July/August 2004 Living Now
The Fluoride Deception

by Lynne Campbell

"Fluoridated water has now reached all of the consumers of City water, which totals nearly 65,000 population inside the Beaverton City limits. The selected level of fluoride in the City's drinking water will be 0.9 parts per million. … Fluoridation of Beaverton's drinking water is being undertaken in compliance with the regulations administered by the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)." - www.ci.beaverton.or.us/

An explosive new book is finding its way into bookstores. Written as a page-turning novel, The Fluoride Deception by award-winning, investigative reporter, Christopher Bryson, connects fluoridation’s historical dots through his painstaking research into industry and government archives.

The Fluoride Deception unearths the mystery of how a grim workplace poison and the most damaging pollutant of the cold war was added to our drinking water and toothpaste. A chronicle of the abuse of power and of the manufacture of state-sponsored medical propaganda, The Fluoride Deception reveals how a secretive group of powerful industries, all of which faced extensive litigation for fluoride pollution, collaborated with officials from the National Institute of Dental Research to launder fluoride’s public image.

The book’s forward is penned by none other than Theo Colburn, celebrated author of Our Stolen Future, who has been likened to the Rachel Carson of our time.

Coincidentally, the book’s publication comes just as a lawsuit filed against the City of Escondido and the California Department of Health Services is about to go to jury trial (May 17, 2004). The suit, which has survived numerous demurrers and motions to dismiss, challenges the government’s right, on grounds of constitutionality, to force people to ingest contaminated hydrofluosilicic acid. Key players known nationally on both sides of this issue have already given depositions, and the trial’s outcome could have major implications for the continuance of water fluoridation programs.

For more information on Bryson’s book, go to: www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-deception.htm.

Oregon Citizens for Save Drinking Water (OCSDW) has purchased a quantity of books which they are offering at $20 (list is $24.95) to those who are willing to pick up a copy at their office in Lake Oswego.

For more on the lawsuit, go to: www.keepersofthewell.org/legal_action.html

Action Items Suggested by Ocsdw:

  1. Call your local bookstores to ask if they are stocking it. (If they ask ! if you'd like to order a copy, ask what their price is and say you're checking around.)
  2. Call your local library (city, college, or university) and ask them to purchase a copy. The publisher is Seven Stories Press.
  3. Purchase and read a copy (Amazon.com has used copies for sale) and share it with others. If you have a solid relationship with local government officials, water department personnel, or your state representatives and choose to share a copy with them, please let us know so we don’t duplicate efforts. Please let us know their reaction.
  4. Write a letter about the book to the editor of your local newspaper

Without a doubt, Bryson’s book has the capacity to propel the growing demand for a full-scale Congressional investigation into fluoridation forward, and the California lawsuit could be an historic milestone in holding the government accountable. There is tremendous reason for optimism.

Lynne Campbell is Executive Director of Oregon Citizens for Safe Drinking Water PO Box 1045, Lake Oswego, OR 97034; 503-675-7451; ocsdw@earthlink.net