Studies Showing Fluoride Can Cause Osteosarcoma
in Teenage Boys
The New Jersey Department of Health hired Perry D. Cohn, PhD, MPH, to do a study to see if there was a link to fluoride in the public water system and a higher incidence of osteosarcoma in the New Jersey area. Dr. Cohn (1992) writes about his findings in “An Epidemiologic Report on Drinking Water and Fluoridation.”
Dr. Cohn researched the number of osteosarcoma cases reported to the New Jersey Cancer Registry for the years 1979-1987. He compared this information with the amount of fluoride in the drinking water where the cancer victims lived. His research included seven central New Jersey counties that had fluoride added to their water. The results showed a link to fluoridation and the cases of osteosarcoma among boys between 10 and 19 years old. He did not find a fluoride/osteosarcoma link with any other age or gender group (p. 10).
The author, Dr. Cohn, believes teenage boys are more likely to develop osteosarcoma because of rapidly growing bones and hormonal changes. He explains further, fluoride is toxic to cells at high levels and it may affect the osteoblast cells as the bone is reforming after a growth spurt (pp. 11 & 14).
Second Study:
Another study done on the relationship of fluoride and bone cancer was done by Elise Bassin who completed a PhD dissertation at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 2001. She did a large control study analyzing the link between fluoride and osteosarcoma in teenage boys. She found a substantial statistical relationship showing boys less than 20 years old with osteosarcoma had been drinking fluoridated water when they were 6, 7, and 8 years old (pp. 4 & 5). Bassin stated, “All of our models were remarkably robust in showing this effect, which coincides with the mid-childhood growth spurt. For females, no clear association between fluoride in drinking water during growth and osteosarcoma emerged” (Fluoride Action Network, 2006, p. 5).
In 2006, Dr. Elise Bassin led a team of Harvard University scientists in publishing findings from another study they had conducted on osteosarcoma, fluoridated water, and teenage boys. This study was an extension of the PhD dissertation she completed in 2001. Once again the study found a remarkable statistical relationship to teenage boys developing osteosarcoma after drinking fluoridated water when they were between 6 and 8 years old (Fluoride Action Network, 2006, p. 5).
Terry Fox Died of Osteosarcoma in 1981 at the of 22.
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1958. Water Fluoridation began in Winnipeg two years earlier in 1956. The Fox family moved to British Columbia in 1966, first to Surrey - where there was fluoridated water, then to Port Coquitlam - where water was not fluoridated. Terry Fox drank fluoridated water for about 8 years. When he was 18 years old he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma; he had a malignant tumor on his right thigh.
There is no way to know for sure if drinking fluoridated water caused Terry's cancer, because there were other toxic problems in the environment when Terry was growing up in Canada. Some of these were: bottled water and water filters were not available yet, public awareness of environmental health hazards was low, leaded gasoline was used, lead paint and asbestos products were prevalent, the insecticide DDT was widely used, and at the time the Love Canal was a legal toxic dump.
In 1977 after Terry was diagnosed with bone cancer, he was forced to have his right leg amputated six inches above the knee to help save his life. Terry became adept at using his prosthesis and was motivated to run across Canada in an effort to raise money for cancer research. It led to the Terry Fox Run that is held every year to raise money to end the deadly disease. The quote below explains how Terry's "Marathon of Hope" got started. I like the way it is written.
"While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.
After 18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) to prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 with little fanfare. Although it was difficult to garner attention in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along his route began to mount. He ran close to 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. However, on September 1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning. To date, over $600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world" (The Terry Fox Foundation, 2012).
If you would like to donate to cancer research, and find out more about Terry, go to the The Terry Fox Foundation.
I am grateful neither of my sons developed osteosarcoma when they were teenagers. I am hoping this horrible disease will not be a threat to them in the future!
