What do rat poison, nerve gas and your drinking water all have in common?

The active ingredient in common pesticides such as Roaches Last Meal is sodium fluoride. This is the same active ingredient in fluoride toothpaste, and the same chemical now being force-fed to Californians.

The state passed legislation requiring fluoridation of all water systems that do not contain high levels of fluoride naturally. The explanation for this is that fluoride is good for our teeth.

It has been proven over the decades that fluoride can help prevent tooth decay when applied to the teeth of adults. However, according thousands of health care professionals such as Dr. Hardy Limeback, President of the Canadian Association for Dental Research and head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry for the University of Toronto, too much fluoride can lead to dental and skeletal fluorosis. This condition weakens bones and makes teeth brittle and discolored.

Even the California Consumers’ Guide to Community Water Fluoridation (a pro-fluoridation document) admits, “[f]luorosis occurs when children consume more than optimal amounts of fluoride during tooth development.”

This fails to take into account that if all our water is fluoridated, the chemical will be in all of our food as well. There is no way of telling exactly how much fluoride you are consuming each day. And because every individual body is different, there is no way of knowing how much is too much.

Tubes of Aquafresh fluoride toothpaste warn to “keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age,” and to call a Poison Control Center if one swallows more than used for brushing. Why is this?

According to the Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, fluoride is more toxic than lead. It is used in insecticides and rat poisons even today. It is a basic ingredient in Sarin, the deadly nerve gas released in Tokyo trains by terrorists in 1995. It is a glorified poison. The dangers of fluoride grossly outweigh its single benefit: cavity prevention.

Most Americans like to believe that our government seeks to protect our enamel but we cannot deny that everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Regardless of intentions, forcing us to ingest a deadly chemical, even in small doses, is a grave mistake. We are being denied the right to decide what we put into our bodies.

There are alternative, more cost efficient methods to fluoride distribution that would allow individuals to get a dosage that is safe for them, such as free tablets or bottled fluoridated water. This would also respect those who want to avoid ingesting it but cannot afford expensive fluoride removal devices.

We can all do something to end community water fluoridation by letting our voices be heard. The office address and phone number of your California representative can be found online at leginfo.ca.gov.