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Fluoride-Osteosarcoma
A number of studies have shown a clear link between exposure to fluoride and the development of osteosarcoma.
Osteosarcoma, also called osteogenic sarcoma, is a prevalent form of bone cancer in adolescents. The risk of osteosarcoma appears to be greatest for adolescent boys and children with above-average height. Because osteosarcoma typically develops in osteoblasts, the cells that produce growing bones, children experiencing a growth spurt also appear to be at greater risk. Osteosarcoma typically develops at the ends of long bones such as the femur, tibia, and humerus, and is most common in the knee or arm areas.
The outcome for a child suffering osteosarcoma depends on whether this cancer has metastasized, or spread, to other areas of the body. In approximately 20 percent of children with osteosarcoma, the cancer has spread to other bones and/or vital organs. When metastasis has occurred, the chance of survival slims.
Treatment of osteosarcoma typically involves surgery and, in some cases, amputation. Chemotherapy may also be used to treat osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma appears particularly unresponsive to radiation.
The Fluoride-Osteosarcoma
Numerous studies show that fluoride can cause osteosarcoma. In 1997, Dr. John Yiamouyiannis testified before Congress that half a million people alive today could expect to die from a fluoride-related cancer unless the fluoridation of water is stopped.
Some of the studies suggesting a fluoride-osteosarcoma link include:
- In 1990, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) found that rats exposed to higher levels of fluoride were more likely to develop osteosarcoma.
- That same year, the National Cancer Institute found that young males living in fluoridated communities were at a higher risk of osteosarcoma than those living in non-fluoridated areas. Independent researchers confirmed the results of this study in 1993.
- In 1992, the New Jersey Department of Health found that for children under the age of 20, the risk of osteosarcoma was up to SEVEN times greater than for those living in areas with fluoridated drinking water.
- In 2001, the PhD dissertation produced by Elise Bassin of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine shows a strong link between fluoride and osteosarcoma. Her work indicates a statistically strong link between exposure to fluoride between the ages of six and eight (during which the ‘mid-childhood growth spurt’ takes place) and the development of osteosarcoma in young boys.
Bassin’s study is the first to detect a plausible “window of vulnerability” during which children are most susceptible to the carcinogenic risks of fluoride exposure. She also broke ground by obtaining information on the exact levels of fluoride exposure that preceded the development of osteosarcoma in her subjects.
The results of Bassin’s Fluoride-Osteosarcoma study were difficult to access for many years. Click here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/12/AR2005071201277.html) to learn more about how this information was previously suppressed.
Fortunately, Elise Bassin’s study has recently become available to the public. Detailed information about this study can be found here (http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/fan-nrc.part1.pdf) and part of Bassin’s study can be found here (http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/cancer/fan-nrc.part2.pdf).
The Biological Plausibility of a Fluoride-Osteosarcoma
1. Prevailing laboratory evidence suggests that fluoride can be a mutagen at certain concentrations. Most mutagens can also cause cancer.
2. The bone is the number one area where fluoride accumulates in the body. This level of accumulation of fluoride in the bones increases during bone development. Therefore, the cells of the bones, particularly those involved in bone growth (osteoblasts), are exposed to the highest levels of fluoride in the body.
3. Fluoride stimulates the development of osteoblasts, a characteristic termed ‘mitogenic.’ As mentioned, osteosarcoma is the result of an abnormal proliferation of osteoblasts.
Additional studies show that rates of cancer increase by five percent in areas where fluoride is added to drinking water.