IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL FLUORIDATION ON SALMON SPECIES IN THE NORTHWEST USA AND BRITISH-COLUMBIA, CANADA

A review of literature and documentation suggests that concentrations of fluoride above 0.2 mg/L have lethal (LC50) effects on and inhibit m igration of ''endangered'' salmon species whose stocks are now in seri ous decline in the US Northwest and British Columbia. Fluoride added t o drinking water, ''to improve dental health'', enters the fresh water eco-system, in various ways, at levels above 0.2 mg/L. This factor, i f considered in ''critical habitat'' decisions, should lead to the dev elopment of a strategy calling for a ban on fluoridation and rapid sun -setting of the practice of disposal of industrial fluoride waste into fresh water.