Tuesday, October 15, 2024
PESHTIGO – The fluoride in water many people take for granted has turned Peshtigo native Brenda Staudenmaier into a fighter.
She’s facing off against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and major nonprofits like the American Dental Association that support fluoridation. To Staudenmaier, it’s a toxin people should be allowed to avoid. It shouldn’t be added to the public water supplies, she said.
“A tooth can be fixed, but a brain? Brain damage is permanent,” Staudenmaier said.
Armed with scientific research indicating about 40% of children in the U.S. have experienced a side effect from fluoridation, such as mottled teeth, lower IQs, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and other neurological issues, Staudenmeier teamed up with nonprofit Food & Water Watch and other plaintiffs, including her son, Ko Staudenmaier, a Peshtigo Middle School student.
They persuaded U.S. District Judge Edward Chen to rule in their favor in U.S. District Court for Northern California. On Sept. 24, Judge Chen said the level of fluoride contained in most public water supplies for drinking “presents an ‘unreasonable risk of injury health or the environment;” based on a preponderance of evidence.
Judge Chen cited Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator to begin rulemaking to address the issue.
“Millions of susceptible individuals are exposed to fluoride and the exposure is frequent and long-lasting,” Chen said. The judgment cited research indicating about 200 million Americans have fluoride intentionally added to their drinking water at a concentration of 0.7 mg/L, the level the EPA allows.
The level was reduced from the 1975 recommendation of 1.2 mg/L after evidence in 2006 linked fluoride to severe enamel fluorosis, risk of bone fracture and potential skeletal fluorosis, according to the judgment.
Among the more recent findings that influenced Chen were “a robust body of evidence finding a statistically significant adverse association between fluoride and IQ,” according to the judgment.
It’s not just children who suffer health effects from excessive fluoride, Staudenmaier said, noting research also has linked fluoride with Alzheimer’s and osteoporosis. The issue is compounded by the increase in the number of fluorinated products people routinely use, such as mouth rinses, and the fact fluoride is contained in foods and beverages made with fluoridated water.
“We focused our lawsuit on the fluoride they’re adding to the water supply. We’re not trying to ban fluoride in other products; people have a choice,” Staudenmaier said.
The Academy of Pediatric Dentistry opposes reducing fluoridation, saying where this has occurred, children’s dental health has suffered. “Our colleagues and neighbors in Canada have experienced this first-hand, notably in Calgary where fluoride was removed from the water systems in 2011. In the years that followed, tooth decay rates went up and inequities were exacerbated – where those without insurance fared worse,” said Dr. Chelsea Fosse, Director, AAPD Research & Policy Center. “We have so much more work to do to ensure all children and families can get the dental care they need and achieve optimal oral health. Community water fluoridation has been a proven safe, effective, equitable way of helping us work toward that goal in the United States.”
What’s more, pediatric dentists work with parents and primary care physicians to identify appropriate fluoride sources and “to determine if they are sufficient for preventing cavities while not leading to issues like fluorosis,” Fosse said.
Staudenmaier expects to face more opposition as the EPA grapples with the judge’s order. Still, the judgment was gratifying to Staudenmaier and reinforced what she learned growing up in the Town of Peshtigo, remembered for its resilience after the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871. “I’m a bulldog and I came from Peshtigo,” she said. “My dad always said I was really, really stubborn. That really benefited me,” Staudenmaier said, explaining her persistence on this issue.
The benefit for Staudenmaier is the good feeling she gets from helping to make the world healthier. “Did I do this for the money? No. We fundraised the money for the lawsuit. Over half a million dollars,” Staudenmaier said.
The goal, Staudenmaier said, is to eliminate fluoride in public water supplies. Staudenmaier planned to attend the City of Peshtigo’s Water & Sewer Committee Oct. 8 meeting to request the city place a moratorium on fluoridation.
Other experts are also finding the body of research calling fluoride a health issue to be credible.
Dentist Bill Osmunson changed his mind about fluoridation after promoting it for 25 years, he said. He’s learned many factors have contributed to better dental health. “I mistakenly gave credit to fluoride,” he said. “There is big money and reputation behind fluoridation.”
While people have opposed fluoridation since it was first proposed in the 1940s, Osmunson said, several factors have converged to push the issue today, including more research and politics, Osmunson said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services blocked a National Toxicology Program research report suggesting drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter are associated with lower IQ in children, while it said the research contained insufficient data on fluoride’s effects on the IQs of children consuming fluoride at 0.7 mg/L, which is the current recommendation for public water supplies, he said.
“Looking back, I (and other dentists) realize I made millions of dollars on both selling fluoride and repairing the harm to the teeth caused by fluoride, far more than any benefit,” he said in response to a reporter’s questions. But it’s still an uphill battle to change the status quo. The American Dental Association and the fluoridation lobby would lose credibility and members who believe in fluoride ingestion, he said.
