Because sodium fluoride and silicofluorides have very different biological effects, undissociated SiF residues may be dangerous. Recent research on dental preparations shows that SiF compounds may be as much as 19 times more biologically active than NaF. 3. Communities using SiF have higher levels of lead in children's blood and higher rates of anti-social behavior than locations with nonfluoridated or NaF treated water. Rates of crime were also higher in Massachusetts communities using SiF fluoridation. There was no comparable difference for other drugs whose usage is not associated with chemicals influenced by lead toxicity.
Minorities are especially at risk.
The brain is the most sensitive chemical organ in the body. In contemporary society, these effects take on a different character. Environmental pollution and dangerous water treatment procedures are human activities whose results are both economically costly and morally unjust. Innocent children should not be poisoned by public water supplies. Roger D. Masters is Nelson D. Rockefeller Professor Emeritus in the Dartmouth College Department of Government.