, Ph,D. Chemistry, University of California, San Diego)
Palomar College, 1140 W. Mission Rd., San Marcos, CA 92069
Email: richsauerheb@hotmail.com Phone: 760-744-2547
October 10, 2012
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333Dear Oral Health Division,
First, I must thank CDC officials for a recent visit to our neighborhood here in Southern California that led to a rational solution to the high incidence of aplastic anemia in children living in one housing complex. For your information, the young teen friend of ours was eventually cured of the cancer he had, after a successful bone marrow transplant at the City of Hope in Duarte, CA. No new cases are known to us now that the CDC warning was heeded, that the construction of bedrooms atop garages where a child sleeps during growth years may have caused this problem because of benzene gas leeching through poorly designed garage ceilings. Thank you.
In another direction, it is necessary for the CDC to be aware of the following letter sent to the city of Everett, WA by request, answering unusual claims made to the city by a Dr. Goldbaum. Although dental officials at the CDC have historically recommended the practice of infusing industrial fluorides into public drinking water supplies, new information now available indicates the use of fluorosilicic acid as starting material must be discontinued.
Fluorosilicic acid infusions under usual conditions in city water supplies produce approximately 4 ppm orthosilicic acid, 0.7 ppm fluoride, and 1 ppm sodium ion, none of which belong in pure pristine fresh drinking water (as is found in the soft, low calcium waters in the Pacific Northwest). And as you may know, neither silicic acid nor fluoride are mineral nutrients or normal constituents of human blood.
Orthosilicic acid, which has long been known in agriculture to dissolve and release phosphate from calcium phosphate, unfortunately bathes teeth topically during consumption of treated drinking water. The fact that fluorosilicic acid infusions cause elevated blood lead in children living in homes with old lead-based plumbing has been confirmed in follow-up studies. Also attached for your files is a key data set from the recent comprehensive 360 page review of the adverse health impacts of fluorosilicic acid infusions in soft water regions of Ireland, deficient in calcium as fluoride antidote. This information was completed for the European Union and has been provided to the FDA (see letter).
In a previous letter dated July, 2012, CDC was asked why the fluoride level that bathes teeth topically in saliva from that ingested from treated water, only 0.02 ppm, is argued to be an effective caries preventive, when in fact toothpaste fluoride is 75,000 times more concentrated than this. The CDC replied that there is no apparent answer and that other persons will be consulted to try to find an answer. The old adage, that fluoridation is a public health achievement at 1 ppm because only a ‘small’ amount of ugly dental fluorosis abnormal enamel hypoplasia was thought would occur, is now known to be in error. 41% of U.S. 12-15 year olds have significant enamel fluorosis in the U.S. as of 2004. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are consuming industrial fluorides believing that ingesting fluoride ion can reduce dental caries without ill effect, all while the CDC reported that systemic fluoride is unable to affect caries (CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Aug, 2001), and instead is responsible for enamel fluorosis, and saliva fluoride at only 0.02 ppm (National Research Council, Report on Fluoride in Drinking Water, 2006) is also unable to affect teeth topically.
Medical treatments always must balance between adverse side effects and potential benefit. The long and admirable mission of the CDC is to protect the health of all Americans, and in some cases this simply means leaving citizens alone. We now have exceptional methods of reducing decay, in addition to brushing, flossing and good dietary habits, including dilute antibiotic trays fitted to teeth that eliminate caries-causing bacteria in otherwise difficult cases.
Considering all these data taken together (see letters below), we encourage that you halt recommending the dilution of fluorosilicic acid into U.S. water supplies. The practice is not supported by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act anyway, which prohibits any National requirement for any substance other than to sanitize the water.
