Fluoride Causes Bone Cancer

Bruce Sinclair wrote:
Does no one teach risk assessment anymore ? ... and if so, why don't
journalists take the course ?

I remember a professor in grad school commenting that journalism is one
of the only fields in which you can get a graduate degree without ever
having to take a statistics class. That is not really true, of course,
but it is still a good line and makes a good point.

wrote:
links fluoride in tap water, at levels most Americans
drink, to osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer (1).

It says here "most Americans", thats about 300,000,000 people
Thats a lot of people. A whole country full, in fact.

Then it says "a rare form", well how rare can it be?

Well, what is it? Are you causing cancer in 300,000,000
people or aren't you.

I am pretty sure "most Americans" referred to those receiving the
exposure level claimed to increase risk, not those who develop the
disease.

More curious, if you are using "most Americans" in the
experimental group, where did you find a control group
large enough for statistical significance wrt a very
infrequent event?

Good question but maybe people in countries without fluoridation.
Maybe Americans prior to fluoridation of most drinking water. Maybe
those Americans who still do not drink fluoridated water. Maybe some
sort of dose-response analysis if fluoridation levels differ in
different areas.

All that said, there is a decent chance this claim is essentially
baseless -- or at least that the risk is completely swamped by the
benefits of fluoridation.