In the good old days we believed that the shortest distance between two points was to fluoridate our water supply. Just since the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) decided to fluoridate the water supply in six counties (Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura) in 2003, responsible research has revealed three important points:

1. The National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC) has "identified fluoride as a potent hormone disruptor that may affect normal thyroid function."

2. Further studies are necessary due to "concerns about the potential of fluoride to lower IQ" and a peer-reviewed study by four Harvard scientists and doctors has concerns.

3. Fluoridated water is linked to osteosarcoma, an often fatal form of bone cancer in boys.

Additional reasons to reject water fluoridation include the following: fluoride's benefits are topical, not systemic (it works by applying to the surface of a tooth, not by ingestion); fluoride causes dental fluorosis (discoloration of the tooth and destruction of the enamel sheath); fluoride is a cumulative poison- - an average of 50 percent of that ingested is excreted through the kidneys, the remainder is accumulated in our bones, pineal gland and other tissues, if kidneys are compromised, accumulation increases.

Fluoride accumulates in the brain and exposure alters mental behavior as with other toxic agents; U.S/ National Cancer Institute observes a higher rate of bone cancer in young men consuming fluoridated water versus unfluoridated water; it's impossible to control dosage of fluoride when applied to the water supply and some people such as manual laborers, athletes, diabetics and people with kidney diseases consume more water than others and are therefore ingesting more fluoride; fluoridation is unethical because individuals aren't being asked for their informed consent prior to medication.

I suggest that we all use whatever influence we each have over the MWD to have this fluoridation stopped now.

I encourage everyone to consult numerous credible fluoride information resources including floridealert.org. and ewg.org/reports/cafluoride. Christine Robert Thousand Oaks