The State of Nebraska voted to not infuse industrial fluorides into public water supplies in the State, and we as free citizens commend that right to have access to normal fresh drinking water without added chemicals other than to sanitize the water. In lieu of this natural desire on the part of millions of Americans, we here make the following possible requests of the U.S. CDC:
1. At best, please recommend that all fluorosilicic acid infusions into U.S. public water supplies be halted.
2. If the above option is not done, please at least halt any recommendation to infuse fluorosilicic acid into U.S. water supplies. Current CDC recommendations are not being viewed as a simple suggestion, but rather as an official approved Federal policy. City and other government officials then routinely dismiss out of hand concerns forwarded by citizens without discussion, since the CDC Fluoridation website strongly urges fluoridation across the U.S. and provides details on how to infuse the agent for water district personnel.
3. Or, please write to fluorosilicic acid suppliers to request, for CDC and public records, the information in writing with data that demonstrates what percent caries reduction is to be expected in children who consume this product at 0.7 ppm in cities having varying calcium content and by those with ill health, in particular those with kidney disease and diabetes who either cannot eliminate fluoride normally or who consume more water than normal.
4. Or, please recommend that natural calcium fluoride CaF2 be used as starting material for fluoridation. Calcium fluoride is not a listed toxic and has a safe high LD50 of 5,000 mg/kg single oral dose in test mammals, compared to 25 mg/kg for fluorosilicic acid, which is a listed toxic in poisons registries. CaF2 does not introduce into water any orthosilicic acid and cannot be a lethal poison in water because its solubility is limited to 8 ppm fluoride even during accidental overfeeds.
5. Or, please write letters to cities that fluoridate, stating that CDC does not make any request to fluoridate water supplies because doing so would violate the Safe Drinking Water Act, and CDC now has information that fluoride ingestion can cause enamel fluorosis in a higher percentage of children than was hoped, so fluoridated water should be avoided in infant formula because of this fact. And that all liability and responsibility for industrial fluoride infusions into city water supplies rests with the cities themselves, not with the CDC.
6. Or, please request that calcium chloride CaCl2 be added to water which is known to help build strong enamel, rather than systemic ingested fluoride ion that sidetracks the discussion of healthy diets. (Natural calcium at 200 ppm in Hereford, Texas water caused caries reduction, rather than the fluoride.) Foods rich in calcium may be suggested, including spinach (595 mg calcium per 100 grams), onions (135 mg per 100 grams) and broccoli (160 mg per 100 grams). Vitamin D and calcium supplementation are proper dietary methods for building strong teeth and preventing caries-prone enamel hypoplasia, rather than industrial fluoride taken internally which is ineffective for this purpose.
7. Or, at the very least, please write to the FDA, requesting that FDA please regulate all fluoridation operations conducted in the U.S., which is consistent with Federal law for all chemical ingestibles, requiring that FDA follow all Food Drug and Cosmetic Act regulations that apply for its oral consumption.
Please however do not reject all of the above requests, as that would not be in keeping with a free society in which voters have decreed a desire to have access to fresh drinking water without agents intentionally added to treat humans, nor would it be consistent with the original mission of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Indeed, the famous United Nations Charter clearly lists this right to access regular fresh drinking water as a fundamental human right that legally applies for every citizen in the world. One would hope that U.S. citizens would also therefore have such rights as well.
As an advisor for San Diegans for Safe Drinking Water, Washington Action for Safe Water, Fluoride Free Austin Texas and Fluoride Free Asheville North Carolina, this letter is not written simply on my own behalf. It is important to note that San Diego voted twice against treatment of water supplies with industrial fluoride compounds, and we all thank you in advance for your consideration to help us in this free society to remove this material from our drinking water as we contract with officials to work hard to protect the teeth of our children with improved methods.
Thank you for your attention to this matter of National importance.
See the attached letters addressed to the Everett City Attorney and to the FDA.
Sincerely
Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
***
Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
B.A. Biology, Ph,D. Chemistry, University of California, San Diego)
Palomar College, 1140 W. Mission Rd., San Marcos, CA 92069
Email: richsauerheb@hotmail.com Phone: 760-744-2547
October 10, 2012
Dear City Council, Everett, WA,
Lead from Old Plumbing in Fluorosilicic Acid Treated Cities.
