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UK Against Fluoridation

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

UK - BBC presenter Peter chosen to chair fluoride questions

BBC presenter Peter chosen to chair fluoride questions
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BBC journalist Peter White is to chair three Question Time-style events on controversial moves to add more fluoride to Hampshire's water supplies.

Mr White,a former BBC Radio Solent presenter and the Beeb's disability affairs correspondent, will chair a panel of representatives from the pro and anti-fluoride lobby as part of a major consultation exercise by South Central Strategic Health Authority to increase levels of the chemical in tap water in the Southampton and south-west Hampshire district, which includes Nursling and Rownhams.

The Question Time events are being staged at Saints St Mary's Stadium between 7pm and 9pm on October 20, November 8 and December 3.
A 14-week public consultation began on September 8 and concludes on December 19. South Central Strategic Health Authority is due to make a decision on Southampton City Primary Care Trust's request to add the extra fluoride next February. The trust's bosses' claim the extra fluoride is needed because the city's kids teeth are generally in poor condition and the chemical will help improve dental health.

A selected team of county councillors have also been asked to look into the proposals during two day-long hearings in Winchester and report their findings back to members in November. The first took place last Thursday and the second is due to be held on Monday (October 6) in HCC's chamber at Castle Avenue starting at 10.30am.

South Central SHA's Olga Senior said: "We want to hear what those who work and live in the area think about the proposed scheme to help the board of the SHA make a final decision next year. It is great to have someone as experienced as Peter White to help generate discussion. I am sure local people will take the opportunity to have their questions answered."

Drop-in centres have been set up across Southampton and south-west Hampshire. More details about these and booking a seat for the Peter White Question Time events can be obtained by logging on to the SHA website www.southcentral.nhs.uk/fluoridation or calling the SHA on 0800 0234680.

5:09pm Monday 29th September 2008
Comment
Posted by: Philip Robertson, Australia on 7:07am today
As Chair of the South Central Strategic Health Authority panel, could Mr White see if an answer can be found about what will happen to those residents found to be made sick from fluoridated water? Fluoridating authorities always claim this doesnt happen. As a clinician working with Australian patients I have repeatedly seen patients forced to leave fluoridated cities due to medically documented health problems. I know claims of fluoride safety from governments are fraudulant. An answer to this important question is critical before any decision to fluoridate is made.

Good question - shame Mr White is blind and not likely to read it

USA - Dental care elusive

Independent - September 29, 2008: Dental care elusive

.........Spenser is only 48 years old. By the time she had her bottom teeth removed a year ago, she says, they had already taken many of them out. Like with many indigenous people, she couldn’t afford regular cleanings and other preventative care. As such, rates of tooth decay and periodontal disease are quite high in the area..............
Gallup, New Mexico is fluoridated:NYSCOF

Monday, September 29, 2008

Australia - Warrnambool fluoridation fight expected to wane

Warrnambool fluoridation fight expected to wane
Posted 3 hours 58 minutes ago
Map: Warrnambool 3280
Victoria's chief health officer is confident the Warrnambool community will accept a decision to add fluoride to the city's drinking water.
Fluoride will be added to the water supply today.
There has been strong opposition to the move from some community groups, which say water fluoridation is akin to forced medication.
The chief health officer, Dr John Carnie, expects opposition to the move will eventually subside.
"In areas in which the water has been fluoridated people begin to realise that nothing terrible has happened," he said.
"The people of Melbourne, for example, have been enjoying the benefits of fluoride for the past 30 years."

Nothing to worry about, it is just an insidious poison, you won't notice it.

USA - The issue is 50 years old, but fluoride is back in the news.

..............The issue is 50 years old, but fluoride is back in the news.

Joshua Jocelyn, a fluoride opponent, is running for a seat on the ECUA board, which oversees Escambia County's water system. He wants to emulate Elizabeth Campbell, also a political unknown and fluoride opponent, who recently defeated ECUA Chairman Logan Fink.
"I would like to help her," said Jocelyn, who is challenging another ECUA veteran, Elvin McCorvey.
History lesson: Pensacola put fluoride in the water in the 1950s but removed it two years later. It wasn't put back in the water until several years ago, after lots of squabbling..............

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Australia - Fury as anti-fluoride protesters fined for breaking bylaw in city centre

Fury as anti-fluoride protesters fined for breaking bylaw in city centre
JARED LYNCH
27/09/2008 4:00:00 AM
WARRNAMBOOL'S long-running anti-fluoride campaign was ordered to shut down its operations in the CBD yesterday. The city council fined campaigners $226 for illegally setting up near a pedestrian crossing in Liebig Street.
But the anti-fluoride protesters, who were running a citizens'-initiated referendum, claimed their booth was legal and vowed to return today.
Organiser Stephen Juhasz said they were protected under Victorian Imperial Acts Application Act 1980. ``The act states we have the right to petition the King and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal,'' Mr Juhasz.
``What we are doing is providing a community service. We are not here for profit or to push people into it (voting). ``We have chosen a location which is slightly off the footpath and does not disrupt pedestrians or shopkeepers.''
A city council spokeswoman said there was nothing illegal about the petitioning but the protesters needed a permit to erect a structure on the footpath.
``They can petition away, there is nothing wrong with that,'' the spokeswoman said.
``But they need to abide by council bylaws. If they put up a structure they require a permit.'' The Liebig Street booth came just days before fluoride is to be added to Warrnambool's water supply.
The campaigners hope to gain 10 per cent of the eligible vote to seek an injunction order on the decision. They were served an infringement notice about 1.15pm yesterday and given an hour to remove their structure. But they stayed, resulting in the council fine. Last weekend the group set up a polling booth on the Civic Green.
The council spokeswoman said the protesters sought a permit for that booth.
``That tent (on the Civic Green) was fine. They obviously know the processes they have to follow.
``If they remain in Liebig Street then we will proceed with further action.''
Wannon Water has installed equipment at its Albert Park treatment plant to start fluoridation from Monday.

Canada - Time to brush up on fluoride risks

Time to brush up on fluoride risks
By PAUL BERTON
Despite the ongoing and often heated debate, it's clear Health Canada is not particularly concerned about fluoride in tap water. Or is it?
It commissioned an independent study, which reported in January 2007 that governments should lower the amount of fluoride in water and urge makers of toothpaste and baby formula to reduce it in those products.
The recommendations were not posted on Health Canada's website until this spring, and officials still seem in no rush to make any kind of official pronouncement.
Canadian cities have added fluoride to municipal drinking water since the 1960s -- with encouragement from Health Canada and most dental professionals, because it reduces cavities in teeth.
In recent decades, however, critics have raised fears it causes other problems, including: lower IQ in children; cancer; and fluorosis, which mottles teeth in young people. Some critics even dispute whether it actually promotes healthy teeth.
And they're obviously getting some attention. Health Canada set the maximum at 1.5 mg/L in 1968, but recommended 1.2 mg/L. The maximum has never changed, but the recommended level has steadily fallen, and at present is .08 mg/L. Now the expert panel says it should be lowered again to .07 mg/L.
But it may take some time before municipalities get that message. Despite the panel's suggestion, Health Canada is not likely to make any official recommendation before next spring, and is likely in any event to re-assert that 1.5 mg/L presents no undue health risks to Canadians.
That doesn't mean municipalities can't act by themselves and err on the side of safety or even common sense.
In Canada, fluoridated tap water is now rare in British Columbia, Quebec and the Maritimes, but more than 40 per cent of the country's population still encounter it, especially in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
Ultimately, if people in those provinces feel strongly about it, they may have to lobby their own municipalities rather than waiting for Health Canada.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Don't Swallow Your Toothpaste (p 3 of 3)

UK - Water fluoridation may be extended

Water fluoridation may be extended
26 September 2008
Fluoridated water could be added to more tap water in more homes across Cumbria, it has been announced.
Kendal, Carlisle, Penrith and Barrow are being considered for inclusion in the scheme.
Primary care trust bosses say 47% of local children suffer from tooth decay and have asked the Strategic Health Authority to draw up plans.


They must be spending millions on this consultation farce.

UK - East Lancs health chief backs fluoridation plans

East Lancs health chief backs fluoridation plans
7:20pm Friday 26th September 2008 By Camilla Sutcliffe »
EAST Lancashire’s leading public health expert has backed proposals to add fluoride to the region’s drinking water.
Dr Ellis Friedman, director of public health for NHS East Lancashire, said it would be unethical not to add the controversial mineral to supplies, as it had been shown as the most effective way of dramatically improving dental health.
Primary care trusts and councils have been asked by the strategic health authority NHS North West to consider further investigation of fluoridation, and NHS East Lancashire backed plans for a widespread consultation on the issue.
A scheme which would cover East Lancashire along with the rest of the North West would cost up to £102 million, and up to £6.4 million in annual running costs.
Anti-fluoride campaigners, who claim the additive can cause serious damage to teeth, said they feared any consultation would be biased towards the pro-fluoride side.
Consultations with doctors, dentists and the public look set to begin within months, and some local councils including Hyndburn and Pendle have already registered their opposition to fluoride.
Dr Friedman made his support clear at the trust’s board meeting on Thursday, where directors had given speakers from both sides of the argument 10 minutes each to make their cases, before voting on whether to back a full consultation on the issue.
He said: “Fluoridation of the water at a population level is much more effective than any other mechanism for improving the dental health of deprived people, and therefore you have to ask whether it is ethical to withhold this effective treatment from the population.
“In principle I am in favour and see no reason not to proceed with it.”
His comments were echoed by Sheila Jones, of the British Fluoridation Society, representing supporters of the scheme. She said the additive had led to a 19 per cent fall in young children with cavities after being introduced in the West Midlands in the 1970s.
But Doug Cross, of UK Councils against Fluoridation, said putting the additive in water meant mass, unregulated medication that he understood to be illegal under European medicines law.

