Neurotoxicity Experts Cleared to Testify At Fluoridation Chemicals Trial June 8 in Federal Court

NEW YORK, May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The judge in a June 8 federal court trial in San Francisco has cleared the way for three international experts in neurotoxicity to testify on the risks of fluoride in public water supplies, the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) reports.

In addition, the court ruled that the purported benefits of community water fluoridation cannot be part of the trial, restricting testimony to the toxic risks under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Paul Connett, Ph.D., executive director of lead plaintiff FAN in the case, hailed the decisions as helping to keep the focus of the trial where it belongs, on recent scientific studies pointing to IQ loss in the offspring of pregnant women exposed to higher levels of fluoride. The plaintiffs seek to ban the addition of fluoridation chemicals to public water supplies "to protect the public and susceptible subpopulations from the neurotoxic effects of fluoride." (See backgrounder, "Fluoridation's Neurotoxicity".)

The rulings came May 8 in a hearing that laid the groundwork for a video trial set to begin June 8 and to run for two weeks. Due to the COVID-19 virus, the trial has been compressed.

Despite the time constraints, Connett expressed confidence that FAN's case for showing fluoride's neurotoxicity will be demonstrated. That will be crucial to the case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Three experts the EPA sought to exclude from the trial but who will now take part include: Dr. Philippe Grandjean of Harvard and the University of Southern Denmark, Dr. Howard Hu of the University of Washington, and Dr. Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Relying on the citizen petition provisions of TSCA, the lawsuit challenges a practice endorsed by the U.S. Public Health Service 70 years ago and affecting 200 million Americans on public water systems.

As plaintiff, FAN is joined by Moms Against Fluoridation and the consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch. Several individuals representing themselves and/or their children complete the list of plaintiffs.

A Fact Sheet providing further information on the case is at http://fluoridealert.org/tsca-fact-sheet/ 

SOURCE Fluoride Action Network