Quote of the Day - Fluoride Follies: Studying the Studies That...

I am now reading The Fluoride Wars by R. Allan Freeze and Jay H. Lehr, about which I'll post in a week or so. Suffice it so say that it is an enjoyable, enlightening book about a perplexing, controversial subject. 

And speaking of perplexing...

The book reports on many studies that studied the efficacy and dangers of water fluoridation, but I found this quote one of the most enigmatic and entertaining:

 "These were then studies of the study that studied studies. The studies of the study that studied the study pointed out that this study that studied the studies had left some 3000 studies unstudied, and they called for a study of the studies that would study all studies and therefore not necessitate a further study of the studies as this study had done." - D. Caron, Letter to the editor, British Medical Journal, 12 October 2000, (cited by Freeze and Lehr, p. 197).

Perhaps this a was merely an example of British humor.

I usually close each daily post with a quote, but I cannot top this one.

Comments

[Michael]

Hi, Denise.

Thanks for your comments; always appreciated.

Your comments about Jay Lehr are well-taken and appreciated. He is Science Director of the Heartland Institute.

I have known Lehr for almost 40 years and have been aware of his association with the Heartland Institute
(see http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/2012/05/heartland-institute-twofer-1-nice-billboards-2-dr-jay-lehrs-rant-lets-phase-out-epa.html).

I have taken Lehr to task on WaterWired before:
http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/2009/04/megawatersheds-new-or-déjà-vu-.html

When Lehr decides to do science that is within his realm, he generally knows his stuff. He put NGWA on the map as a force in USA groundwater.

Is he conservative? Yes.

The senior author, R. Allan Freeze, is one of the most respected hydrogeologists and environmental consultants in the world today.

The NRC publication deals with the scientific aspects of the EPA standards. The Freeze and Lehr book goes way beyond that and covers the social and other aspects of the 'fluoride wars'. It is the only balanced approach to this issue that I know of. That is why I am reading it.

[Denise Fort]

I see one of the authors of the The Fluoride Wars is associated with the Heartland Institute, that well known purveyor of bad science. The National Research Council has a fairly recent book on the topic (surely less lively)which is available for free on its website. (Fluoride in Drinking Water:
A Scientific Review of EPA's Standards(2006))