Canada - Time to brush up on fluoride risks

Time to brush up on fluoride risks
By Paul Berton
Despite the ongoing and often heated debate, it's clear Health Canada is not particularly concerned about fluoride in tap water. Or is it?
It commissioned an independent study, which reported in January 2007 that governments should lower the amount of fluoride in water and urge makers of toothpaste and baby formula to reduce it in those products.
The recommendations were not posted on Health Canada's website until this spring, and officials still seem in no rush to make any kind of official pronouncement.
Canadian cities have added fluoride to municipal drinking water since the 1960s, with encouragement from Health Canada and most dental professionals, because it reduces cavities in teeth.
In recent decades, however, critics have raised fears it causes other problems, including: Lower IQ in children; cancer; and fluorosis, which mottles teeth in young people. Some critics even dispute whether it actually promotes healthy teeth.
And they're obviously getting some attention. Health Canada set the maximum at 1.5 mg/L in 1968, but recommended 1.2 mg/L. The maximum has never changed, but the recommended level has steadily fallen, and at present is .08 mg/L. Now the expert panel says it should be lowered again to .07 mg/L.
But it may take some time before municipalities get that message. Despite the panel's suggestion, Health Canada is not likely to make any official recommendation before next spring, and is likely in any event to re-assert that 1.5 mg/L presents no undue health risks to Canadians.
That doesn't mean municipalities can't act by themselves and err on the side of safety or even common sense.
In Canada, fluoridated tap water is now rare in British Columbia, Quebec and the Maritimes, but more than 40% of the country's population still encounter it, especially in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
Ultimately, if people in those provinces feel strongly about it, they may have to lobby their own municipalities rather than waiting for Health Canada.

Friday, September 26, 2008

UK - Health bosses warned of ‘illegal’ fluoride use

Health bosses warned of ‘illegal’ fluoride use
Last updated 21:00, Thursday, 25 September 2008

HEALTH chiefs will be told today that adding fluoride to water supplies in more parts of Cumbria would be illegal.
Around 130,000 people in West Cumbria already receive fluoridated water but the NHS Cumbria board are set to decide whether to make plans that could lead to fluoridation in South Cumbria.
Changes to the law in 2003 gave primary care trusts the chance to consider water fluoridation as a way of reducing tooth decay and NHS Northwest is asking the county’s primary trust, NHS Cumbria, whether they want to look at in-depth proposals.
Supporters of the scheme say it would improve dental health but anti-fluoridation campaigners say forcing fluoride on people is against the law and causes other problems.
Liz Vaughan and Doug Cross, from Lowick, will address an NHS Cumbria meeting in Kendal today on behalf of UK Councils Against Fluoridation, which was formed in Barrow in 1988 and resulted in 26 councils throughout Lancashire and Cumbria joining to oppose fluoridation.
Mr Cross said: “Fluoride is classed as a medicine but it doesn’t have a licence and it is a criminal offence to supply an unlicensed medicine, as is consulting with the public to perform an illegal act on them.
“The material the board have been given doesn’t tell people about the damage fluoride can cause. We have put in an official complaint.
“It doesn’t actually stop dental cavities but can cause a disease called dental fluorosis which causes stained and pitted teeth. Everybody has the right to refuse medication. They are talking about reducing dental inequalities but fluoride will increase dental inequalities.”
They will also tell the board that fluorosis can only be fixed by veneering, which can’t be performed on people under 21, isn’t free on the NHS, only lasts up to seven years and damages tooth enamel.
NHS Northwest would have the final say on the proposal but the move would only happen following a public consultation next summer.
The trust’s leading health professionals will recommend the board approve a deeper look into the scheme.
In a report set to go before the board Eric Rooney, a consultant in dental public health at NHS Cumbria, said: “Children in the North West have some of the worst dental health in England, and Cumbria is no exception. Water fluoridation is one possible intervention to
improve dental health.”
The report highlights a review of water fluoridation by the University of York, which suggests that fluoridation of drinking water supplies does reduce tooth decay prevalence and severity but the degree is not definitive and effectiveness varies.
Dr John Ashton, Cumbria’s director of public health, said: “The vast majority of doctors and dentists in the UK, endorse the fluoridation of drinking water as a safe way to improve dental health.”

UK - First step to fluoride study

First step to fluoride study
5:17pm Thursday 25th September 2008
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By Allan Tunningley »
HEALTH bosses have voted for a move which could lead to fluoride being added to South Lakeland's drinking water.
The board of Cumbria PCT, meeting in Kendal today, has agreed to ask NHS Northwest to explore the feasibility of fluoridation.
Already around 130,000 people in West Cumbria receive fluoridated water, but this could be extended to other areas if the strategic health authority approves the policy.
For more on this story see The Westmorland Gazette tomorrow. Instructionas on how to vote below.
Should fluoride be added to Cumbria's water? How to cast your Fluoride poll vote... You have two choices - phone vote or text vote. To phone vote YES dial 0901 221 0323. To phone vote NO dial 0901 221 0324. To text vote, send your text to 80360 starting with FLUORIDE, leave a space, and then the word YES, or NO. Calls cost 25p Per Call from BT landlines. Calls from mobiles and some other networks may cost more. Text’s cost 25p plus your normal operator text charge. Telephone and text voting lines close at midnight on 02/10/2008 at 23:59:59PM. Service provided by Newsquest Media Group.

UK - Fluoride decision expected

Fluoride decision expected
Last updated 05:42, Friday, 26 September 2008
HEALTH bosses are to decide whether to add fluoride to more of the county’s water supply.
Around 130,000 people receive fluoridated water in west Cumbria, and NHS Northwest has asked the area’s primary trust, NHS Cumbria, if they wish to expand the scheme.
Changes to the Water Act five years ago allowed primary care trusts to choose whether to add fluoride to water to help reduce the incidence of tooth decay.
Cumbria’s director of public health, Dr John Aston, said: “The vast majority of doctors and dentists in the UK endorse the fluoridation of drinking water as a safe way to improve dental health.
“Fluoride is already found naturally in water, and fluoridation schemes adjust the amount to the optimum level for protecting teeth.”
Eric Rooney, a consultant in dental public health at NHS Cumbria, added: “Children in the north west have some of the worst dental health in England, and Cumbria is no exception.
“Water fluoridation is one possible intervention to improve dental health.”
The board will decide on proposals this week, but the trust is expected to recommend that such a scheme would benefit public health.
The final decision would only be taken after public consultation.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

UK - Oral health not so good, committee hears

Oral health not so good, committee hears
10:41am Wednesday 24th September 2008
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THE standard of oral health in Herefordshire is poor compared with regions where the water supply has been fluoridated.
But at a meeting of Herefordshire Council’s health scrutiny committee on Tuesday, September 22, the county’s director of public health, Dr Akeem Ali warned against drawing easy conclusions from the data.
And committee chairman, the Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Kay Swinburne, advised that Herefordshire should be compared with other areas were water fluoridation has not taken place, to see what lessons can be learned.
She said: “We must compare apples with apples.”
Both Dr Ali and Cllr Swinburne said the situation was too complex to be debated quickly.
The committee decided to debate the possible fluridation of Herefordshire on another date, still to be announced.

UK - Dental performance

Sep 24 2008 Liverpool Echo
Dental performance
WHILE I agree with the tenor of Joe Riley’s remarks about dentists (ECHO, Sept 18), he also states in his column (amongst other things) that "Liverpool youngsters have some of the worst teeth in the UK".
This is incorrect and is part of the myth-making being propagated by local public health officials who are currently seeking to force water fluoridation on the local populace.
In fact, the current rates for Liverpool children’s DFMT (decayed, filled or missing teeth) according to the latest DoH profile is 1.8 per child as against a national average of 1.5 and the worst in England of 3.2.
Given that this is (still) the poorest city in England, this is actually a very creditable outcome and considerably better than would be expected.
It is also rather better than a number of fluoridated cities with better poverty indices and reflects the fact that the local authority and local health bodies have been working effectively in partnership to tackle this problem since the council rejected fluoridation in 1994.
Cllr Paul Clein

Fluoridation and Tea Don't Mix, Studies Continue to Show

Fluoridation and Tea Don't Mix, Studies Continue to Show
Last update: 5:23 p.m. EDT Sept. 24, 2008
NEW YORK, Sept 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Fluoridation puts tea drinkers at risk of damaged bones, discolored teeth and soft tissue harm, studies show.
Tea has naturally high fluoride levels. Excess fluoride can weaken bones and discolor children's un-erupted teeth.
Four cups, of 20 teas sampled, delivered 0.8 to 1.8 mg of fluoride, reports Cao et al. in Food Chemistry.
"Among populations habitually consuming black tea, water fluoridation is not only unnecessary but also possibly harmful...The target organs of chronic fluoride intoxication are not only the teeth and skeleton, but also the liver, kidney, nervous and reproductive systems," they write.
A March 2008 Food and Chemical Toxicology study found up to 4.5, 1.8, and 0.5 mg/L fluoride in black, green and white teas, respectively, when brewed for 5 minutes (61 teas sampled).
Brewed teas could contain up to 6 mg/L fluoride depending on the amount of dry tea used, the water fluoride concentration and the brewing time, according to the American Dental Association (ADA).
According to 1997 ADA data, 3 and 4 milligrams daily is adequate for women and men, respectively, to prevent fluoride's adverse effects. It's much lower for children. In 2006, the National Research Council reported the basis for those levels should be reduced.
Case Reports by Cao and Yi in the Journal of Fluorine Chemistry (February 2008) "Fluoride and Tea:"
-- A 57-year-old Englishman's misdiagnosed Paget's disease (weakened bones) with osteoarthritis was finally correctly diagnosed as skeletal fluorosis caused by his long-term heavy tea-drinking habit.
-- A Pakistani woman's dental fluorosis resulted solely from tea which she consumed from age two.
-- A 36-year-old Chinese woman's ten-years of joint pain disappeared when she stopped drinking tea.
-- French doctors identified 5 patients who developed bone softening (osteomalacia) from drinking tea.
-- An American woman's fluoride-caused debilitating joint pains disappeared when her two-gallon-a-day iced-tea habit stopped.
"By 2020, one in two Americans over age 50 will be at risk for fractures from osteoporosis or low bone mass," according to the Surgeon General.
"It's clear that fluoridation is increasing Americans' bone damage. Presidential candidates must pledge to stop water fluoridation if they truly care about individuals and not fluoridation-supporting special interest groups such as the American Dental Association," says attorney Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
USDA: Fluoride in Food http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6312
Contact: Paul Beeber, JD
516-433-8882
nyscof@aol.com
SOURCE NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