Regarding the question why various homes in your water district now have high lead ion levels, Dr. Goldbaum is partly correct, to claim that lead ion levels are not higher after fluorosilicic acid is diluted and infused at the water treatment plant. But this statement does not list experimental error and is not the entire truth. The added fertilizer discard material fluorosilicic acid that contains lead, when diluted properly only increases lead in the delivered water to a level too low to be detected with the instumentation the Everett water district uses. However, notice the Everett water district Water Quality Report 2011 listed that about 2% of household samples had lead so high in the product water that they exceeded the EPA allowed 15 ppb (but without actually listing what the high concentrations were that were measured, see http://www.ci.everett.wa.us/Get_PDF.aspx?pdfID=5924).
Here in Southern CA in Carlsbad, fluorosilicic acid treatment of water supplies began in 2007 and quickly caused many household waters to exceed lead ion allowed levels to a very large degree, and necessitated changing plumbing fixtures at one elementary school (Carlsbad Water District Water Quality Report, 2010).
The Masters and Coplan study (http://www.waterloowatch.com/Index_files/Fluorosilicates%20Increase%20Blood%20Lead%20Levels.pdf) reported higher blood lead levels in children drinking fluorosilicic acid treated water, as opposed to water treated with sodium fluoride (Coplan, et. al., Neurotoxicology, 28(5):1032-42). That study has often been criticized for not providing a mechanism for this increase. Many ask how does 1 ppm fluoride from fluorosilicic acid leech lead from plumbing even though 1 ppm fluoride from sodium fluoride cannot, since fluoride is the identical ion in both cases? The answer to this appears to be that fluorosilicic acid after dilution nevertheless leaves about 4 ppm intact orthosilicic acid (H4SiO4) in the final water (National Research Council, Report on Fluoride in Drinking Water, 2006 p. 53). This is the orthosilicic acid form that remains the intact acid even at alkaline pH because its dissociation constant Ka is only 2 x 10-10. The intact acid exists appreciably over the pH range 7 to 10 and likely is the reason lead leeches from home plumbing fixtures because the reduction potential for lead is larger than that for hydrogen, where: 2H4SiO4 + Pb(s) → Pb2+ + H2 + 2H3SiO4–. Indeed, it is well known that even the weak organic acids including intact acetic acid (CH3COOH) dissolve lead, which for unknown reasons is resistant to HF (Merck Index, 9th edition, 1976, entry 5242, p. 5235). Orthosilicic acid is a ‘weak’ acid, remaining un-ionized at high pH, but this makes the acid able to react at alkaline pH with lead, or especially lead salts known to typically line old pipe surfaces such as lead carbonate and lead hydroxide, where: 2H4SiO4 + Pb(OH)2 →2H2O + Pb2+ + 2H3SiO4–. Coplan and Masters found that brass fixtures containing lead are most susceptible to fluorosilicic acid treated water.
The pH at which orthosilicic acid is neutralized (i.e. ionized) by caustic soda, so it would be unable to react with lead or its salts, is very high, above pH 11. Its pKa of 9.7 is the pH at which the acid would only be half-dissociated. The water quality report in Everett indicates in one place that the pH of Everett water is 7.6, but in another it is listed at 8.2, so the pH of Everett water may vary widely, where the acid hydrogen ion content at 7.6 is a 4 times higher than at 8.2. The higher the acid content, the more corrosive the orthosilicic acid can be.
Fluorosilicic acid treated water dissolves lead from pipes more readily than does sodium fluoride treated water, even though the HF trace concentration is the same at a given fluoride level from either source. Therefore, as expected, it may be the un-ionized orthosilicic acid that is responsible for the dissolved lead from pipes exposed to this acid at about 1 ppm in waters treated with fluorosilicic acid, but which is not present in water treated with sodium fluoride.
Silicic Acid Reacts with Calcium Phosphate.
