The researchers listed numerous examples of severe fluoride pollution on foods ranging from spinach, lettuce and tubers to the milk and meat of cows. In addition to contamination from atmospheric fluorides, Jerard and Patrick discovered that farm produce also picks up fluoride pollution from phosphate fertilizers and fluoride-bearing pesticides applied to apples, pears, celery and raspberries. Coal-burning electric powerplants and the petroleum industry are major sources of urban fluoride pollution. Water, however, is only one source of ingested fluoride. In 1997, the EPA estimated that Americans were ingesting nearly five times more fluoride than in 1971 - from food and drinks alone.
Children are more at risk of over-exposure than adults.
A 1991 study by the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry found that every sample of bottled fruit beverages tested contained fluoride. Currently there is no federal program to detect or label the fluoride content in US foods or drinks. We hope that this special report will help to encourage a fundamental review of the health and ecological impacts of fluorides in the environment.