ABSTRACT
The possibility that mongolism is caused by fluoride in the drinking water stems from reports by I. Rapaport in which he observed a dose-related association between the number of cases of mongolism and the concentration of fluoride in the water. A linkage between stomach cancer with fluoride would not be unreasonable because fluoride exists primarily as hydrofluoric acid, a highly penetrating and irritating chemical, in the acidic stomach. The populations of the five-year age, sex and race subcategories for the fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities are multiplied by a single set of cancer rates to obtain an expected number of deaths. Since 1962 the main addition has been the claim that Chizzola maculae are caused by fluoride exposure from industrial pollution and from fluoridated water. Epidemiological studies in England fail to support the hypothesis that stomach or any other cancer is associated with fluoride intake.