It should be noted that intact orthosilicic acid bathes teeth enamel topically from drinking treated water. Intact acids readily dissolve weak acid salts, including enamel calcium phosphate, the extent determined by concentration and exposure time. The ‘weak’ organic carbonic acid H2CO3 (Ka = 4.5 x 10-7) eventually dissolves teeth enamel soaked in vitro in large volumes of carbonated beverages. The intact acid concentration, 4 ppm at pH 5.6, compares with the intact orthosilicic acid concentration in drinking water (4 ppm at pH 7-8). The slow reaction with calcium phosphate is: 2H4SiO4 + Ca3(PO4)2 → 2HPO4-2 + 2H3SiO4– + 3Ca2+.. Although Material Safety Data Sheets on orthosilicic acid indicate it is fully assimilated and well-excreted by normal kidneys, lifelong orthosilicic acid from treated drinking water has not been evaluated, and dental effects were not examined. Orthosilicic acid tablets are sold for optional use in solid form for swallowing and would not affect teeth topically. Lifelong orthosilicic acid from industrial sources in drinking water however is completely contraindicated in any topical caries preventive or as an ingestible.
Silicic Acid/Fluoride are not Normal Constituents of Human Blood.
Please remember, it is correct that neither silicic acid nor fluoride ion are listed as constituents of normal human blood (Teitz, Clinical Chemistry, W.B. Saunders, 1976; the Merck Manual, any edition; Leahy, Foundations of Nursing Practice, W.B. Saunders, 1998; or equivalent Nursing or Clinical Chemistry text with tabulated listings for normal blood constituents). These substances at any concentration are contaminants in blood.
Cardiovascular Effects. We now know with certainty that systemic fluoride, the free ion, incorporates into atherosclerotic plaque in coronary arteries in cardiovascular disease victims. This was demonstrated in detailed PET scans conducted by physicians at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles this year (Yuxin, et.al., Association of vascular fluoride uptake with vascular calcification and coronary artery disease, Nuclear Medicine Communications, January, 2012) and confirms data we have long had, that heart attack incidence routinely increased significantly after cities began fluoridation (reported in Newburg, NY, Grand Rapids, MI and Antigua, WI, early cities undergoing initial trials with synthetic industrial fluoride rather than with natural calcium fluoride). In other words the old idea must be rejected, that heart events after incorporation of fluoride were hoped to be merely coincidental. Fluoride, which is not a mineral nutrient or normal constituent of mammalian blood, is indeed a risk factor for adverse heart health. This was to be expected, knowing that high concentrations during accidental overfeed caused a lethal heart attack in Hooper Bay, Alaska (Gessner, New England Journal of Medicine, 330, 1994) and that it has long been known in mammalian studies that fluoridated water consumption causes accumulation of fluoride ion in the intima layer of the aorta (CDC, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Fluorine, Hydrogen Fluoride and Fluoride, 2003). Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S., and FDA and CDC officials who have not opposed industrial fluoride use as an ingestible should be very uncomfortable with these facts.
It is hoped that this is all of help to you.
Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
***
Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
B.A. Biology, Ph,D. Chemistry, University of California, San Diego)
Palomar College, 1140 W. Mission Rd., San Marcos, CA 92069
Email: richsauerheb@hotmail.com Phone: 760-744-2547
October 9, 2012
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Centers for Drug Evaluation and Research
Rockville, MD 20857
Dear FDA,
This information is provided in support of the petition to ban the intentional dissemination and ingestion of the industrial synthetic fluoride compounds, including fluorosilicic acid and sodium fluoride routinely infused into public water supplies in an attempt to mitigate dental caries (petition FDA-2007-P-0346, formerly 2007P-0400).
In an earlier letter sent to FDA June 4, 2012, the recent massive review of the adverse health impact of water fluoridation in Ireland was described with references. Just in case it was not possible for FDA to obtain some of the important raw data from the references, enclosed please find a key component of the 360 page study. It is a map of Ireland showing the borderline in red that separates Northern Ireland from the Southern Republic. Water fluoridation does not exist in Northern Ireland but has been conducted in Southern Ireland for over 4 decades.
