Good News ‘Prominent researcher apologises
for pushing fluoride’
By Barry Forbes
(Article from the Tribune, Mesa,
AZ Sunday, December the 5th 1999)
I had just tracked down Dr. Hardy Limeback, B.Sc.
and Ph.D. in Biochemistry, DDS, Head of the Department of Preventative
Dentistry for the University of Toronto and President of the
Canadian Association for Dental Research. Dr. Limeback is Canada’s
leading fluoride authority and, until recently, the country’s
primary promoter of the controversial additive.
In a surprising newsmaker interview, Dr. Limeback
announced a dramatic change of heart. “Children under three
should never use fluoridated toothpaste,” he counseled. “Or
drink fluoridated water. And baby formula must never be made
up using Toronto tap water. Never.” Why, I wondered? What
could have caused such a powerful paradigm shift? “It’s
been building up for a couple of years,” Limeback told
me during a recent telephone interview. “But certainly
the crowning blow was the realisation that we have been dumping
contaminated fluoride into water reservoirs for half a century.
The vast majority of all fluoride additives come from Tampa Bay,
Florida smokestack scrubbers. The additives are a toxic by-product
of the super-phosphate fertiliser industry.”
“Tragically,” he continued, “that
means we’re not just dumping toxic fluoride into our drinking
water. We’re also exposing innocent, unsuspecting people
to deadly elements of lead, arsenic and radium, all of them carcinogenic.
Because of the cumulative properties of toxins, the detrimental
effects on human health are catastrophic.” A recent study
at the University of Toronto confirmed Dr. Limeback’s worst
fears. “Residents of cities that fluoridate have double
the fluoride in their hip bones vis-a-vis the balance of the
population. Worse, we discovered that fluoride is actually altering
the basic architecture of human bones.” Skeletal fluorosis
is a debilitating condition that occurs when fluoride accumulates
in bones, making them extremely weak and brittle. The earliest
symptoms? “Mottled and brittle teeth,” Dr. Limeback
told me. “In Canada we are now spending more money treating
dental fluorosis than we do treating cavities. That includes
my own practice.”
One of the most obvious living experiments today,
Dr. Limeback believes, is a proof-positive comparison between
any two Canadian cities. “Here in Toronto we’ve been
fluoridating for 36 years. Yet Vancouver-which has never fluoridated-
has a cavity rate lower than Toronto’s.” And, he
pointed out; cavity rates are low all across the industrialized
world including Europe, which is 98% fluoride free. Low because
of improved standards of living, less refined sugar, regular
dental check-ups, flossing and frequent brushing. Now less than
2 cavities per child Canada-wide, he said. “I don’t
get it, Doc. Last month, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC)
ran a puff piece all across America saying the stuff was better
than sliced bread. What’s the story?”
“Unfortunately,” he replied, “the
CDC is basing its position on data that is 50 years old, and
questionable at best. Absolutely no one has done research on
fluorosilicates, which is the junk they’re dumping into
the drinking water.”
“On the other hand,” he added, “the
evidence against systemic fluoride in-take continues to pour
in.”
“But Doc, the dentists…”
“I have absolutely no training in toxicity,” he
stated firmly. “Your well-intentioned dentist is simply
following 50 years of misinformation from public health and the
dental association. Me, too. Unfortunately, we were wrong.”
Last week, Dr. Hardy Limeback addressed his faculty
and students at the University of Toronto, Department of Dentistry.
In a poignant, memorable meeting, he apologised to those gathered
before him. “Speaking as the head of preventive dentistry,
I told them that I had unintentionally misled my colleagues and
my students. For the past 15 years, I had refused to study the
toxicology information that is readily available to anyone. Poisoning
our children was the furthest thing from my mind.”
“The truth,” he confessed to me, “was
a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it I did.” South
of the border, the paradigm shift has yet to dawn. After half
a century of delusion, the CDC, American Dental Association and
Public Health stubbornly and skillfully continue to manipulate
public opinion in favour of fluoridation. Meantime, study after
study is delivering the death knell of the deadly toxin. Sure,
fluoridation will be around for a long time yet, but ultimately
its supporters need to ready the life rafts. The poisonous water
of doubt and confusion are bound to get choppier. “Are
lawsuits inevitable?” I asked the good doctor. “Remember
tobacco,” was his succinct reply. Welcome, Dr. Limeback,
to the far side of the fluoride equation. It’s lonely over
here, but in our society loneliness and truth frequently travel
hand in hand. Thank you for the undeniable courage of your convictions.
End of Article
[
More Articles ]
