The Case against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There by Paul Connett & James Beck & Spedding Micklem

Author:Paul Connett & James Beck & Spedding Micklem [Connett, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
Published: 2010-10-06T21:00:00+00:00

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Fluoride and the Kidneys,

and Other Health Issues

Two issues pertain to fluoride and the kidneys. The first is the possibility that fluoride can damage the kidneys, especially at high levels. The second is the fact that someone with poor kidney function has a limited ability to clear fluoride from the body, which would make that person more vulnerable to fluoride’s other toxic effects.

Fluoride Damage to the Kidney

With the exception of the pineal gland, the kidney accumulates more fluoride than all other soft tissues in the body. 1–3 It is well known that high doses of fluoride can damage the kidney after short periods of exposure—for example, to an anesthetic that contains fluorinated hydrocarbons such as methoxyfluorane, which are metabolized to free fluoride ion. 4–8

There is also evidence that low doses of fluoride, taken over longer periods of time, can damage the kidney. For example, both Varner et al. 9 and McKay, Ramseyer, and Smith10 found kidney damage in rats drinking water with just 1 ppm of fluoride. Manocha, Warner, and Olkowski11 found kidney damage in monkeys drinking water with 5 ppm fluoride; while Borke and Whitford found significant biochemical damage to the kidney in rats drinking water with 10 ppm fluoride. In the latter study, the average blood fluoride levels of the rats with kidney damage was 38 ppb—a concentration commonly exceeded in people living in 1 ppm areas. Borke and Whitford state:

Our study provides the first evidence that one of the effects of long-term F exposure is a change in expression of the plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum Ca++ pumps in the kidney. In summary, we provided rats with fluoride in their drinking water, which produced graded, plasma fluoride concentrations that occur in humans. Our studies showed that chronic high fluoride ingestion decreases the rate of Ca++ transport across renal tubule endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membranes, and reduced the amount of ER and PM Ca++ pump protein present in the kidney membranes. We conclude that chronic high fluoride ingestion may decrease the expression, increase the breakdown, or increase the rate of turnover of plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum Ca++ pump proteins and possibly other enzymes as well. The observed decreases in the rate of Ca++ transport and associated decreases in plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum Ca++ pump expression could affect in vivo Ca++ homeostasis. 12

Complementing this animal research, many studies have found kidney disease to be a common feature of human skeletal fluorosis. 13–22

Also, and perhaps most significant, a human study by Liu et al. in China has found a dose-dependent relationship between fluoride ingestion and kidney damage in children. 23 The study found evidence of kidney damage among children drinking water with as little as 2. 6 ppm fluoride.

Consequences of Poor Kidney Function

Of huge concern is the impact of drinking fluoridated water on people with impaired kidney function. It is well known that in a healthy person approximately 50 percent of ingested fluoride is excreted. However, when someone has impaired kidney function, far less fluoride is excreted, leading to higher accumulations of fluoride, especially in the bones.

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