UK - 'No' to fluoride in water

'No' to fluoride in water
23/ 9/2008
COUNCILLORS have voted a resounding “no’’ to plans to add fluoride to the region’s water supply.
Speaking at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, members from the Conservative, Labour and Independent parties all voted against the plans put forward by the Strategic Health Authority.
Hyndburn Council had been asked for its views on the subject by the East Lancashire Primary Care Trust which is helping to carry out a consultation process.
Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: “For a number of years this council has opposed the poisoning of the water supply by adding fluoride.
“Nobody ever seems to take ‘no’ for an answer. Someone is back at the table asking us the same question again. How many parts of the word ‘no’ do these people not understand?”
Also speaking against the plans was Linda Forrest, chairman of Fight Against Fluoride in Hyndburn, Blackburn and Ribble Valley.
She said: “The dental health of children is a concern to me as it is to others. But fluoride is not the answer.
“If fluoride is in the water it’s impossible to control how much we, our children and our pets are consuming.
“Our main concern is not having the freedom to choose.
“Doctors, nurses and health professionals cannot force medication or treatment on us; they can only advise.
“It makes more sense to tackle the causes of dental decay rather than the symptoms. Individuals have the right to take fluoride as a supplement if they wish. Forcing it upon us violates our human rights and infringes our right to choose.”
Councillor Britcliffe said he would write to leaders of neighbouring councils by the end of the week to tell them of Hyndburn’s decision. He also promised to take the matter to the next Pennine Lancashire leaders’ meeting.

UK - Southampton - Opponents set for fluoride face-off

Opponents set for fluoride face-off
5:30am Wednesday 24th September 2008
Comments (4) Have your say »
By Jon Reeve »
THEY have been having their say for months, but campaigners from both sides of the fluoride divide are now going head to head in a series of public debates.
Residents and those who work in parts of Southampton, Eastleigh, Totton and Netley where fluoride could be added to water supplies, will get the chance to hear the opinions and then quiz the experts.
South Central Strategic Health Authority, the body which oversees the region’s healthcare and is running the 14-week public consultation on fluoridation, has organised three Question Time-style events.
After months of arguments since the decision to hold a consultation on the controversial scheme, the debates will be the first time the two sides have shared a stage.
Panel members at St Mary’s Stadium will include representatives from the Department of Health and Southampton City Primary Care Trust – which is the body that is behind the moves to increase fluoride in the water.
They will be joined by members of Hampshire Against Fluoridation and the National Pure Water Association, who argue that the scheme is unethical, has unproven health benefits and could lead to dangerous side effects.
The three evening events, to be held on October 20, November 18 and December 3, will be independently chaired by Peter White, the BBC’s disability affairs correspondent.
Olga Senior, the SHA’s director of communications and corporate affairs, said the events, which take place alongside nine drop-in roadshows, show the SHA wants to encourage the debate.
“Throughout the public consultation we are committed to providing local people with accurate information about water fluoridation along with plenty of opportunities for people to ask questions,” she said.
“We want to hear what those who live or work in the area think about the proposed scheme to help the SHA make a final decision next year.”
Anyone interested in attending the Question Time events needs to register in advance for a seat by calling 0800 023 4680.

UK - Controversial fluoride vote planned

Controversial fluoride vote planned
1:03pm Tuesday 23rd September 2008
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By Allan Tunningley »
HEALTH bosses in Cumbria are to vote this week on whether to support the controversial addition of fluoride to more of the county's water supplies.
Already around 130,000 people in West Cumbria receive fluoridated water, but this could be extended to other areas if NHS Northwest approves the move.
Participate in our fluoride poll
Details at end of storyThe board of Cumbria Primary Care Trust is meeting on Thursday to decide whether it wants NHS Northwest to come up with in-depth proposals on fluoridation.
A PCT report says the addition of fluoride could prevent widespread tooth decay, pointing out that 47 per cent of the children in the county suffer dental problems by the age of five.
However, anti-fluoride campaigners claim studies show the chemical can have a detrimental effect on the body and is not effective against fighting decay.
Should fluoride be added to Cumbria's water?
How to cast your Fluoride poll vote... You have two choices - phone vote or text vote.
To phone vote YES dial 0901 221 0323. To phone vote NO dial 0901 221 0324.
To text vote, send your text to 80360 starting with FLUORIDE, leave a space, and then the word YES, or NO.
Calls cost 25p Per Call from BT landlines. Calls from mobiles and some other networks may cost more. Text’s cost 25p plus your normal operator text charge.
Telephone and text voting lines close at midnight on 02/10/2008 at 23:59:59PM. Service provided by Newsquest Media Group.

UK - Should we fear fluoride in water?

Should we fear fluoride in water?
By Tom Warren
BBC News
Children who have fluoridated water enjoy healthier teeth, it is claimed
A fierce debate is under way in Hampshire over whether to put fluoride in tap water for about 200,000 residents in and around Southampton.
But for years it has been added to drinking supplies for cities such as Birmingham and Newcastle. So why is there still such concern?
Tooth decay is a big problem among children in Southampton.
Last year more than 520 had to undergo general anaesthetics to have a total of 2,900 teeth removed.
So the city's primary care trust wants fluoride added to water supplies to improve dental health. But the plan, currently at consultation stage, has sparked strong opposition from campaigners who claim it could cause tooth discolouration and other health problems. Earlier this year residents of the Isle of Man rejected a similar scheme.
But millions of people in England already drink fluoridated water.
In the 1950s pilot schemes were carried out in the UK after some US cities began adding the substance to their supplies.
Today, most of the West Midlands, large parts of the North East and parts of the East Midlands, East, North West and Yorkshire have fluoridated water.
Deprived areas
In February this year Health Secretary Alan Johnson called for fluoride to be added to more water supplies to reduce tooth decay among some of society's poorest and most vulnerable people.
Prof Michael Lennon, chairman of the British Fluoridation Society, believes there are major health benefits for deprived areas and people are wrong to oppose the move.
He said fears over fluorosis [teeth discolouration] and other side affects were misguided.
"About 10% of the UK is currently fluoridated and our view is we should extend that to about 30% of the population," he said.
Campaigners fear adding the mineral could cause fluorosis in children
"Fluoridation is not a new idea that's been dreamt up, it's as old as the hills.
"We have conducted public opinion surveys for the last 15 years and public support for fluoridation is quite high, 65 to 75% think it's a good idea.
"But 10 to 20% oppose it vehemently. I'm not sure why but I think it boils down to a view about ethics and public health responsibility.
"[Opponents] will use all sorts of statistics about fluorosis. If this is true how come two million people in Birmingham have been drinking fluoridated water since 1964? These arguments just don't stack up."
The British Dental Association (BDA) also backs fluoridation.
"One of the most compelling arguments is it can help reduce health inequalities," a spokeswoman said. I don't think anything should be added to the water as a medicine, because it's the beginning of the end
Brian Donohoe MP, All Party Parliamentary Group Against Fluoridation
"Six of the top 10 places for children with the best dental health have fluoridated water. "I'm sure there's an element of fear of the unknown, people don't like things to be added to the water supply.
"I think that's understandable, but equally it's very important that people supporting fluoridation explain the case.
"[Fluoride] is not a poison, it's an occurring mineral.
"The BDA feels very strongly that targeted fluoridation is appropriate to redress serious dental decay."
Less than 1% of people who have fluoridated water suffer from fluorosis, she added.
But Ann Richards, a member of Hampshire Against Fluoridation, strongly disagrees.
The group is drawing up petitions, leaflets and DVDs to distribute to people in and around Southampton arguing against the change.
'Nasty poison'
Mrs Richards said, as well as fluorosis in children, evidence showed fluoride in water could lead to irritable bowel syndrome, rashes and nausea among some people.
"There are a lot of very angry people out there.
"The authorities that put it in the water have no control over the dose that people get," she said.
"There has been no examination of the population to determine what it is doing. It is a vicious nasty poison and it's one that accumulates in the body."
And it is not only people in Hampshire who are opposed to the move.
Several years ago a number of MPs formed the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Fluoridation.
Its chairman Brian Donohoe, Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, said he wanted the public to get the full facts about fluoridation and not be "duped" into accepting it.
"I don't think anything should be added to the water as a medicine, because it's the beginning of the end.
"What's to stop you adding other things as medicine?
"I don't think it should be imposed upon people without them having a say. There has to be a poll of the public."