The American Dental Association continues to support fluoridation. In a statement posted to its website Sept. 25, the association said, “The American Dental Association (ADA) remains staunchly in support of community water fluoridation at optimal levels to help prevent tooth decay. The district court ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides no scientific basis for the ADA to change its endorsement of community water fluoridation as safe and beneficial to oral health.”
A call to the Wisconsin Dental Association resulted in a similar response: “The WDA is in agreement with the ADA statement, and we would refer you to the ADA for further details and research,” said Brenna Sadler, director of membership and communications at the Wisconsin Dental Association.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, fluoridation use varies by state and local municipality. In Wisconsin, many municipalities don’t add fluoride to their water supplies. “There’s no mandate to fluoridate in Wisconsin. It’s an option,” Staudenmaier said.
To get it removed from public water supplies where it’s been added, local governments simply need to approve its removal through a vote before turning off their fluoride pumps, she said.
Aside from the cities of Marinette and Peshtigo, Niagara is the only other local water utility in Marinette County that fluoridates its public water system, according to information on the CDC’s website.
In Oconto County, the City of Oconto and Habeck Mobile Home Park add fluoride to their water systems. Other water utilities listed on the CDC website don’t.
In Menominee County, Mich., water from the City of Menominee’s public water system is fluoridated, while other water utilities in the county say they don’t add fluoride, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which doesn’t guarantee the information on its site is up to date.
Staudenmaier, who has a two-year environmental degree from NWTC and interned for Clean Water Action Council, has worked in wastewater treatment and water research for over six years.
She said she started reading about “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, in 2003, and then explored the research on fluoride starting in 2008.
While Staudenmaier’s friend Frankie Olvera was dying of bone cancer, she read a study associating fluoridated water consumption at age seven with an increased risk of developing bone cancer before age 20, she said.
After the EPA rejected her 2016 petition to ban fluoride in public drinking water supplies, she and several others filed a lawsuit in 2017, using the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and pointing to neurotoxicity evidence involving fluoride.
The EPA rejected the petition, so Staudenmaier and others sued the EPA in Federal Court in 2017. The court heard evidence on fluoride’s neurotoxicity during a seven-day trial in June 2020, and a 14-day trial in February 2024, leading to the Sept. 25 judgment.
Now, the information has to be disseminated to states and local municipalities as they control what is added to public water systems.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommends fluoride to prevent tooth decay, which affects 80% of the adult population, according to its website. But it notes, “Water fluoridation is not the only form of fluoride delivery that is effective in preventing tooth decay.” Fluoride also is available in toothpaste, rinses and fluoride varnish, the DHS said.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry said other sources of fluoride are helping to reduce tooth decay rates. “That is why the level for optimal fluoridation of water was adjusted down some years ago. Community water fluoridation is the only best and most cost-effective source that can be made available to all, including those who do not have access to a dentist and may be more prone to dental disease,” Fosse of the AAPD Research & Policy Center said in response to a reporter’s questions.
Staudenmaier said she has to be persistent, given the opposition, including the American Dental Association and what she calls fear mongering tactics. The American Fluoridation Society also supports fluoridated community water systems, stating on its website, “There is exhaustive professional and scientific consensus by both researchers and doctors that fluoridating community water is extremely important in preventing cavities and is completely safe.”
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry disagrees with the health effects described in the judgment, including lower IQ. Instead, Fosse said, “the risk of too much fluoride is largely aesthetic – it could result in ‘fluorosis’ or staining of the teeth.” Fosse also said the judge relied on “irrelevant” research from another country, where fluoride levels were double the current level allowed in the U.S. of 0.7 mg per liter of water.
Judge Chen apparently begs to differ, based on the recent studies he cited, especially one set focused on pregnant women. The judgment includes its findings indicating, “a 1-point drop in IQ of a child is to be expected for each 0.28 mg/L of fluoride in a pregnant mother’s urine. This is highly concerning, because maternal urinary fluoride levels for pregnant mothers in the United States range from 0.8 mg/L at the median and 1.89 mg/L depending upon the degree of exposure.”
Staudenmaier said she has been criticized by many people who believe the dental and fluoridation society’s messages. “It’s my maternal instincts that have helped me fight so hard because I want to protect my kids and also all these other kids,” she said.
The court judgment gives credibility to Staudenmaier’s contentions about fluoride’s harmful effects, but it doesn’t solve the problem. “People need to find an alternative water source for drinking water,” she said.
Judge Chen referred to the Toxic Substances Control Act in his judgment. The Act’s Section 2605 restricts the manufacture or distribution of a toxic substance at a level set by the EPA for a specific use, according to the Legal
Information Institute at Cornell Law School. In this case, the use is fluoridating water. It’s up to the EPA administrator to set the limit considered safe.
How long will it take? Based on the opposition Staudenmaier has faced from the dental associations, it probably won’t happen quickly, she said, noting: “It’s going to be a long, drawn-out process.”