According to Declan Waugh, the award-winning environmental scientist who finished the report, Southern Ireland is now experiencing huge increases in incidence of various adverse health conditions that appear to be related to the fact that fluoride is a toxic calcium chelator, coupled with the fact that calcium levels in many areas in the South are deficient in endogenous calcium.
The scientific fluoride risk assessment study demonstrates the danger of water fluoridation on human health, the environment and animals. It can be downloaded at: www.enviro.ie. It is advised that the FDA, all concerned parents, farmers and government officials look at this document, with 1,200 peer reviewed studies.
Pay attention to these maps below from this document, showing cancer rates on both sides of the border that separates Northern from Southern Ireland. The Southern Republic has higher incidence of cancers than the North and what is most disturbing is that the cancers follow the imaginary border line closely. There are 18 cancers with higher rates in the South, even though the Irish live on the same piece of land, breathe the same air, and are the same genetic make-up. Waugh concluded that the only definitely known difference at the present time that could explain this is the infusion of industrial fluorosilicic acid into public water supplies that takes place in all Southern Ireland but nowhere across the border in the North.
The maps are from the National Cancer Registry, Ireland (NCRI) for all Ireland 32 counties, where green coloration is the lowest per capita cancer incidence and the darker the purple, the higher the incidence. Waugh wrote to the NCRI raising concerns that the only known environmental exposure present in Southern Ireland, not present in Northern Ireland, to which the population is fully exposed that could explain these data are industrial silicofluoride compounds added into Southern water supplies. Calcium is a known antidote to fluoride chronic poisoning, by minimizing fluoride assimilation after ingestion, and the highest cancer rates indeed occur in those fluoridated Southern Counties with the lowest calcium level in the water (dark purple regions). In light of these and other U.S. data (see previous letters to FDA), this must be considered as a risk factor in cancer prevalence.
Any peoples that are health conscious and who treasure life must oppose the industrial fluorosilicic acid discarded material from the fertilizer industry from being infused into public water supplies. The case has been discovered now beyond reasonable doubt, and it is expected that Southern Ireland will soon halt this procedure.
Sincerely,
Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
There is a new scientific fluoride risk assessment study, recently released in Ireland by the award-winning scientist Declan Waugh, which demonstrates the danger of water fluoridation on human health, the environment and animals. It can be downloaded at: www.enviro.ie. I would advise that all concerned parents, farmers and city government officials look at this document, a 300 page report with 1,200 peer reviewed studies.
Pay attention to these maps from this document showing cancer rates on both sides of the border that separates Northern from Southern Ireland. The Southern Republic has a higher incidence of cancers than the North and what is most disturbing is that the cancers follow the imaginary border line closely. There are 18 cancers with higher rates in the South than the North, even though the Irish live on the same piece of land, breath the same air, and are the same genetic make-up. Waugh concluded that the only definitely known difference at the present time that could be involved is the infusion of industrial fluorosilicic acid into public water supplies that takes place in all Southern Ireland but nowhere across the border (shown in red) in the North.
The maps are from the National Cancer Registry, Ireland (NCRI) for all Ireland 32 counties. Waugh wrote to the NCRI raising concerns that the only known environmental exposure present in Southern Ireland not present in Northern Ireland to which the population is fully exposed are industrial silicofluoride compounds added into Southern water supplies. Calcium is a known antidote to fluoride chronic poisoning, by minimizing fluoride assimilation after ingestion, and the highest cancer rates indeed occur in those fluoridated Southern Counties with the lowest calcium level in the water. In light of these data, this must be considered as a risk factor in cancer prevalence.
Any peoples that are health conscious and value life must eliminate industrial fluoride (fluorosilicic acid discarded material from the fertilizer industry) from being infused into public drinking water.
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