Depending on whether a child has eaten, or if there is residual food in the stomach, about 20-50 percent of chemical contaminants are metabolized when foods or beverages are consumed. With dermal exposure and inhalation, however, virtually 100 percent of the contaminants are absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
As one EPA scientist put it, "a shower cubicle can be considered an 'exposure chamber.' Exposure to volatile contaminants absorbed via the lung would be about double the same amount from drinking water. In the bath, underarms [axilla], scrotal and vaginal areas as well as the groin absorb far greater amounts than in the normal unwashed forearm test."
The percentages for absorption of parathion are as follows in bathing:
* scalp (32 percent)
* ear canal (46 percent)
* forehead (36 percent)
* plant of foot (13 percent)
* forearm (9 percent)
* palm (12 percent)
* scrotum (100 percent)
Studies done by Brown, Bishop and Rowan in the early 1980s showed that an average of 64 percent of the total dose of waterborne contaminants is absorbed through the skin. A study by British researchers at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Sheffield published in the February 19, 2000 issue of Human Experimental Toxicology suggests that toxicants such as fluorides can be stored in the skin and released over a period of time. The most popular fluoridation agent is fluorosilicic acid, a toxic by-product of phosphate fertilizer production.
On May 10, 1999, US Rep. Ken Calvert, who serves on the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, asked the EPA to answer a simple question: "What chronic toxicity test data are there on sodium fluorosilicate? On hydrofluorosilicic acid?"
A review of nearly 40,000 research papers listed on National Institutes of Health and other U.S. government Internet sites has failed to discover a single study addressing water fluoridation and dermal absorption.
On June 23,1999, EPA Assistant Administrator J. Charles Fox replied that the "EPA was not able to identify chronic studies for these chemicals."
On September 5, 2000, in response to an inquiry from the US House Committee on Science, EPA Assistant Administrator Charles Fox admitted "there are no water quality criteria for fluoride either for the protection of aquatic life or for the protection of human health."
The EPA earlier confirmed that water fluoridation puts "at risk" 52 million older Americans with calcium, magnesium and vitamin ~ deficiencies. People with cardiovascular and kidney disorders, also, may experience severe "dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis" from excessive exposure to fluorides.
The health threat from using fluorosilicates to fluoridate drinking water goes beyond bathing and drinking the treated water. The substances in the fluorosilicates do not magically vanish. All the pollution released from washing clothes and household items, evaporation from clothes dryers and dishwashers remains in the home. Water fluoridated with phosphate scrubber liquor becomes a vehicle to carry hazardous air pollutants directly into your home.
While this secondary contamination of children from fluoridated water is significant, it has never been investigated by the EPA or the US Public Health Service - although both agencies are aware that pollution scrubber liquor is being used to fluoridate municipal water supplies.
A study by British researchers at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Sheffield published in the February 19, 2000 issue of Human Experimental Toxicology suggests that toxicants such as fluorides can be stored in the skin and released over a period of time.
A review of nearly 40,000 research papers listed on National Institutes of Health and other U.S. government Internet sites has failed to discover a single study addressing water fluoridation and dermal absorption.
All dosage recommendations developed by EPA are based on ingestion alone. The EPA and Centers for Disease Control have never commissioned studies on the dermal absorption of fluoridated water and refuse to do so.
Content contains excerpts from the edited version of a report to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on June 13, 2000, and, Is your bathtub a toxic dump?