John Spottiswood, Chairman of Hampshire Against Fluoridation

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

UK - Fluoridation? World expert says 'It’s an American crackpot idea from the ’50s'

Fluoridation? World expert says 'It’s an American crackpot idea from the ’50s'
11:03am Monday 22nd September 2008
Comments (25) Have your say »
ONE of the world’s leading experts on fluoride paid a flying visit to Southampton to join in the Great Fluoride Debate.
Dr Paul Connett is vehemently opposed to fluoridation and has jetted into the city all the way from his home in New York to add his powerful voice to the consultation on plans to add fluoride to the city’s tap water.
Southampton City Primary Care Trust wants to see the city’s water supplies fluoridated to improve dental health.
Dr Connett, director of Fluoride Action Network and a retired professor of chemistry at St Lawrence University in New York State, has spoken at conferences worldwide on fluoride since he began researching its health impact 12 years ago.
Most of the United States’ water supplies are fluoridated in a medical practice designed to improve children’s dental health.
Dr Connett told the Daily Echo: “Fluoridation is a clumsy form of medication. It’s attractive because you do not have to take any trouble to educate parents.

“But you are giving it to people who are sensitive to it and people who don’t want it. That’s very arrogant.
“There is a far stronger relationship between tooth decay and standard of living than you will ever find between tooth decay and fluoride.
Fluoride lowers IQ “The answer should be to target the kids that are most vulnerable, in low income families, and make sure the pregnant women in these areas are getting a good diet.”
Dr Connett is keen to see in-depth studies into fluoridation’s side effects.
“Fluoridation is an American crackpot idea from the 1950s,” he said. “It was a huge gamble. They knew one thing in 1950 and that was that if they put fluoride in the water, it would increase the number of children with dental fluorosis, which they thought was an acceptable trade off. The gamble was whether fluoride could do that to the growing teeth cells without damaging any other tissue.
“Countries that have had fluoridation since 1950 have never done the basic studies to check this hypothesis out.
“The other half of the scandal is that countries that have not done studies are ignoring studies from countries that do not fluoridate their water but have naturally high levels of fluoride.
“Fluoride causes health problems, damaging the bones and the brain. There have also been 23 studies done in China, India, Iran and Mexico showing fluoride lowers IQ levels in children.
“The health experts say they have been fluoridating for 50 years and if there were any problems we would know about them by now. But if you don’t study it properly, you don’t notice the subtle changes.
“No British authorities are studying the link between fluoride and lower IQ levels, and they are ignoring all the studies from the other countries.”
Dr Connett called for an open debate: “Now is the time to challenge the strategic health authority to demonstrate objectivity by having a balanced debate. I am prepared to do it.”

Monday, September 22, 2008

Fluoride Risks for Kidney Patients (Wide Screen Version)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Farrakhan Music Video"Fluoridation of The Water"

Where’s the evidence?

Where’s the evidence?
Sep 20 2008 by Our Correspondent, South Wales Echo
OUR nannying Government has outlawed smoking indoors because “second-hand smoke (SHS) kills”.
Now let’s see if their scare-mongering is based on science or superstition.
The keystone of this whole panic is their claim: “There is no safe level of exposure to SHS.”
Wow, this IS worrying, since there are safe levels of exposure to everything from fluoride to nuclear radiation, SHS must be the most toxic substance known to science.
What’s worse, it seems to have a sort of deadly malevolent intelligence because although the government admits “ventilation removes the smoke” it does not, they say, “eliminate toxic carcinogens from the air”.
So the Government believes even if air is continually changed these “toxic carcinogens” (is there another kind?) somehow swim against the airflow and remain in the room – rather like evil spirits that refuse to be exorcised.
This is not science, it’s frightened superstitious voodoo and a gross insult to our intelligence. In any case, if there’s “no safe level” of SHS we must be in just as much danger outdoors as in.
Is there nowhere we can hide from the Satanic curses of SHS? What utter poppycock! How can any self-respecting scientist put their name to this nonsense? Yet this law is based on a report by the supposedly independent Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health.
Independent? Scientific? Scoth was actually a coven of hi-profile anti-smoking professors so their independence and scientific detachment is highly questionable.
In short, this whole passive smoking panic is thoroughly fraudulent, disgracefully dishonest and the public health equivalent of Mr Blair’s infamous WMD debacle.
David H Lewis (non smoker) Gweithdai Greenway, CaerphillyGweithdai Greenway, Caerphilly

Not much to do with fluoridtion but I agree with his sentiments we are being brainwashed by a nanny state that thinks that it knows best.

UK - Southampton ‘Don’t poison our water supply’

‘Don’t poison our water supply’
1:41pm Saturday 20th September 2008
Comments (7) Have your say »
By Matt Smith »
“WE don’t want you to poison our water supply.”
That was the overwhelming message to health chiefs at the second drop-in session about plan to fluoridate tap water in Southampton.
A succession of concerned residents pressed officials on why they should have to accept risks of such mass medication and raised doubts over the fairness of the consultation.
Nearly all were against the plans, while most felt what they said would make no difference to the final decisions in February.
Southampton Primary Care Trust wants to introduce fluoride in a bid to improve the chronic dental health in poorer areas of Southampton after other measures have failed.
The authority says it is carrying out a balanced and open consultation before a decision goes to its board in February.
But administrator Sue Fletcher, 60, from Shirley Warren, said the event felt like a “brainwashing exercise”.
“This is a poison, it’s not the natural fluoride in water. It’s more poisonous than arsenic,” she said.
“I can see what they are trying to do but they are going about it the wrong way.”
Phil Conduit, 57, a lift engineer from Swaythling added: “I think they ought to target the families that have got bad teeth. If you cannot bring children up to brush their teeth you’re not bringing them up properly.”
Members of the Hampshire Against Fluoridation (HAF) claim the public consultation over plans to add the chemical to the water supply of nearly 200,000 city residents are too one-sided.
They say the health authority is selling fluoridation in a “soft way” by not giving the full picture.
Authority communications manager Graham Grovers admitted that some people were saying there should be more information about the arguments against fluoridation.
“But we need to be very clear about what our role is. It’s about coming into the community and gathering their views,” he added.
Three Question Time-style debates will follow to allow either side of the argument to make their points against each other.
The third drop-in session runs from noon to 8pm on Friday, September 26, at Northern Community Centre in Kent Street.

I went to the drop in. Hardly anybody came in while I was there but those that did were truly annoyed at the thought of having this poison in our water. The SHA had a holier than thou attitude of we are not convinced either way. The University that will come in to analyse the letters and debates is Birmingham a city already fluoridated. Bet they would not have got the York University to do it since they came out with the 2000 review that did not support fluoridation. I bet the Birmingham experts will know how to interpret the data if they want future work. Fair? I don't think so

Friday, September 19, 2008

Australia - Fluoride in our water in days; Campaigners fight to the end

Fluoride in our water in days; Campaigners fight to the end
BY PETER COLLINS AND
JARED LYNCH
20/09/2008 12:00:00 AM
ANTI-FLUORIDATION campaigners will end their unofficial referendum on the same weekend as fluoride is added to water supplies in Warrnambool, Allansford and Koroit.
Organisers of the citizens-initiated poll, which started on May 8, aim to have collected the views of 10 per cent of eligible voters by September 29.
"We will have polled 10 per cent of the population over 18 years of age," poll assistant Gillian Blair told The Standard .
"I would estimate 99.9 per cent of those who have voted are against it."
So far the poll has been run by volunteers in CBD shops as well as markets, a flower show and a cat show.
Campaigners will take the poll door-to-door across the district, starting in Allansford today.
They will also have a higher-profile polling booth on the Civic Green this weekend and September 27 and 28.
"We want to achieve our target by the end of the month," Ms Blair said.
"Results will be sent to the Victorian Electoral Commission. The process is clear and honest. Participants must show valid ID and voting papers are numbered to stop fiddling with the system.
"We've put our lives on hold for many months to do this and try to persuade councils and the Government to change the stance on fluoridation."
The poll follows two public protest meetings last year, each attended by about 800 people, where Warrnambool City Council was criticised for not opposing the State Government's decision to force fluoridation as a dental health policy.
Council candidate Peter Hulin said although he was not involved with organising the poll, he urged people to vote.
"I'm a person who believes people have the right to choose what goes in their bodies, especially something which would effect their health now or later in life," he said.
"It is very important people vote to show council and our State and Federal governments that we are not happy with this (fluoridation)."
The Warrnambool Fluoride Action Group vowed to take the issue to the High Court, confident of overturning government policy.
The unofficial poll was a way of gleaning community views which would form part of a proposed case by anti-fluoridation groups around the nation.

Wannon Water has installed specialised equipment at its Albert Park treatment plant to start fluoridation in the last week of September.


Residents in Warrnambool, Koroit and Allansford received letters yesterday from Wannon Water on behalf of the Department of Human Services, informing them of the change.

UK - Pendle councillors vote against fluoridation

Pendle councillors vote against fluoridation
4:00pm Friday 19th September 2008
Comments (1) Have your say
By Samrana Hussain
COUNCILLORS have vowed not to allow fluoride to be put into water as a major consultation starts over the issue.
Pendle councillors voted that water fluoridation was not needed in the borough at their full council meeting and resolved to inform health chiefs.
Councillors had been sent a copy of a report by the North West Fluoridation Group – formed from primary care trust officials – which suggests adding fluoride to the water will help improve Lancashire’s poor record on children’s dental health.
East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen PCTs will discuss the report later this month, ahead of NHS North West, the strategic health authority, taking the final decision.
Changes to the Water Act enacted in 2003 have given North West Primary Care Trusts the chance to consider water fluoridation as a method of reducing tooth decay.
It is claimed that fluoride reduces loss of minerals from tooth surfaces and makes teeth more resistant.
But pure water campaigners say the report being shown to members tells only half the story and that the additive, which has been used in some areas since the 1960s, does not improve teeth and can damage health.
Fight Against Fluoride, an anti-fluoridation campaign group based in Blackburn, said people should have the right to make the decision on the matter rather than have it forced on them.
Linda Forrest, chairperson of the group, speaking at the meeting, said: “In a democratic society we should all have the right to choose for ourselves on intimate matters such as politics, religion, medical treatment and what we should eat and drink.
“It is indiscriminate and does not take account of an individual’s state of health, or the individual’s consent.
“Fluoridation is clearly an infringement of our human rights.”
It was revealed three years ago that children in East Lancashire had some of the highest levels of tooth decay in the country.

