A Pinch of Fluoride in Salt?

by Heidi Stevenson

2 September 2009

Are you adding fluoride to your toxic intake when you use salt? In several major European countries, India, and Japan, salt fluoridation is routine. Of course, the usual excuse is that it's good for teeth, but that claim is highly questionable. While topical treatment may be beneficial, ingestion offers no benefit, and fluoride is highly toxic.

In spite of its known toxicity, many countries are now requiring that salt be fluoridated, and most of the others are not far behind.

If you think that fluoride in water is a problem, then you'd best start looking at your salt. In many places in Europe and South America, salt is fluoridated. The reasons given are exactly the same as for water fluoridation. It's supposed to be good for your teeth. Whether you agree with that statement or not, you're subjected to it without your consent. It's in most popular toothpastes. It's in more and more water supplies. It's a primary ingredient in a host of pharmaceutical drugs. It's the toxic element of many pesticides. And it's in your salt, or likely will be soon.

Fluoride is a poison that is more potent than lead.

Fluoride Toxicity

The most common indication that too much fluoride has been ingested is fluorosis of the teeth, which initially appears as a discoloration. More advanced cases will have brown and black stains, and the teeth become pitted. This damage is the result of demineralization of teeth during early childhood.

The claim that ingested fluoride makes tooth enamel stronger is clearly suspect. If it's known that it demineralizes teeth, thus resulting in fluorosis, how can it possibly make them stronger?

Fluorosis, though, is only the most obvious effect. As disheartening as damaged teeth are, the bigger concern is what it does deeper inside the body. Here are some facts that should give an idea of how serious this issue is:

• Fluoride reduces thyroid function. Could this be the reason underactive thyroids are so common in women now? One of the top five prescription drugs in the US is Synthroid, used for treating hypothyroidism.
• Fluoride may increase bone volume, but it does so at the cost of weakening the bones.

Deformities Caused by Fluorosis

• Fluorosis involving bones causes horrific deformities, as the image to the right shows.
• The pineal gland is a major accumulator of fluoride. This fact was not discovered until the 1990s, and it's implications have not received much study.
• Fluoride poisons kidneys.
• Fluoride is a primary ingredient in many pesticides, a significant part of why they're poisonous.
• In 1987 and 1990, the Journal of Dental Research documented that a single tube of children's fluoridated toothpaste is enough to kill a 9-year-old child.

This is merely a smattering of fluoride facts. If you still have any doubts about its toxicity, then consider the fact that every tube of fluoridated toothpaste sold in America carries this notice:

WARNING: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately.

Yes, fluoride is that toxic. And now there's pressure building—mostly kept out of the public's awareness—to put it in salt. Toothpaste and water apparently aren't enough fluoride poisoning.

Fluoride's Toxicity Compared to Lead and Arsenic

The chart on the right is an easy-to-see representation of the relative toxicity of lead, fluoride, and arsenic. In light of this, it's incomprehensible that the EPA justifies these allowances in public water supplies:

Arsenic:	10 ppb
Lead:	15 ppb
Fluoride:	4000 ppb

Fluoride is a chemical that is known to be more toxic than lead. The maximum amount of lead allowed in drinking water in the US is 15 parts per billion, and there are concerns that even that amount may be too high. Yet, the US actually adds fluoride to drinking water.

Where Salt Is Currently Fluoridated

Several countries are already adding fluoride to salt. If you live in parts of Europe, including Germany, Switzerland, France, and Scotland, your salt is most likely fluoridated, unless you use natural sea salt. Other countries currently adding fluoride to salt include Columbia, Costa Rica, Grenada, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Japan, Okinawa, and Uruguay.

Let pointer hover here for a more complete list of salt fluoridation countries.

Salt Fluoridating Countries Austria
Columbia*
Costa Rica*
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Grenada
Hungary
India
Jamaica*
Lebanon
Japan
Mexico
Okinawa
Scotland
Spain
Switzerland
Uruguay

*The law in these countries requires that all salt be fluoridated.

You aren't safe if your country isn't listed. A world-wide movement exists to push salt fluoridation, and many salt manufacturers add fluoride, whether required by the country of sale or not. Be sure to read the label before purchasing any salt.

Unless the public campaigns against it, you can assume it will become a requirement within the next few months or years. PAHO, a subsidiary of WHO, actively supports the application. In this day of so-called harmonization of rules regarding foods and supplements, what is pushed by WHO is rapidly becoming law in all countries. The United States, through the FDA, is an active participant.

Fluoride Is Not A Nutrient

The bottom line is that fluoride has no place in any metabolic process in the human body. Any benefits it may provide must be balanced against the extensive and severe risks.

As with so much else involving modern medicine, the problem is that it tries to find a fix, a stop-gap, rather than searching for the root cause. Dental decay is a serious issue. It is not, though, caused by a lack of fluoride. Even if taking it at a certain dose is beneficial to teeth—and that is not an established fact—it is a substance that doesn't belong in the human body. It must, therefore, be considered a drug. To add fluoride to the public water supply or salt is mass drugging, an invasion of our most intimate space.