I saw a pamphlet yesterday about water fluoridation. It’s not something that I’ve taken a great deal of interest in the past, but according to the pamphlet:

‘The substance that is used in water fluoridation schemes is Hexafluorosilicic Acid, and industrial waste obtained from the pollution scrubbing operations of the phosphate fertiliser industry. It is extremely toxic. It is a cumulative toxin of which 50%remains in the body. It is contaminated with heavy metals and cancer causing substances such as arsenic, beryllium, lead, mercury and cadmium. It is illegal under the 1972 Posions Act to administer poisonous or noxious substance to anyone. It is a criminal act and breaches the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act. It is not a registered medicine and has never been safely tested or subjected to any clinical safety trials. The claim by the British Dental Association that 1 part per million is the ‘optimal’ dose is pure assumption. In areas that are currently fluoridated, the Government’s own study found 48% of children suffering from dental fluorosis with 12.5% having fluorosis of concern. Dental fluorosis is caused by over exposure to fluorides. All fluorides are protoplasmic poisons. The use of industrial waste fluoridation chemicals to mass medicate the public violates the Code of Medical Ethics set out in the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights & Biomedicine, which states that all medical interventions must be carried out under proper medical supervision, and in accordance with the patient’s needs and fully informed wishes. Once fluorosilicates are introduced into our water supply it will contaminate everything you eat and drink, everything that uses water. Water fluoridation only takes place in 3 European Countries (parts of Spain, UK and Ireland). Other EU countries have tried it and stopped or rejected it outright. It is illegal to dump the toxic waste chemicals to sea or to landfills. So Europe’s pollution scrubber liquor is exported to the UK and Ireland for “legal” disposal into our water supplies. And we (the taxpayers) pick up the bill’.

Anyone have any opinions or alternative points of view? (if you’ve read it and are still awake)

This one keeps popping up.

Over the time I've lived in Sheffield I think water fluoridation must have popped up about a dozen separate occasions.

Given how easy it is for people to deal with tooth decay by cleaning their teeth and not trying to rot them with soft drinks and sweets (guilty on all counts, but I clean as well!!) I don't see the need to fluoridate the water as well.

The money could be better spent on education, getting more NHS dentists and perhaps encouraging soft drinks manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugars / acids in their products. Note to manufacturers - this DOES NOT mean replace the sugar with artificcial sweeteners, which have their own problems.

But, as we all know, Big Nanny is watching out for us....

Joe

I understand that the special ingredient in Hendersons Relish is Sheffield tap water. For that reason alone, we must not let the authorities mess with our water. :rant:

I seem to remember a similar thing came up about something used in shampoo a year or 2 ago about it causing cancer and other nasties.

No one is ever going to fund any large scale study as its not no-ones financial interest to do so.

the fact of the matter is that residents of areas which have fluoridated water have better teeth than those that don't. our water has been fluoridated for years and years, do you not think that if there was any mass health scare about it then we would have heard more about it by now? why would the government bother to do it if it cost money and didn't help??

and i wouldn't follow the chemistry of that text too much, i've almost finished my training to become a chemistry teacher, and it uses a fair bit of carp to scare you. that acid dissociates and breaks down in water. so what if it is a by-product of industry, what isn't? yes, it is poisonous, in large doses. again, what isn't? water is, oxygen is, sunlight is. all the legal mumbo jumbo is pretty much irrelevant, too, as fluoridation is not counted as a medicine, hence is not regulated. if you ant to complain about that, then do so, but don't claim it's illegal.

Originally posted by Maldonado
if you ant to complain about that, then do so, but don't claim it's illegal.

that should be 'if PEOPLE want to complain about that...', as I'm not complaining about anything (or claiming it's illegal)

Originally posted by Maldonado
our water has been fluoridated for years and years, do you not think that if there was any mass health scare about it then we would have heard more about it by now?

I don't agree with this point.

One of the most cynical aspects of any slow-acting poison is that you can blame any factor you can choose when the effects become apparent, several decades down the line.

When people living near heavy industry and other major sources of pollution complain of breathing difficulties and suffer fron cancers, it's all too convenient to blame the 'lifestyle' of a person rather than the obvious dangers such as a carcinogenic factory on their doorstep.

Just because the Government have not admitted flouride is a danger does not make it safe.

And finally...what no pro-flouride advocate has managed to satisfactorily explain is that if children who suffer from dental problems do so because they consume too much sugar and don't take care of their teeth, then how on earth will adding flouride to something they don't drink benefit them?

Fluridation of the water supply and therefore food supply means that there is no measure of how much fluoride any one of us is injesting. How anybody can therefore argue that it's use is safe is beyond me.

More nannying I'm afraid.