UK - Southampton Protest against fluoridation

Thursday, September 18, 2008

UK - Power FM asking for comments

Does Southampton Need Fluoride Adding To Water?
The 14-week public consultation gets underway in Southampton on the issue

UK - Comments to the Echo

Bagamn, Southampton says...6:59pm Tue 16 Sep 08
Does this leave the Water Companies open to prosecution for interfering with the purity of our drinking water? It is not known what other side effects it has on the body. Will filtered tap water remove the flouride? I already have a strong smell of chlorine in my water at times. It should be up to the young mothers to stop buying these silly sugary drinks for their children and give them something more suitable. Buying the child a toothbrush would also help.Does this leave the Water Companies open to prosecution for interfering with the purity of our drinking water? It is not known what other side effects it has on the body. Will filtered tap water remove the flouride? I already have a strong smell of chlorine in my water at times. It should be up to the young mothers to stop buying these silly sugary drinks for their children and give them something more suitable. Buying the child a toothbrush would also help.
Quote » Report this post »

Lorraine Barter, Southampton says...10:28pm Tue 16 Sep 08
I am not convinced that the Council will take into consideration the views of those who oppose fluoridisation.They have ridden roughshod over the opinions and wishes of citizens for many years in the past.I am not convinced that the Council will take into consideration the views of those who oppose fluoridisation.They have ridden roughshod over the opinions and wishes of citizens for many years in the past.
Quote » Report this post »

haf, Cadnam says...9:18am Wed 17 Sep 08
To answer Bagamn. The government has legislated that water companies are not open to prosecution. Normal filters will not remove fluoride. You ought to use a filter for the removal of chlorine as it too causes colon cancer. This is one time when I think the councils will vote against the measure but that may not stop it.To answer Bagamn. The government has legislated that water companies are not open to prosecution. Normal filters will not remove fluoride. You ought to use a filter for the removal of chlorine as it too causes colon cancer. This is one time when I think the councils will vote against the measure but that may not stop it.
Quote » Report this post »

South Central SHA, Newbury says...9:45am Wed 17 Sep 08
"haf, Cadnam says...1:22pm Tue 16 Sep 08This so called consultation is far from fair, supposedly they were to have 9 drop ins but now they are manning road shows everyday handing out one sided propaganda. Yesterday they had a caravan in the Centre of the city near West Quay car park and were handing out leaflets."It appears these facts have been muddled. To be clear the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is running the public consultation and coordinating the drop-in events NOT Southampton City PCT. The PCT is the organisation currently running a roadshow in the city NOT the SHA. The SHA and PCT are two completely seperate organisations. The consultation is fair, open and transparent. All material we have produced including the way in which the SHA Board will make the final decision have been published on the SHA website so that anyone can see how this consultation is being coordinated.The SHAs role in this consultation is to listen to all views in an objective manner and come to a final decision. At the drop-in events neither 'pro' fluoridation groups or 'anti' fluoridation groups were invited as these are SHA events to set out the proposal under consultation and allow members of the public to ask questions direct to the SHA and seek more information. To provide opportunites for both sides of this debate to share a platform, the SHA will be hosting three Question Time style events at which the public can ask questions of both sides including Hampshire Against Fluoridation. Information on these will appear in the press in due course."haf, Cadnam says...1:22pm Tue 16 Sep 08This so called consultation is far from fair, supposedly they were to have 9 drop ins but now they are manning road shows everyday handing out one sided propaganda. Yesterday they had a caravan in the Centre of the city near West Quay car park and were handing out leaflets."It appears these facts have been muddled. To be clear the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is running the public consultation and coordinating the drop-in events NOT Southampton City PCT. The PCT is the organisation currently running a roadshow in the city NOT the SHA. The SHA and PCT are two completely seperate organisations. The consultation is fair, open and transparent. All material we have produced including the way in which the SHA Board will make the final decision have been published on the SHA website so that anyone can see how this consultation is being coordinated.The SHAs role in this consultation is to listen to all views in an objective manner and come to a final decision. At the drop-in events neither 'pro' fluoridation groups or 'anti' fluoridation groups were invited as these are SHA events to set out the proposal under consultation and allow members of the public to ask questions direct to the SHA and seek more information. To provide opportunites for both sides of this debate to share a platform, the SHA will be hosting three Question Time style events at which the public can ask questions of both sides including Hampshire Against Fluoridation. Information on these will appear in the press in due course.
Quote » Report this post »

haf, Cadnam says...7:25pm Wed 17 Sep 08
Fair? Under Government legislation money was supposed to be given to those presenting the opposite view to the PCT but no money has been forthcoming, While you are spending £177,250 on the consultation the PCT are spending £2000 on a full page advert in the Echo spending money on the road shows with its leaflets and very well paid staff manning it to push fluoridation. All this money could have been spent on these neglected kids teeth!! You accept coupons giving support while we have to have cogent arguments backed by peered reviewed papers. Very fair I'm sure.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Southampton - This so called consultation is far from fair

This so called consultation is far from fair, supposedly they were to have 9 drop ins but now they are manning road shows everyday handing out one sided propaganda. Monday they had a caravan in the Centre of the city near West Quay car park and were handing out leaflets.
I went over and low and behold Dr John was there and as my first two question were about mother's milk having almost no fluoride and asking how many tonnes of the fluorosilic acid would they put in per year I got handed over to her. No they had no idea of how many tonnes go in per year. On the mother's breast milk one of them said "there is toothpaste" which leaves me wondering if she had been drinking the fluoride.

I said to Dr Johns how we met at the PCT meeting when we gave evidence of its negative effect on health including providing the DVD showing the girl with **** teeth and had any of this influenced her. Her response was that yes it had, she was even more determined to fluoridate. She seems more concerned about winning then anything else.

I said was it fair to compare Birmingham with Manchester when they have more dentists and she said why dentists go there and it made no difference to dental statistics! She ignored Trevor Sheldon's letter as she says some Professor has written to say the natural fluoride and the FA is the same and the BMC has criticised the York report. She quoted all the agencies that endorse fluoride I said Shipman got away with 500 murders and each time someone agreed that they died from natural causes. I told her about Prof Howard and Prof Connett but she then repeated about all the people in the world who drink fluoridated water. I told her about the obesity in the USA and the other advisor laughed and said OH it is responsible for that so I told her it affects the thyroid. Proves really they only see teeth. In the end they both got ratty and said we would have to disagree and they wanted to speak to other people but their was nobody there at the time and they walked off.

So I've come to the conclusion that it is a waste of time appealing to them we just have to appeal to the public to say no in far greater numbers than those who say they support it.

South Australia

THE rising popularity of sugary drinks has become an "epidemic" for oral health and is being blamed for hundreds of children being admitted to hospital for tooth extractions.
Dental authorities say the number of SA children under eight hospitalised for dental treatment last year was around 1300 – most undergoing extraction and restoration as a result of early childhood tooth decay.
The major causes of the decay include soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juices and cordials, which have overtaken tap water as the drink of choice for youngsters.
Alarming numbers of toddlers need to have baby teeth removed because of excessive decay and enamel erosion.
"The impact of popular drinks on our oral health has become an epidemic," Australian Dental Association (SA) president Dr Peter Alldritt said.
Eastwood grandmother Gini Gooden watched as her granddaughter Gracie, 6, underwent a check-up. "We never had the soft drinks that they do these days – we always drank water," Ms Gooden said.
One of the hidden problems with juices and soft drinks is their extreme acidity which strips calcium and phosphate from teeth, causing enamel to erode....

Indian water purification goes nano

......................Over the next five-to-10 years membrane technology will increasingly be used to purify water in individual homes as way to avoid large investments in water pipe infrastructure, according to water experts. ............

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

UK - Southampton Council vows to hold fair inquiry into water plans

Council vows to hold fair inquiry into water plans
8:16am Tuesday 16th September 2008
By Matt Smith »
SOUTHAMPTON council chiefs are confident their own inquiry into controversial plans to fluoridate the city’s water will be fair to both sides of the debate.
A select panel of councillors is holding an independent probe into the benefits and dangers of adding fluoride to the tap water of around 200,000 residents.
They have set up a series of meetings to hear evidence from those for and against the plans, proposed by city health bosses. The councillors will then report back to the full council for a debate in November.
The South Central Strategic Health Authority, which will make the final decision in February, launched a 14- week public consultation on the plans last Monday after rows over its independence and the fairness of publicity materials.
Former Southampton City mayor, councillor Edwina Cooke, who has arranged the council’s inquiry, said it would be balanced.
“We’ve had lots of interest.
Initially we were concerned we had more people for the fluoridation than we had against. But I think we have got a fair balance,” she said.
Representatives from New Forest District Council, Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council have been invited to observe the meetings, which start next Monday.
However, once the inquiry has gathered its evidence, further representations and petitions to the full council will not be heard.
”Everyone will have plenty of opportunity to put their point in three lengthy meetings. Repeating the argument would not be a good use of council time,” said Councillor Simon Letts, chairman of Southampton City Council’s overview and scrutinymanagement committee.
A copy of the council’s inquiry will be passed to the strategic health authority, but there is no obligation to take the council’s views on board.

