Water Fluoridation Essay

Specific Purpose: To present the problem of water fluoridation
Introduction:
I. Open With Impact: Every day in America millions of citizens are being unknowingly and unethically medicated, and you could be among them.

II. Thesis: Water fluoridation is an unsafe and unethical practice based on outdated and obsolete research.

III. Connect with Audience: Water fluoridation can cause serious health risks for yourself your family, and unless it is stopped, your children as well.

IV. Preview: Today I will discuss what water fluoridation is, why it is unethical and ineffective, and some simple steps you can take to protect yourselves.

Body:
I. Main Point: Water fluoridation

A. Simply put, water fluoridation is the practice of adding chemicals to drinking water in an attempt to raise the naturally occurring fluoride ion to about 1mg per liter in the belief that this will reduce the occurrence of dental problems such as tooth decay.
    i. originally the practice used sodium fluoride water fluoridation is now accomplished through the use of silicofluorides. This crude product is an approximately 25% solution of hydrofluosilicic acid and a highly toxic hazardous waste of the phosphate fertilizer industry.
    ii. The proper disposal of this chemical would have been extremely costly to the industry so the proposal that it could be used as a substitute for the originally favored chemical sodium fluoride, opened the door to the practice of administering it to the general public in the water supply under the guise of medication.

B. At the heart of this debate is whether or not fluoridated water can be considered a medicine, thereby making it subject to strict government regulations and standards.
    i. The US tactic seems to be not denying that fluoridated water is in fact a form of medication; rather they refuse to apply the laws governing medications to fluoridated water.
    ii. This works in stark contrast however to the FDA’s own definition...