Fluoride chemicals, combined with other water additives, pull health-damaging lead from plumbing systems into drinking water, according to University of North Carolina researchers reported a North Carolina newspaper on May 18, 2005 (a).
A combination of chloramines and fluorosilicic acid, especially with extra amounts of ammonia, leaches lead from meters, solder and plumbing systems, according to Richard P. Maas, PhD and Steven C. Patch PhD, co-directors of the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.
Fluorosilicic acid, the chemical used by over 91% of U.S. fluoridating communities, attempts to improve dental health in those who drink it About 2/3 of U.S. public water supplies are fluoridated but tooth decay remains a national epidemic, according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
Maas said, "Tests showed lead levels three and four times higher in water with that combination of chemicals ...About 500 systems, across the country, have switched to chloramine treatment since 2001...and most also use fluorosilicic acid," according to the North Carolina newspaper, the News & Observer.
Maas said this chemical interaction could be responsible for the elevated lead levels recently plaguing Greenville, North Carolina.
Health authorities issued a lead advisory for water from the Greenville Utilities Commission when elevated lead levels showed up in 26 of 106 sampled homes.
Maas, who heads a lead poisoning prevention program in Western North Carolina funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said his lab has tested more than 150,000 homes across the country in the past 18 years and found that 10 to 15 percent have a significant lead contamination problem, according to the News & Observer article.
"No amount of lead is safe for a young child's developing brain," says Paul Connett, PhD, Professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY and Executive Director of the Fluoride Action Network.