Monday, September 15, 2008

USA - Cutting fluoride funding a step backward for public health

Cutting fluoride funding a step backward for public health
In print: Sunday, September 14, 2008
In 1985, the city of Brooksville became the first in the region to add fluoride to its municipal water supply. This week, the City Council will consider dropping the common cavity-prevention method as it adopts its budget for the coming year.

The savings? Mostly, $7,000 for chemicals plus labor and ancillary costs that have not been tabulated. If approved, it will be a giant step backward in promoting public health.

The maneuver is pushed by City Council member Lara Bradburn who framed the issue as a 2009 budgetary concern, but acknowledged misgivings about fluoridation dating to the 1980s. Her contention is that insignificant vetting of fluoride by the medical community has posed a potential risk to seniors and children. Those who want fluoride should get it on their own via toothpaste or dietary additives, she said.

TOOTHPASTE

TOOTHPASTE
"By far the most controversial ingredient in toothpaste is fluoride - a systemic poison. There is enough in the average tube of family toothpaste to kill a small child if ingested. Studies have shown a clear relationship between oral cancers and fluoride intake in both animals and humans."

Skin Deep by Pat Thomas (£7.99) is out now, published by Rodale.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Toronto Press Conference

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Full page advert



How can we compete with this kind of expenditure a full page advert in the local paper? It says the City PCT wholeheartedly supports the move to fluoridate. It did not I went to the original PCT meeting and at least two board members spoke and voted against.
We are told that our arguments against fluoridation have to be backed by cogent peer reviewed referenced papers yet according to this they accept support without any.

UK - Rossendale councillors - we need extra dentists not flouride

Rossendale councillors - we need extra dentists not flouride
6:20pm Friday 12th September 2008 By Helen Korn »
ROSSENDALE councillors said they would rather see cash spent on another NHS dentist for the borough, than water fluoridation.
A debate was held by the cabinet after it was given a talk on controversial fluoridation by Melanie Catleugh, a consultant in dental public health.
Councillors now have time to decide whether they would like to go through a consultation period.
But Coun Gladys Sandiford said that would cost a lot of money and she would prefer cash to be spent on better dental services in the valley.
She said: “People have to take responsibility for their own teeth – fluoridation is like mass medicating them.”
Changes to the Water Act enacted in 2003 have given North West Primary Care Trusts the chance to consider water fluoridation as a method of reducing tooth decay.
It is claimed that fluoride reduces loss of minerals from tooth surfaces and makes teeth more resistant.Figures show that 48per cent of five-year-old children in Rossendale have one, or more, decayed, missing, or filled teeth.
But, at present, there are only five dentists in Rossendale with full NHS services.
Coun Peter Steen said: “The cost should be going into funding another NHS dentist for Rossendale.”
Coun Darryl Smith added: “I am pleased we are being consulted about this, but I think it’s completely pointless. Adding fluoride to water is an example of extracting away responsibility from people. For me it’s like taking a sledgehammer to cracking nuts – if I had a headache, I wouldn’t expect everyone else to take an aspirin.
“I think it’s completely bonkers and I would rather the money was spent on improving dental health in the valley.”
The PCT board will need to decide if it wishes to request the Strategic Health Authority to explore the possibility of fluoridating public water supplies by October 31.

Dr. Paul Connett On Water Fluoridation


Dr. Paul Connett On Water Fluoridation

Dr. Paul Connett On Water Fluoridation
Dr. Paul Connett PHD talking about the effects of fluoride and the reports both pro and against.
This is essential viewing for anyone who wants to present solid evidence, to those who advocate it’s continued use in our water supply, as well as people who are unaware of the serious damage fluoride does to people.

Recorded may 9th 2006 in Seattle

Friday, September 12, 2008

UK - First shot fired in the fluoride war as ‘drop ins’ labelled ‘a sham’

First shot fired in the fluoride war as ‘drop ins’ labelled ‘a sham’
1:46pm Thursday 11th September 2008
Comments (17) Have your say »
By Jon Reeve »
HEALTH chiefs are urging residents and workers in those areas that could be set to receive fluoridated water to make the most of a series of drop-in events being held during the official public consultation period.
The sessions, which begin in Bitterne on September 18, will give people the opportunity to talk to experts, and give their feedback on the contentious scheme.
They are being held by South Central Strategic Health Authority – the body charged with independently overseeing the consultation – in a bid to help people understand the complex argu ments for and against fluoride.
But anti-fluoride campaigners criticised the planned events as one-sided, and have expressed their frustrations at being told they cannot give their own presentations at the sessions.
Each of the sessions will run from noon until 8pm, in the hope of allowing as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.
Senior SHA staff will be on hand, supported by other colleagues.
“We want as many people to come to these centres as possible,” said SHA spokesman Graham Groves.
“We will also have display boards with detailed information, the consultation documents and other literature.
“Members of the public can approach the staff there to find out more about the consultation process and we’ll try to answer any questions they have.
“This is a public consultation, so we do need the views of people who live and work in Southampton and the wider area in question.
“We’ll have forms people can fill in and leave with us to give their opinions. Those who don’t want to contribute at the time will be able to take them away with the email address or phone number, so they can submit their comments at a time that suits them.”
Chairman of Hampshire Against Fluoridation John Spottiswoode said the refusal to let his organisation present at the drop-in events is further evidence the consultation is a “sham”.
“The material produced so far by the health authorities is a disgrace. It is so one-sided and biased that it gives a completely false picture of what fluoride is doing,” he said.
“The health authorities are seeking to fool people into supporting water fluoridation by producing a stream of one-sided propaganda that does not take account of the re-search showing major negative health side-effects

USA - Fluoridation information center opens

Fluoridation information center opens
By Tracy Overstreet
The Grand Island Independent
Posted Sep 11, 2008 @ 09:28 PM
GRAND ISLAND —
The handmade poster in the front display window says it all -- "No need for added Fluoride" -- with "No" and "Fluoride" in bold red lettering.It's a sign at the Fluoride Information Center, which was recently opened by the Grand Island Chapter of Nebraskans for Safe Drinking Water.The center is located just north of the Conestoga Mall in the strip mall occupied by Big Apple Bagels."Come in and view the literature, watch the DVDs," said chapter spokesman Chuck Carpenter.He thinks the public will be amazed by the published data pointing to the dangers of fluoridating drinking water supplies."Fluoride is where asbestos and lead were a few decades ago," Carpenter said.A practice initially believed to be safe that then became commonplace is actually harming the very people it's meant to protect, he said.The center has rows of folding tables set up with printouts of scientific data on fluoride, handouts on primary concerns that have been documented and published around the world.Another table -- the toothpaste table -- displays various brands of toothpaste, all with warning labels about ingesting fluoride."If the stuff is so bad it needs warnings, it must not be that safe?" Carpenter asked.He also pointed to the toothpaste labels listing fluoride as a "drug," not as a nutrient.Using the drug fluoride in a municipal water supply is nothing more than mass medication, Carpenter said."How does it improve the water? It doesn't," he said.The fluoridation issue is one that Grand Island voters have rejected in years past, but will decide again in November.The Nebraska Legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto on LB245. It mandates that cities of more than 1,000 population fluoridate the municipal water supply by June 1, 2010. The fluoridation level must be 1.0 parts per million of fluoride unless the public rejects the practice in a vote -- then the city can opt out of fluoridating.The Grand Island City Council put the fluoridation question on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. "One part per million is a 50-year-old standard," Carpenter said. "Since that time, the quantities in our food has increased."Everything from Coca-Cola to Post's Grape Nuts has fluoride. That coupled with fluoridated water can lead to an overdose, he said.Grand Island's water has 0.6 ppm of naturally occurring fluoride. That naturally occurring fluoride is calcium-based, not the hydrofluorosilicic acid, a labeled poison, that's used in fluoridating municipal water supplies, Carpenter said.Also at the center are voter registration forms, investigative books and a number of posters.Fourteen Nobel Prize winners who all objected to fluoridation are depicted on one center poster. Thirteen of those date from the late 1920s to 1963, except for Swedish doctor Arvid Carlsson, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2000. Carlsson was prominent in banning fluoride in Sweden.A number of other countries have also banned fluoridation. They include China, Austria, Belgium and Finland.The bans have come as more information and studies about fluoride have revealed its dark side, Carpenter said.The center is open two days a week and has a special speaker, Dr. David Kennedy of California, scheduled to give a talk this Saturday.

Australia - 1yr on, Bligh proudest of fluoride reform

1yr on, Bligh proudest of fluoride reform
Posted 6 hours 6 minutes ago
Anna Bligh says plans to introduce fluoride to the water supply are her best achievement from her first year as Queensland Premier.
In the year since taking over from Peter Beattie, Ms Bligh has overseen changes to Freedom of Information laws, amendments to adoption laws and political donation rules.
But she says she is proudest of setting a timetable that will have 90 per cent of Queenslanders drinking fluoridated water by 2012.
"It's been a very big year with lots of challenges and lots of learning for me. Without a doubt I think the thing I feel very satisfied that I've had a chance to bring is fluoride into Queensland's water," she said.
"I know it's controversial out there, but I think it's something that will leave a very long legacy of better dental health for our children."

