Fluoridation and Cancer

It's been known for a long time

from NY State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

The May 2006 issue of the Harvard peer-reviewed journal Cancer Causes and Control reports that fluoridation is linked to bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in young boys. The study, conducted by Elise Bassin, PhD and colleagues, follows on the heels of the National Research Council's report on how fluoridation can harm other subsets of the population.

The surprise is that notable policymakers are only now "discovering" the link between fluoridation and cancer. There has long been evidence of the link. Following is a brief history, compiled by the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.

1954 Taylor reports more tumors and shorter lifespan in fluoride treated mice.

1956 Landmark 10-year Newburgh/Kingston fluoridation study shows more cortical bone defects (a suspected precursor to osteosarcoma) in children drinking fluoridated water.

1977 Burk-Yiamouyiannis show cancer death rates in the 10 largest fluoridated U.S. cities were higher and rose faster vs. the 10 largest nonfluoridated U.S. cities after corrections for age, race, and sex.

1977 National Academy of Sciences expresses concern about a possible water fluoridation/osteosarcoma link based on the Newburgh /Kingston cortical bone defect evidence.

1977 Congressional hearings based on the Burk/Yiamouyiannis findings lead to fluoride cancer testing in rodents by the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

1990 NTP reports fluoride is an "equivocal" (may or may not) cause of cancer. EPA drinking water senior toxicologist, William Marcus PhD, reports results were suspiciously downgraded in the final report. Marcus was fired for stating the truth but rehired with back pay under the whistle-blower's act.

1990 National Cancer Institute finds more osteosarcoma in young males in fluoridated vs unfluoridated areas; but finds cause to dismiss the results.

1990 Procter & Gamble (P&G) makes public a 1981-1983 study showing more bone tumors in fluoride-treated rats but claims they were not statistically significant. Another P&G study finds a significant increase in benign bone tumors in fluoride treated mice.

1992 New Jersey Department of Health study shows osteosarcoma rates higher among young males in fluoridated vs unfluoridated regions of New Jersey. The report's title was changed to obscure connection to fluoridation.

1993 Yiamouyiannis' analysis of National Cancer Institute's cancer data confirms fluoridation/osteosarcoma link in males.

2001 Bassin's Harvard Dissertation shows osteosarcoma in boys in fluoridated areas is five times higher than in non-fluoridated areas. Her dissertation is uncovered in the rare books section of library. Fluoridationists insist the study should be ignored because it's not published and it's only one study.

2002-2005 Chester Douglass, Elise Bassin's Harvard dissertation advisor, issues a report to his research funders at the National Institutes of Health in 2003 in which he concludes there is no link between fluoridation and bone cancer He references Bassin's thesis in support of his statement despite her conclusions which directly contradict his claim. Douglass also makes the same misrepresentation in an earlier presentation to the British Fluoridation Society in 2002. In 2005, Douglass becomes the subject of a joint federal and Harvard ethics investigation.

2006 NRC Panel finds cancer/fluoride link plausible.

May 2006 Bassin's study revealing a link between osteosarcoma and fluoridation is finally published in Cancer Causes and Control, along with a letter to the editor from Chester Douglass who cites unpublished, unfinished, non-peer-reviewed data in an attempt to downplay Bassin's peer-reviewed published findings.*