Fluoride and Aluminum

Lead isn't the only metal that interacts with fluoride in a toxic combination. Aluminum is another.

In 1976, Dr. D. Allman and coworkers from Indiana University School of Medicine fed animals 1 part-per-million (ppm) fluoride and found that in the presence of aluminum, in a concentration as small as 20 parts per billion, fluoride is able to cause an even larger increase in cyclic AMP levels. Cyclic AMP inhibits the migration rate of white blood cells, as well as the ability of the white blood cell to destroy pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms. The fact that fluoride toothpastes and school based mouth rinses are packaged in aluminum accentuates the effect on the body.(170)

Research conducted by Mullenix and colleagues in 1995 indicated that rats treated with low doses of fluoride cause sex- and dose-specific behavioral aberrations with a common pattern.(171) Rats exposed prenatally became hyperactive, while those exposed post-natally became hypoactive. This effect was confirmed by a 2001 study in which administration of sodium fluoride with drinking water produced both behavioural and dental toxicities. A suppression of spontaneous motor activity, a shortening of rota-rod endurance time, a decreased body weight gain and food intake, a suppression of total cholinesterase and acetylcholinesterase activities and dental lesion were observed in test animals. Serum fluoride concentration was raised markedly and that of calcium was decreased in the animals.(172)

A 1998 study by Julie A. Varner and colleagues at the Psychology Department of Binghamton University (NY) shows that neurotoxic effects like these are enhanced by the synergetic action of fluoride and aluminum.(173) Varner describes "alterations in the nervous system resulting from chronic administration of the fluoroaluminum complex or equivalent levels of fluoride in the form of sodium-fluoride. The rats were given fluoride in drinking water at the same level deemed "optimal" by pro-fluoridation groups, namely 1 part per million (1 ppm). Most pronounced damage was seen in animals that got the fluoride in conjunction with aluminum. The pathological changes found in the brain tissue of the animals were similar to the alterations found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The authors speculate that fluoride enables aluminum to cross the blood-brain barrier. These results are especially disturbing because of the low dose level of fluoride that shows the toxic effect in rats - rats are more resistant to fluoride than humans."(174)

Another study done in Czechoslovakia adds force to the idea that aluminum may act synergetically with fluoride to trigger the mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. The study shows that some of pathologic changes associated with AD are not induced by aluminum alone, but by the aluminofluoride complexes. These complexes may act as the initial signal stimulating impairment of homeostasis, degeneration and death of the cells. By influencing energy metabolism these complexes can accelerate the aging and impair the functions of the nervous system. "In respect to the etiology of AD, the long term action of aluminofluoride complexes may represent a serious and powerful risk factor for the development of AD," the authors conclude.(175)

Incidentally, if you're thinking that fluoride and aluminum exist in separate worlds and are unlikely to find each other in the normal course of events, think again. Fluoride is a direct byproduct of aluminum production. Aluminum is often added to drinking water as a flocculating agent, by the same folks who add the fluoride-your local water authority. Aluminum and fluoride form a number of complexes, the most deadly of these being aluminum tetrafluoride.(176) Czech researchers have shown that the body reacts to aluminum tetrafluoride as if it were a phosphate ion capable of triggering G proteins. G-proteins are water-soluble substances (i.e. hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors) that transmit messages from the outside to the inside of a cell.(177) Aluminum tetrafluoride is capable of switching on G proteins without hormones, neurotransmitters, or growth factors present.(178) 'This, notes Paul Connett, 'is the most worrisome aspect of fluoride subtle biochemistry." (179)

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