The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Opposition to water fluoridation grows with new research What's in the water? arole Clinch doesn't drink l the tap water in her Waterloo home anymore, and she has- n’t for the better part of a year. When she makes tea, she uses distilled water. If she goes out she always makes sure to find out what people are serving her. I That's because; she believes tap water, and the fluoride in it, makes her sick. Clinch said she's spent the last 12 years trying to figure out what was going on in her body. She was diagnosed with everything from chronic fatigue to fibromyalgia. While a definitive diagnosis for her chronic pain continued to elude her, she struggled with symptoms like low body tempera- ture and freezing in her hands and feet. It was only after the local health educator, and peer reviewer of sci- entific articles, decided to do a lit- tle research herself that things began to change. She happened upon a 2006 report by the National Science Research Council and her life changed almost overnight. The report described how fluoride exposure could be an endocrine disruptor. She found drinking as little as a litre a day of fluoridated water can suppress thyroid functioning and lead to the symptoms that she was describing on her various visits to the doctors. "I wondered if I was hyperthy- roid myself," said Clinch. "I thought it my be applicable to Using the scientific method that is second nature to her profession- al life she began searching out potential health effects of too much fluoride in the body. It read like a laundry list of things that she was going through. 'T eliminated all the fluoride sources and I was surprised at how fast it had an effect." - Carole Clinch Concerned local resident BY Boa Vnmmc Shre icle Staff Carole Clinch, a local mother, has cut Waterloo's tap water out of her diet after concerns about what it was doing to her health, and she said the health issues she's battled for 12 years have started clearing up since then." __ "l said OK this is where we start girl," said Clinch. "Let's eliminate the Buoridated water." So she started carting in water from her parents' Kitchener home. which doesnt have fluoridated water, and began a little experi- ment on herself. A year later ghe said she's never felt better, and has actually stopped taking the med- ications that had become a part of her daily routine. "I eliminated all the fluoride sourcesandlwassuxprisedathow fast it had an ethsct," said Clinch. The 52-year-old local mother was able to eliminate the need for the thyroid hormones she was tak- ing, and blood tests showed her thyroid functioning in the optimal range. A year. later her hyperthy- mid symptoms have disappeared. Clinch admits her lifestyle changes didnt just stop when she refused to drink anymore ofWater- loo's tap water. She also made some other choices that have helped herregain herheatty But the miiin soume of fluoride CITY NEWS r 15%Off l All occessoties “and iightingl g that she was ingesting in her sys- tem and impairing her thyroid gland from functioning was com- ing from her tap, she said. With so much iluoride in our natural envi- ronment and in a lot of the prod- ucts that everybody uses, from air we breathe to breakfast cereal, she felt she was being overexposed. And there was a growing body of research she found that suggests that overexposure to fluoride has wide ringing health impacts more than mottled teeth. As a true story wasnt enough to convince people of the concerns about over- exposure to fluoride. - But the literature review she engaged in was much more darn- aging for those that have longed argued that fluoridation of the water supply is a benefit not a health risk. That included the National Science Research Council report in 2006 that looked at more than 1,000 research projects con- warmer she knew her anecdotal New resend! on throrutgtion ceming fluoridation, and a grow- ing body of international research including in China where hydro- Buorosiiicic acid, which is used to fluoridate Waterloo's drinking water, is actually banned for human consumption. She found that there was a rise in hyperthyroidism in the general population in a lot of the research. Even more telling there was a simi- 1arriseintheconditioninpets "lust think of how many litres you drink in a day," said Clinch. "The same appliqo to our pets" _ While soritis of it can tie blamed science br do we learn from it?" on new mm}! mganiing ftuoruation of mm BO9tmBINACFtHrr0 WATERLOO CHIONICIE . Wednesday. January 9, 2000 . 3 on air pollution delivering more than appropriate levels of fluoride, areas that fluoridate their water were also culprits. While causality couldn't be proven, Clinch said most of the research at least suggests that i1uoridation has no benefit. And if it has no benefit, she asked, why is Waterloo still using it? "Do we ignore the science or do we learn from it?" said Clinch. "The precautionary principle is quite clear - if in doubt, leave it out." The City of Toronto has also considered a pilot project to stop fluoridation of drinking water at its Ashbridges Bay treatment plant last April after issues raised by some concerned citizens. She has since passed some of her research on to local municipal officials, as well as water officials in Hamilton who are further investi- gating some of her fluoridation research. Clinch has been joined in her fight by Robert Fleming, a former member of Waterloo Watch who has reactivated that organization and its website at waterlobwatch.com to present some of the research that is out there. Fleming said he intended to keep a lower profile after his involvement as a citizen represen- tative at the RIM Park inquiry and most recently the battle over the west-side development of three new subdivisions on the Waterloo moraine. But he became intrigued by what some of the research that Clinch and others were showing him regarding fluoridation and said it's time to shut off the "poi- son" being put into the water. He said hes not afraid to use that word because of the cumulative effect of fluoride in our bodies, as well as some of the byproducts like lead and arsenic that are also in the hydrof1uorosilicic acid used to fiuoridate Wtterioot water. TroftsssfonNW, we. already knoittyha1thephhtthingto9sisr", said Fleming. "If the majority of people knew all the existing sci- ence and facts around adding industrial fluoride into drinking water, this would be an issue. "The problem is that people, Waterloo Watch joins fight Ctmtinoedmtpatres