Essay Sample on Environmental Crime in Florida

Introduction

When the United States Public Health Service embraced water fluoridation during the 1950s, there was little proof of its safety. Presently, six decades after most nations have banned the practice, over seventy percent of Americans, and also 200 million individuals worldwide, are consuming fluoridated water (Ullman & Ullman, 2011). The ADA (American Dental Association) and CDC (Center for Disease Control) keep on promoting it- and even obligatory statewide water fluoridation- notwithstanding the increasing proof that it is unnecessary, but possibly perilous to health. These arguments below will be useful in helping the Supreme Court of Florida to find grounds to sentence the heads of ADA, CDC, EPA, and FDA for murder, considering the roles in the fluoridation-based deaths.

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The Evidence of Harm

On account of water fluoridation, the fluoride introduced into the drinking water, which over one hundred and eighty drink is not of pharmaceutical grade, but rather a precarious waste product from the industry of phosphate. It is unlawful to dump the said waste into the ocean or neighborhood surface water, but then it is permitted in the drinking water. Worse off, the entire program is overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assumes no liability for the practice (Meyerowitz, 2010). Furthermore, from the ethical lens, water fluoridation is a ruthless medical practice as people are being compelled to take medication without control over dosage, informed consent, and evaluation of side effects.

The General and Ethical Arguments

The necessity for the informed consent prior to the administration of a prescription is a fundamental human right. However, with fluoride, which is incorporated into the drinking water as a medical intervention, no such consent is authorized or sought. The process is enacted on a blanket basis throughout the population, which goes against medical ethics. In addition, the efficiency of the fluoridation process as a therapy is minimal, best case scenario and pernicious even from a pessimistic standpoint. The fluoride used in the fluoridation process does not meet the quality requirement at the pharmaceutical industry level because, in reality, it is a waste by-product. The absence of any thorough investigations with regards to the viability of fluoridation programs, it can be said that the entire process is experimental.

The Fluoridation Gamble

Prior to the endorsement of the fluoridation process by the American Public Health Service during the fifties, various myths regarding the capacity of the fluoride chemical emerged without any scientific backing. Some of these discourses incorporate the application of fluoride as a treatment for thyrotoxicosis and findings on fluoride and bone damage (Meyerowitz, 2010). However, the PHS embraced the application of fluoride before important investigations had been accounted for and the conceivable interventions in the entire debate in the relatively enormous industry were settled.

The Evidence of Ineffectiveness

The toxicological literature clearly documents the harmful effects of fluoride to the body, as well as the environment. Some of the affected areas in the healthcare domain include endocrine disruption, dental fluorosis, osteosarcoma, and bone fractures, as well as neurotoxicity and renal toxicity (Nagel, 2011). It is certain that the enhancement of dental health followed the introduction water treatment process and still continues in jurisdictions that do not embrace it. There is lack of correlation between fluoridation status and dental health, according to graphical evidence from empirical data. It shows that the PHS of the US did not base its decision on the findings of empirical studies. Recent findings have linked fluoridation to cancer and less to dental hygiene.

References

Meyerowitz, S. (2010). Water: The ultimate cure: discover why water is the most important ingredient in your diet and find which water is right for you. Great Barrington, MA.

Nagel, R. (2011). Cure tooth decay: Remineralize cavities & repair your teeth naturally with good food. Los Gatos, CA: Golden Child Publishing.

Ullman, D., & Ullman, D. (2011). Discovering homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st century.

Berkeley, Calif: North Atlantic Books.