They removed iodine. They added industrial waste.
Multiple industries found profit. Pharma capitalized on the resulting thyroid disorders. This isn't conspiracy theory. It's converging interests.
Three companies controlled 75% of global bromine.
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. Albemarle. ICL Group. By the 1990s, they dominated the market.
Great Lakes alone: $2.4 billion in revenues, $295 million in profits by 1995.
Potassium bromate was first patented for bread use in 1915. By 2008, despite international bans, the American Bakers Association released an industry guide for "safe use" of potassium bromate.
The thyroid medication market.
This is where incentives get interesting.
Global thyroid medication market
Projected by 2030
Synthroid alone (US, 2016)
North America's global market share
Each hypothyroid patient = $500-2,000 annual revenue. Lifetime treatment. Minimal R&D required.
The aluminum industry's role.
This is the most documented coordination.
Andrew Mellon - ALCOA founder and major stockholder - served as Treasury Secretary (1921-1932) when the Public Health Service operated under Treasury authority.
Dr. Gerald Cox at the Mellon Institute (owned by the Mellon family) made the first public proposal for US water fluoridation in 1939. His research was financed by the Mellons.
Christopher Bryson uncovered a secret "Fluorine Lawyers Committee" - ALCOA, U.S. Steel, Kaiser Aluminum, Reynolds Metals - commissioning research to provide "ammunition" against fluoride injury claims.
The timing is striking.
Iodine was removed from bread and replaced with bromide in the late 1970s to early 1980s.
Precisely when fluoridation was being maximized across America.
Both fluoride and bromide are halides that compete with iodine for thyroid receptors.
The science that justified iodine fear.
The 1948 Wolff-Chaikoff paper claimed iodine toxicity at relatively low doses.
The critical flaw:
Thyroid hormone levels were never measured in the experimental rats.
Yet this study became the foundation for five decades of iodine restriction policies.
Historical evidence contradicts the claimed toxicity. Lugol's solution at 1,000-2,000 mg daily was used for asthma patients for years without causing hypothyroidism.
After 1948? "Iodophobic publications" began appearing. Studies on safe iodine use "mysteriously disappeared" from medical literature by the 1950s.
The timeline correlation.
Flawed Wolff-Chaikoff paper, immediate "iodophobic" medical literature
Transition from iodine-based treatments to synthetic thyroid medications
Progressive iodine reduction while fluoridation expanded
Critical shift: iodine removed from bread, replaced with bromide - when fluoride exposure peaked
EU bans bromate based on cancer risks. US still allows it.
Not singular conspiracy. Converging interests.
Chemical Companies
Found profitable disposal routes for fluoride and bromide waste
Pharma Companies
Benefited from increased thyroid disorders
Aluminum Industry
Documented efforts to promote fluoridation
Regulatory Capture
Revolving doors and industry self-regulation
Essential nutrient policy became industrial waste management.
When regulatory systems fail to maintain independence, industrial profit motives override public health.
Iodine for Beginners
The essential guide to iodine—why we're deficient, how to supplement safely, and the thyroid connection.