The Fluoride Wars How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America's Longest-Running Political Melodrama

by Freeze, R. Allan; Lehr, Jay H.

• ISBN13: 9780470448335
• ISBN10: 0470448334
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-04-20
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The Flouride Wars offers a witty retelling of a highly debated scientific conflict in our past. It contains a variety of anecdotes regarding the history of tooth decay and the start of the use of fluoride, as well as the beginning of water fluoridation in the Unites States. This reader-friendly assessment of the best current thinking effectively portrays the mechanisms by which fluoride reduces tooth decay, its effectiveness and safety, and the credibility of the health-risk claims of the anti-fluoride movement.

Author Biography

R. Allan Freeze is one of North America's leading researchers in the field of environmental water quality, and has acted as the consulting engineer on drinking water quality at a number of sites across North America. He was a member of the University of British Columbia's engineering faculty in Vancouver for twenty years and is the author of over 150 technical articles and the coauthor of several books.

Jay H. Lehr is Senior Scientist with The Heartland Institute and Chief Scientist for EarthWater Global, an international water supply company. A graduate of Princeton University, he developed the first PhD program in hydrology at the University of Arizona and was on the faculty at The Ohio State University. Lehr has authored or coauthored over twenty books, hundreds of journal and magazine articles, and is an internationally renowned expert who speaks worldwide on environmental topics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
A Story of Our Times	p. 1
Grand Rapids, Michigan, Four O'Clock Eastern Wartime	p. 1
The Longest-Running Circus in Town	p. 3
Pro or Con?	p. 6
References	p. 8
A Clash of Absolutes	p. 9
Dueling Websites	p. 9
Quack, Quack	p. 14
The $100,000 Cash Offer	p. 16
As One Voice	p. 19
Who Drinks Fluoridated Water and Who Doesn't	p. 25
Fear and Loathing	p. 30
Fluoridation Facts, Dr. Y, and the Lifesaver's Guide	p. 32
What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate	p. 36
References	p. 40
A Tale of Two Cities	p. 44
Spokane, Washington	p. 46
Cumberland, Maryland	p. 52
Fluoridation, 2000	p. 56
The Push for Statewide Mandates	p. 59
On the Phone and in the Booth	p. 60
The Early Studies: Social Dynamics and Pop Psychology	p. 61
The Later Studies: Just Plain Politics	p. 64
Spokane and Cumberland: Reprise	p. 67
References	p. 68
Two Women	p. 71
Darlene Sherrell: The Canary in the Mine	p. 72
Jackie Speier and the Legacy of Jonestown	p. 78
The California Mandate	p. 83
San Diego, Escondido, and the Golden Fleece	p. 87
References	p. 90
The Road to Fluoridation	p. 92
Beautiful Women and Black Teeth	p. 92
Frederick McKay and the Mystery of the Colorado Stain	p. 94
H. Trendley Dean and the Towns without Toothaches	p. 98
Lathered Up to Go	p. 102
Little Girls in Gingham Dresses	p. 106
Fluoride on Trial	p. 111
Blind Examiners and Confounding Factors	p. 116
The Mavericks Emerge	p. 120
References	p. 122
Fluorophobia	p. 127
Satan's Metal	p. 128
ALCOAnoia	p. 133
Toxic Coup?	p. 137
The Donora Death Fog	p. 138
Project F	p. 141
The Far Side	p. 145
Let There Be Light: An Assessment of Anti-fluoridation Conspiracy Claims	p. 146
The Perils of Obsession	p. 164
References	p. 165
Look, MA. No Cavities: Fluoride and Teeth	p. 170
Teeth	p. 172
The People's Disease	p. 175
Reversal of Misfortune	p. 178
The Fluoride Cycle: From Apatite to Apatite	p. 185
How Fluoride Works	p. 187
More Studies and Diminishing Returns	p. 191
The Halo Effect	p. 197
Flossers and Cheeseheads	p. 201
The Back of the Coin: The Increase in Dental Fluorosis	p. 204
The Bottom Line on Fluoride and Teeth	p. 209
References	p. 212
Fluoride and Health	p. 219
Exposure, Intake, and Dose	p. 219
The Roots of Contention	p. 221
Acute Fluoride Poisoning	p. 223
Kaj Roholm's Legacy	p. 224
The Tragedy of Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis	p. 225
Fluoride as Medicine: The Osteoporosis Experiments	p. 227
Bone Health and Hip Fractures: Legitimate Questions and Equivocal Answers	p. 228
The Special Case of Kidney Dialysis	p. 230
Allergic Reactions and Psychological Distress	p. 231
Affairs of the Heart	p. 234
Fluoride and Genetics	p. 235
Fluoride, Cancer, and Credibility	p. 238
The Osteosarcoma Controversy	p. 242
Alzheimer's, Intelligence, Crime, and Addiction	p. 245
References	p. 248
EPA and the MCLs	p. 255
Fluoride as Jekyl and Hyde	p. 256
Brinksmanship	p. 259
Amicus Curiae	p. 263
The Marcus Affair	p. 266
A Question of Allegiance	p. 269
A Question of Motive	p. 271
References	p. 275
Riding the Tiger: The Dosage Issue	p. 278
The Concept of a Maximum Acceptable Daily Dose	p. 279
Fluoride Intake in Our Diet	p. 282
Do Not Swallow	p. 285
Contesting Conventional Wisdom	p. 287
Too Much of a Good Thing?	p. 290
References	p. 294
Science and Not Science	p. 298
Junk Science: Values and Bias in Scientific Research	p. 299
Single-Minded Science: The ISFR and the Journal Fluoride	p. 302
The Shunning of Phyllis Mullneix	p. 307
John Colquhoun Falls Off the Wagon	p. 310
Science, Funding, and Self-Interest	p. 312
Fluoridation in the Courts: The Anti-fluoridationists' Last Stand	p. 315
The Congressional Pulpit	p. 321
References	p. 325
Money, Motive, and Risk	p. 329
The Uneasy Science of Risk-Cost-Benefit Analysis	p. 329
The Cost of Fluoridation	p. 331
The Wrangle Over Benefits	p. 333
The Ultimate Battleground	p. 338
Engineered Systems and Human Error	p. 340
The Concept of Acceptable Risk	p. 344
The Precursors	p. 346
Public Health or Home Remedy?	p. 349
The Bottom Line on the Economics of Fluoridation	p. 351
References	p. 352
The Light at the End of the Tunnel	p. 356
Teeth	p. 356
Health Risk	p. 357
Dosage	p. 360
Credibility	p. 361
The Need for Civil Discourse	p. 364
Index	p. 365
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