Message from discussion The health hazards of fluoride (long)

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From: s...@dalek.UUCP (Seth J. Bradley)
Newsgroups: misc.kids,sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: The health hazards of fluoride (long)
Message-ID: <108@dalek.UUCP>
Date: 6 Oct 90 21:06:04 GMT
References: <4d00edb3.20b6d@apollo.HP.COM> <callahan.654204849@newton.cs.jhu.edu> <102@dalek.UUCP> <NELSON.90Oct7055419@image.clarkson.edu>
Reply-To: s...@dalek.UUCP (Seth J. Bradley)
Organization: Bradley Marketing, Aloha, OR
Lines: 22
Posted: Sat Oct  6 22:06:04 1990

In article <NELSON.90Oct7055...@image.clarkson.edu> nel...@clutx.clarkson.edu (aka NEL...@CLUTX.BITNET) writes:
>In article <1...@dalek.UUCP> s...@dalek.UUCP (Seth J. Bradley) writes:
>
>   One response to the anti-fluoridation people I've never seen refuted:
>
>   1. "Natural" water sources, such as uncontaminated mountain streams,
>   have substantial fluoride levels.
>
>If it has substantial fluoride levels, then it's not uncontaminated, is it?

Sure, its contaminated in the same way that anything except ultra-purified
distilled water is.  I don't think that I made myself clear earlier. 
Fluoride is a naturally ocurring compound.  It was in the water before the
first man walked upon the earth.  Fluorine occurs in many types of mineral
deposits ( fuorite, cryolite, phosphate rock) and tends to get into the
water supply.  Water processing tends to remove the fluoride, so its added
back, along with a wide variety of minerals.  Do you complain about the
minerals being added?  If you want to worry about what's in your water,
worry about contamination by industrial toxins.  They are FAR, FAR more
likely to be hazardous!
-- 
Seth J. Bradley   Path: {uunet}!iwarp.intel.com!dalek!sjb