Sheffield Hallam Liberal Democrat MP Richard Allan was among those who voted against the move which gives health authorities power to add fluoride and to over-ride objections from water companies. Other opponents included Labour MPs Harry Barnes (North East Derbyshire) and Dennis Skinner (Bolsover). Doncaster North Labour MP Kevin Hughes also voted against fluoridation.

Do you think flouride should be added to South Yorkshire's water supplies?

I'm totally against adding anything toxic to our water supplies either by the authorities or terrorists. My local MP is aware of the disquiet among her constituents on this issue and has promised to carry our message to Westminster.

PS Can we make this thread into a poll?

I object strongly to the government administering drugs through drinking water. There can be no justification for it.

Dental hygiene may be a problem but this is not the way to tackle it. Why not try getting people to brush their teeth? Making people pay for treatment where it is a clear result of neglect might encourage a little more brushing!

Are you saying that those people who are too stupid to brush their teeth should then have to spend what money they have on expensive dental treatment? (Because most people do already pay - or have DenPlan)

What's the disadvantage of adding flouride?

Originally posted by Geoff
What's the disadvantage of adding flouride?

Because many believe it to be a poison. There are plenty of good / bad science websites pro / against it, as a quick google search will show.

Until flouride in water can be guaranteed to be safe, I do not think it should be added.

Pro-flouridators say that Birmingham's water supply has been flouridated for 25 years, with no ill effects.

Err really? Ever met an intelligent Brummie? Proof, if it were needed, that too much flouride affects the brain.

/rant over

LOL... :P

I was just playing devil's advocate. Perhaps you can tell me the #1 reason why we shouldn't add flouride. I don't really have the time or inclination to read lots of flouride related sites - I was just after a quick summary ;)

Chiefly, it is a chemical product of the fertilizer industry that would otherwise be called toxic waste

Sheffield water is great as it is - best council pop I've ever had.

Also Hendersons Relish would be screwed as in the interview it's stated it would taste crap without Sheffield water or something to that effect :D

Originally posted by fnkysknky
Sheffield water is great as it is - best council pop I've ever had.


Ho ho...first time I've heard it called council pop :)

Sheffield water used to be great many years ago (the '80s) but it tastes different now than how I remember it. Maybe I can taste the chemicals more because I drink bottled stuff?

Anyway, it's safer than Liverpool's. Someone I know had to be hospitalised after drinking Liverpool water. The stuff turned into jelly 30 minutes after pouring it...imagine what it did to his insides :o

Seriously as the American government use their people as a testing ground for new technologies and drugs, i think we should use their work to our advantage.

Let them ply their people with GM, cloned animals and fluoride. Lets wait 20 years and see what happens, then we can decide if we are to go down that route. Some study in a lab somewhere on mice will never give us the accuracy of an entire nations being subjected to whatever, without research or choice.

Having said that they have been using Fluoride in American water, in many states for many years. And as far as we can tell it's safe. Also it may help get rid of the image we have around most of the world for having bad teeth, so they can move on to calling us a bunch of drunks again ;)

The idea of spiking our drinking water with flouride scared me greatly. THANK GOD THEY AREN'T!!!! Perhaps our MPs do have some common sense after all!

id like to no what the hell gives them the right to put owt in our water its got sod all to do with anyone how we look after our teeth so they can take their flouride and shove it where the sun dont shine ! i dont even let my kids drink staight corporation wine we like ours britta filtered so bogoff you do gooders:loopy: :D :P

Originally posted by Geoff
.... Perhaps you can tell me the #1 reason why we shouldn't add flouride.
Excess of fluoride causes fluorsis, if you look at people's teeth you can often see the whiter flecks which indicate mild fluorsis.
There is good evidence that at low doses fluoride does prevent dental caries
At high doses although the preventative effect remains, the enamel is weakened, the teeth may develop brown stains, if caries do develop the tooth decays significantly faster than would otherwise be the case.
For dental purposes topical application of fluoride is all that is necessary i.e. "spit, don't swallow" - a fluoride toothpaste does the job without exposing the rest of the body to an unnecessary chemical.
There have been suggestions that fluoride may be implicated in degenerative bone conditions (like osteoporosis).
One problem with adding to the water supply is how do you control the dosage? We consume widely differing quantities of water.
Another is how does one "opt out" of this compulsory medication? You can choose not to have the MMR jab (which is far more beneficial to the overall health of the individual & the nation) but how do you opt out of water-borne additives? You may choose to spend a fortune on bottled drinking water - but what about water you use in cooking or consumed away from home?
What of the scope for accidents in the water treatment plants? There are still people around suffering the effects of the accidental addittion of massive doses of alum to the water supply in Camelford in 1988 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/127270.stm
With life expectancies now reaching into the 80s and 90s how much do we know about the long-term cumulative effects?
But the number one reason is that it is not the role of government to force medication on all of us. I'm not particularly exercised about the medical risk/benefit arguement, it's the removal of the right to choose that is the thin end of a very dangerous wedge. Where do you draw the line? Why not add anti-depressants to the water? Or fertility reducing chemicals?
If there are people pleading inability to afford fluoride toothpaste - well frankly they are taking the p*** .

In summary: There is a benefit to accrue from low dose topical application of fluoride.
There is a risk of side effects associated with high doses and possibly also with ingestion at lower levels.
There is inconclusive or disputed scientific evidence of other medical risks.
Toothpaste is the obvious low-risk delivery mechanism - for very low cost one gets the benefits of dental health improvement at a (relatively) controlled dosage level and at the choice of the consumer.

On the other hand....

Q&As

Why is the government imposing fluoridation on the UK, when there are inherent health risks - what happened to choice?

Fluoridation plays a key role in reducing oral health inequalities in children – why has it not been compulsory before?

There is no intention to fluoridate the whole country, and new local schemes will be required to have local support. No area will have its water fluoridated without having undertaken proper consultation to ensure that the measure has local support. The measure in the Water Bill would remove the existing power water companies have to veto new schemes – and give local communities the choice of having their water supply fluoridated.

Fluoridation is about improving oral health rather than water quality, and is therefore a decision which should be taken by local Strategic Health Authorities. The Government will be encouraging Strategic Health Authorities in areas with particular dental health problems to consider fluoridating their water as part of their overall oral health strategy.
No new consultations will start before the joint report from the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Dental Officer on the implications of the Medical Research Council research is published in the autumn. Local authorities will therefore have the latest available research information on which to base their decision.

Fluoride today what tomorrow? perhaps a water soluble contraceptive to keep the population down maybe viagara to boost it. Taken to its conclusion the possibilities are scary.

I want to decide what I ingest thank you very much and don't want something as basic to human life as water to be tampered with.

How can it possibly be safe when nobody will know how much each person drinks. What other 'medicine' is given so generally and freely? It is a registered poison and as such it has by passed all the tests and checks that a regular drug/medicine has to undergo before it is unleashed on the public.

Education is the key. Teach children to brush their teeth twice a day and limit their sweet intake and fizzy drink consumption, drink plenty of milk and visit the dentist twice a year. If you really want fluoride use fluoride toothpaste and get your dentist to apply some to the teeth but don't mass medicate us all.

To be fair though they've used it in other places for years...

Main thing I'm bothered about is the taste changing.