I wonder if she will regret that one day.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Canada - All Halton water should be fluoride-free

All Halton water should be fluoride-free
Letters
Sep 10, 2008
The recent letter entitled 'Fluoride-free water needed for all of Halton' was right on the money. There can be no doubt about it.
There was a conference recently in Toronto, with the top experts from around the world talking about the dangers of fluoride. Health Canada was invited, but didn't attend. Health Canada can find time to promote fluoride, but doesn't seem interested in the latest research about it. Fluoride is a very bad thing to be forced on people by government. It's a killer. As one lady at the conference said, "People who force fluoride on other people have blood on their hands."
JOHN SHADBOLT, ACTON

UK - Sensible debate is what is needed

Sensible debate is what is needed
8:20am Thursday 11th September 2008
By Readers' Letter »
I HAVE been involved in public affairs as a councillor, university teacher and health service senior manager for more than 30 years and I have never come across any subject that attracts the sheer volume of misinformation that attends water fluoridation.
Your correspondent, PJ Carroll, provides a prime example in the letter, “Evidence is against water fluoridation” (September 5).
I could spend a lot of time dealing with all the points raised in the letter, but if I deal with the absolute inaccuracy of just one of the statements, maybe readers would be able to form a view of the veracity of the rest.
PJ Carroll writes: “From 1972 to 1974 the number of heart attacks in Antigo, Wisconsin, doubled in a year following addition of fluoride to the water systems. “Because of this, they took the fluoride out and the heart attack rate came down.”
The facts are that the current fluoridation system in Antigo was introduced in October, 1965, and was still operative when I retired from the NHS last year.
Perhaps PJ Carroll would like to let readers have the source of his — inaccurate — information.
The facts are that water fluoridation is effective in improving dental health and there is no good evidence of any adverse effects on general health.
If the SHA comes up with a cost-effective scheme there is only one sensible objection, and that is the argument that the water supply is not an appropriate medium through which to pursue a public health agenda.
This is a perfectly legitimate view and it is the one taken by David Crausby MP. Bolton’s other two MPs support water fluoridation.
What is needed is a sensible debate on this essentially ethical/political point and not a barrage of misinformation and pseudo-science, which only confuses and alarms the public.
Guy Harkin, Former director of the North-west Fluoridation Evaluation Group

What is needed is a sensible debate on this essentially ethical/political point and not a barrage of misinformation and pseudo-science from the Strategic Health Authority.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

serious tooth brushing

Click title to see video
Amaya really digs brushing her teeth. So do we. Without dangerous flouride or sodium lauryl sulfate toothpaste for a year now. We use baking soda (baking soda is less abrasive than virtually any other cleaning agent used in toothpastes), a pinch of sea salt and a tasty essential oil.

Tooth Powder Recipe (more found here)

6 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
5 drops peppermint oil

(ps it will cake after awhile but usually we use it up before it gets to that stage)

Sometimes I sprinkle some of nature's best disinfectant (a gift from one of three wise men): myrrh powder which is very good for mouth and gum disorders, such as mouth ulcers, pyorrhea, gingivitis, spongy gums and sore throats)though it tastes slightly bitter and is optional. Peppermint, Cinnamon and Clove are some flavors that we like (true essential oils, not artificial). The whole concoction tastes strange at first, but you get used to it. Mirjam really liked it when she was here and said it tastes like this fancy organic toothpowder that sells for 10 euros. It costs about 10 cents to make!

Our dentist was floored at how great our teeth look (clean and white) and we are happy because both of our sensitive teeth issues disappeared after a couple of months of making our own tooth powder. Store bought toothpaste blocks your enamel from recoating itself while you sleep at night and so our teeth are stronger and actually healing themselves. Teeth reenamalize when clean. What about toothpastes (even organic ones)? Glycerine is in all tooth pastes and is so sticky that it takes 27 washes to get it off. Teeth brushed with any toothpaste are coated with a film and cannot properly re-enamelize.

Salt is great for your gums to fight bacteria and acts as a scouring agent to buff off that tartar. When I was at the dentist years ago, I told him I was going to the Middle East for 6 months and he handed me a toothbrush and said in a hushed voice that I could use salty water to brush my teeth if I needed. (Of course, they sell toothpaste all over the world, but funny how he was letting me in on a dental secret; planned parenthood gave me 12 months of birth control pills and a sack of condoms--don't know what they were thinking either!)

The industrial fluoridation lobby with the help of largely uninformed dentists' associations world wide is currently renewing its push to recover lost fluoridation territory. After most European countries stopped fluodidating their water supply in the 60s and 70s. Tooth decay, whether in adults or children is due to poor dental hygiene and excessive consumption of refined sugar products, and fluoridation will not stop either of those. Plus, Fluoride toothpastes make the enamel brittle and chalky and it severs the gums from the teeth resulting in gum pockets and gingivitis infection.

NZ - Board votes against fluoridation

Board votes against fluoridation
By Diane Brown on Wed, 10 Sep 2008
Your Town: Alexandra | The Regions: Central Otago
Did the Vincent Community Board make the right call on fluoride? Flouride will not be added to the water supply in Alexandra and Clyde.
The Vincent Community Board said so on Monday, with most members agreeing there was not a clear mandate from the community.
The referendum held in conjunction with the local body elections last year had shown an almost 50-50 split in the community vote.
Cr Tony Lepper said he was amazed at the passion with which the issue was debated at both ends of the scale.
New board member Tim Cadogan said it was not fair to add fluoride when half the community did not want it.
"If we do put it in the water, the half that don't want it don't have a choice, and those that do [want it] can go to the chemist, and it only costs 10c a day," he said.

UK - Mouth germs suck with new dummy

Mouth germs suck with new dummy
09th Sep 2008
A new baby dummy that claims to prevent bacteria attacking mouths has been given the official stamp of approval.
Leading oral health charity, the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF), has given the innovative design the thumbs up.
Recent dental statistics illustrate around half of children under five years old suffering with decayed teeth, better oral care for babies is imperative.
The Foundation has now welcomed a new soother, or dummy, designed to release bacteria-busting xylitol into babies' mouths.
The invention has been in development at Turku University's Institute for Dentistry and could reach the market next year.
Xylitol is a naturally-occurring sweetener, and provides a useful substitute for
high-sugar products that can cause tooth decay.
The soother also contains probiotics to boost children's immune systems.
Chief Executive of the Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter said: 'Xylitol is a proven way of stopping the bacteria which cause tooth decay from attacking teeth. Some parent dip soothers into sugary fruit juices or honey. This can be very harmful, as it exposes tiny teeth to harmful acids.
'The link between oral and general health has been proved through scientific research so these new products could become a useful tooth in looking after children's health.'
The BDHF advise parents to register kids with a dentist as soon as possible, and begin careful brushing of children's teeth with fluoride toothpaste when the first baby teeth appear.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Water Fluoridation David Icke Secrets of the Matrix



Does this make much sense if 1 part per million can do that what about the 9 parts in my tea? More like making money and disposing waste.
Wish we could get the placard waving crowd here in Southampton.

USA - Timberville Revisits Fluoride In Water Posted 2008-09-09

Timberville Revisits Fluoride In Water Posted 2008-09-09
Supporter, Opponent Argue Health Benefits
By Jeremy Hunt
TIMBERVILLE - The Town Council is considering whether to continue treating its water with fluoride, and residents and officials got an earful at a forum Monday night from dentists with opposing views.
About 40 people gathered at the Plains Elementary School auditorium to participate in the forum, which became impassioned and argumentative at times.
The fluoridation issue may be brought up at Thursday's council meeting or at next month's meeting, Town Manager Austin Garber said.
Lisa Syrop, a dentist with the dental health division of the Virginia Department of Health, presented voluminous information in support of fluoridation, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Surgeon General.
David Kennedy, a San Diego dentist and former president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, took the opposing view. To back his case, Kennedy used a plethora of information against fluoridation, including data and citations from the American Dental Association and the Food and Drug Administration.
Each speaker disputed the evidence and conclusions the other presented, sometimes using the same reference materials in an effort to prove opposing points.
Opposing Views
Syrop said fluoridation at "optimal levels" - between 0.7 and 1.2 parts per million - reduces tooth decay by 20 to 40 percent. Timberville's water consistently has fluoride levels at 0.90 ppm, she said.
"Fluoride, in just the right amount, improves oral health and overall health," she said. "Over 60 years of studies and evidence-based reviews conclude that community water fluoridation is safe and effective in preventing tooth decay."

But Kennedy countered that no "high-quality" studies have been done to prove fluoridated water's effectiveness, and it has been linked to medical problems, including thyroid impairment and fluorosis, which is an overdose of fluoride that can lead to dental problems.

The reduction in tooth decay in the last 50 years is often credited to fluoride, Kennedy said, but it's likely due to oral health education and increased accessibility.
‘A Public Health Issue'
Council Member Robert Blosser said both sides presented good arguments, and he hopes residents will come to the council meetings to speak their minds on the issue.
At the forum, fluoridation also was discussed in terms of cost, which Blosser said the council is not concerned with.
"It's not a cost thing. It's a public health issue," he said. "It's tough."
Contact Jeremy Hunt at 574-6273 or jhunt@dnronline.com

Monday, September 08, 2008

UK - The Great Fluoride Debate

The Great Fluoride Debate
10:30am Monday 8th September 2008
By Jon Reeve »
IT HAS already been a hot topic of conversation for months, but now the talking finally starts for real.
Today marks the official start of a 14-week consultation on controversial plans to add fluoride to the tap water of nearly 200,000 Hampshire residents.
Health chiefs in Southampton say the scheme is needed to improve chronic levels of tooth decay amongst children, mainly in more deprived areas of the city.
Last year alone, more than 500 city youngsters had surgery to remove diseased teeth under general anaesthetic.
But campaigners against fluoridation say it is a dangerous process that can lead to worrying side effects including damaged teeth, brittle bones, cancer and even lowered IQ in youngsters.
Today, as the debate starts for real, we lead you through the arguments with the views of the opposing camps.
The public consultation, which runs until December 19, will feature public drop-in events where residents and workers can go to find out more and express their views on the scheme.
Southampton City Primary Care Trust wants to increase the amount of fluoride in the water delivered to 160,000 Southampt-on residents – two-thirds of the city – from 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to one ppm.
That is the level they say is considered to offer the best impact in reducing tooth decay.
Among those who would receive fluoridated water are those living in seven of 11 identified target areas where dental health is poorest.
But while another four priority zones fall outside the areas to be fluoridated, 36,000 people living in areas outside the city – in Eastleigh, Totton and Netley – will receive extra fluoride despite there being no major concerns about dental health there.
And the consultation itself, which is costing £178,000, has already proved controversial.
South Central Strategic Health Authority, which is independently overseeing the exercise, was forced to rewrite its own informational leaflets because they were found to be too biased in favour of fluoride. There has also been criticism that guidelines say only views from people who base their opinions on accepted evidence will be counted.
When the Daily Echo held a snap-shot poll on the proposals in June, we received more than 25,000 votes – 67 per cent of which were against fluoridation, although there was no limit on the number of times people could have their say.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Southampton' s fluoridation consultation starts on Monday

Water fluoridation consultation

Very persuasive video and comprehensive FAQ with very convincing arguments if you didn't know different.

