Devil’s Poison by Dean Murphy

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The Devil’s Poison: How Fluoride is Killing You
By Dean Murphy, DDS
Trafford Publishing, 2008

Fluorine is the most reactive element on the planet. It will even react with inert gas, which was once thought to be impossible, hence the term inert. It will spontaneously combust if exposed to air. It is a key element in rocket propulsion and a byproduct of nuclear weapons manufacturing. Its atomic nucleus is almost as small as hydrogen, allowing it to penetrate anywhere.

In microscopic amounts fluoride will gradually but steadily interfere with a wide range of metabolic functions causing slow deterioration and breakdown. Victims will think they are just getting old and not realize what is really going on. Mental processes are impaired, creating a dumbing down effect. Aggressive instincts, initiative and sex drive are all suppressed. And fluoride is carcinogenic. It is a key component of nerve gases that can kill in such grotesque ways that I must refrain from describing them.

Fluoride is very versatile. It can kill you slowly, or it can kill you quickly, depending on dose. And it can kill anything—even cockroaches. In the 17th and 18th centuries they had a nickname for it: The Devil’s Poison.

Today the pure elemental gas is known as fluorine. Because it will react with pretty much anything, it does not exist in nature as fluorine, but is combined with other elements in the form of fluoride. In nature it is most commonly bonded with calcium, and this compound appears to be relatively benign at least in trace amounts. The form added to our water supplies, however, is generally either sodium fluoride, which is toxic and very bioavailable, or other compounds that are even worse.

A simple carbon filter will not remove fluoride from your tap water. Since the typical shower filter is just a carbon filter, this can be a problem. Fluoride can be absorbed through skin and lungs. So even though most people don’t drink their shower water, they still take in the poison, possibly in even greater amounts than when they drink it. Thus, one of the greatest advances in hygiene in the 20th century has been turned into a mixed blessing. Because fluoride has been so widely distributed in the water supply it is almost inescapable. It has also widely infiltrated the food supply. It’s enough to drive one to drink— preferably something a little more alcoholic than water, like wine. Oh yeah, wine has fluoride in it too, especially if it’s American. So what do you do?

Obviously, part of the answer is to avoid it as much as possible. Since that usually won’t be completely possible, other means of defense would be nice. It turns out that vitamin C at least reduces some effects of fluorosis. B vitamins appear to also help, especially riboflavin or vitamin B₂ (although we don’t recommend taking isolated supplements). A big omission in Murphy’s book is a lack of discussion on the role of iodine in protecting against fluoride, but as we have seen many times, the last, best defense against a toxic world is good nutrition.

Murphy goes into considerable detail about the effects of fluoride on various organs of the body and the way it interferes with vitamins and minerals. He reviews numerous animal studies. He draws on studies from other countries where it may be a little less politically incorrect to study the negative effects of fluoride. He has a couple of pages on the brilliant work of Dr. Phyllis Mullenix, who studied the effect of fluoride on the brain (and who was a speaker at Wise Traditions 2007).

Murphy also discusses how fluoride plays a role in mad cow disease. It is a major component of the organophosphate used to try to eradicate the warble fly in England. He refers to the excellent work of Mark Purdey in sorting out the real cause of mad cow disease. In Mr. Purdey’s travels, he noticed factories putting fluoride into the environment everywhere he found mad cow disease or its equivalent in other species.

Some people are aware that Teflon® is a toxic fluoride product. What few know is that Teflon is now showing up in food packaging that has to hold up when wet or greasy, like French fry bags and boxes, hamburger wrappers, pizza boxes, etc.

Soy already has many strikes against it and this book points out a couple of them. One of those strikes is that soy may be a fluoride concentrator.

What do Baycol, Fenfluramine (Fen/Phen), Dexfenfluramine, Vioxx®, Haloperidol (antipsychotic), Prozac and about 30 percent (or more, depending on who you listen to) of all pharmaceuticals have in common? If you’ve been paying attention, you probably know the answer even if you’ve never heard of these drugs. They contain fluoride. Many of them have also been recalled by the FDA. Methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug, is another example.

This book is loaded with good information but it is not an easy read and does have a few flaws, so I’m giving it a qualified thumbs up. There are enough typos to be slightly distracting to me. Vitamin B₁₂ is referred to as cyanocobalamin, the potentially toxic form found in most supplements. The methylcobalamin form is preferable. Murphy talks a little about the role of Freon in thinning the ozone layer, which is debatable at best. Nevertheless, after reading this book, you will understand why fluoride is the poison that the devil personally prefers.

 

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2008.

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