Date of first "Drop in" is now on the 18th and there is one extra making nine in all.

Study Shows High Gum Disease Rates in Rural Appalachia, Sheds Light on Reasons for Tooth Loss

Study Shows High Gum Disease Rates in Rural Appalachia, Sheds Light on Reasons for Tooth Loss
LibrariesMedical News
Research on 445 families centered in two Pennsylvania towns and two West Virginia counties shows that 80 percent of adults suffer from more severe forms of periodontal disease, according to Richard Crout, D.M.D., Ph.D., an expert on gum disease and associate dean for research in the West Virginia University School of Dentistry.
Newswise — Research on 445 families centered in two Pennsylvania towns and two West Virginia counties shows that 80 percent of adults suffer from more severe forms of periodontal disease, according to Richard Crout, D.M.D., Ph.D., an expert on gum disease and associate dean for research in the West Virginia University School of Dentistry.
“Leaving periodontal disease untreated is a major public health problem,” Crout says. “Not only do we see cases where the inflammatory process has eaten down around the bone, ultimately causing tooth loss in many patients, but also more important the inflammation likely has traveled throughout the body. A person with periodontitis may be twice as likely to have a heart attack and almost three times more likely to have a stroke.”
He added, “If a woman is pregnant, she is four to seven times more likely to have a preterm, low birth-weight baby compared to someone who does not have gum disease.”
Unlike gingivitis, an inflammation of the gums that is reversible, periodontitis can create infections below the gum line leading to bone destruction and tooth loss if not treated. Bleeding of the gums can signal gingivitis. But in periodontitis, no pain or symptoms may accompany the infection spreading into the bone.
Eighty-five percent of adults in the study showed signs of bone loss.
The study focusing on rural areas of Appalachia is a WVU-University of Pittsburgh collaboration, yielding a gold mine of dental data. Crout, who is directing the West Virginia portion of the collaboration, is sharing some of the more significant findings at the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Periodontology in Seattle Sept. 8. (The academy’s annual meeting runs Sept. 6 through 9.)
“This is the largest oral health study ever done in Appalachia,” Crout says.
In addition to dramatic rates of periodontal disease, discovery of high bacterial counts and the virulence of the disease-causing organisms in the mouth surprised the researchers, Crout says.
“These findings are significant in a state that leads the nation in all those who have lost all their teeth over the age of 65,” Crout says. “The national average is 20 percent, but in West Virginia, it’s 43 percent.”
The West Virginia families in the study live in Webster and Nicholas Counties. The Pennsylvania families are from the towns of Burgettstown and Bradford.
WVU’s portion of the National Institutes of Health grant is approximately $3.12 million. WVU researchers have followed the West Virginia families since 2002, studying genetic as well as environmental factors including attitudes, behaviors and beliefs. They are also examining microbial samples.
The study is part of COHRA – the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia. Originally involving only WVU and the University of Pittsburgh, the study has expanded to include the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa.
The researchers say parents and grandparents who have already lost their teeth are likely to transmit attitudes to the next generation. “Too often the attitude is, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to lose them anyway,’ ” Crout says.
When Crout travels throughout West Virginia giving presentations to students on the importance of oral health, he sometimes meets schoolchildren who come up after the talk and say, “Hey, Mister, what’s this bump?” The child will crook a finger inside his cheek to offer a look, and Crout will observe a large, untreated abscess of the tooth.
A large abscess sometimes means the mouth can’t be numbed. So the child’s first visit to the dentist may end up being painful. Fear of pain may lead to a lifelong reluctance to visit the dentist.
“We have found that dental fear is highest in the very young. It may be one of the reasons that, by the age of 8, one-third of children have untreated dental decay in West Virginia,” Crout says. “One-third of West Virginians under age 35 have lost at least six permanent teeth. Our research has found that more than 25 percent of people would rather have a tooth out than have treatment done that might preserve the tooth. Fear was one of the main factors.”
Crout would like the study to lead to interventions such as introducing children to the dentist and the dentist’s chair at age 1 or when the first tooth comes in.
“It’s likely that at this age, treatment will be more preventive and provide a more positive first dental visit experience. This would go a long way in reducing fear and be very helpful in getting larger numbers of people to go to the dentist,” Crout says.
“It is also critically important to get the word out to our people in the state of the importance of oral health. Not only will it keep their teeth, but it will also be very important for good systemic health. Brushing, flossing and routine dental visits have never been more important,” Crout says.
Crout’s co-authors on the study are Dan McNeil, Ph.D., of WVU, and Robert Weyant, Dr.P.H., and Mary Marazita, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh.

West Virginia is 91% fluoridated:NYSCOF

Saturday, September 06, 2008

NZ - Roxburgh's water not to be fluoridated

Roxburgh's water not to be fluoridated
By JOANNE CARROLL - The Southland Times
Saturday, 06 September 2008
The Roxburgh Community Board has decided not to fluoridate Roxburgh's water supplies.
The board members voted unanimously against fluoridation at their meeting in Roxburgh yesterday. Chairman Stephen Jeffery said the community did not give the board a mandate to go ahead with fluoridation so the decision was straightforward.
Roxburgh residents voted against fluoridation, by a majority of 13 votes, at the referendum held with the local body elections last year.
A report to the board by Central Otago District Council assets and contracts manager Murray Washington says fluoridation of public water supplies generated significant public interest with often extreme views for and against.
Otago District Health Board senior public health dentist Dorothy Boyd recommended fluoridating the water to improve the community's oral health.
Overall, 49 percent of voters in Southland, Central Otago and South Otago were against fluoridation.

UK - Evidence is against fluoridation

Evidence is against fluoridation
5:10pm Friday 5th September 2008
By Readers' Letter »
ON what evidence can the fluoridation of Bolton’s water supplies be justified?
For half a century assurances from the US Public Health Service that water fluoridation was safe have rested on the results of the 1945 Newburgh-Kingston Fluoride-Caries Trial, in which the health of children from the fluoridated town of Newburgh, New York, were compared for 10 years with children from neighbouring non-fluoridated Kingston.
Dr Harold Hodge had assured local citizens that the experiment had proved fluoridation safe and he urged it upon the entire country. He told Congress in 1954: “Health hazards do not justify postponing water fluoridation”. And, in 1963, Dr Hodge sang the praises of Newburgh’s dental health before the Supreme Court in Dublin, prescribing compulsory fluoridation for both children and adults in Ireland. This country recently reduced the recommended dosage of 4ppm to 0.7ppm, with no official explanation for the reduction.
Ireland, of course, swallowed his story. But today, back in Newburgh, the most visible effects from fluoride in Newburgh's water systems are not fewer cavities, but, instead, the high rates of speckled and mottled teeth known as dental fluorosis. After 50 years, Newburgh children have virtually the same amount of dental decay as their counterparts in the “control” city of Kingston. Because of fluoridation, the US has one of the highest rates of hip fracture in the world, and an epidemic of arthritis in 21 million Americans. No-one appears to have noticed when, in an obscure paper published in 1979, Dr Hodge quietly admitted that his safety figures had been wrong.
From 1972 to 1974, the number of heart attacks in Antigo, Wisconsin, doubled in a year, following addition of fluoride to the water systems. Because of this, they took the fluoride out, and the heart attack rate came down. In his search for a chemical that converts the metabolism of a normal cell to that of a cancer cell, Dr Otto Warburg discovered that sodium fluoride was effective in bringing about this charge. What is significant is that Ireland's cancer rate is going through the roof. There was other information on Newburgh’s health that concerns us here. The town’s heart disease rate following fluoridation was found by researchers to be one of the highest in the US, another fact missing from the official final report. Heart disease also doubled just five years into the fluoride experiment in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fluoride concentrates in the arteries, attracting calcium, and can contribute to their hardening. The folly of adding fluoride to water sup-plies in a nation so burdened by heart disease would seem obvious.
P J Carroll Bolton

Friday, September 05, 2008

Echo letter



Shame they edited part of Walter's percentages out but at least they printed it.

USA - Fluoridation will be hot topic at water board meeting

Fluoridation will be hot topic at water board meeting
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District will discuss water fluoridation at the Sept. 9 board of directors meeting in an attempt to address growing concerns about the tap water additive that many people believe does nothing to improve dental health and is actually a poison at the root of many illnesses.
General Manager John Mundy said the meeting is intended to inform the public and the board of directors about the history of fluoride and the laws that govern the use of fluoridated tap water in California.
Because the Las Virgenes district purchases its water from the Metropolitan Water District, the issue of whether to fluoridate or not, "is not a decision that is made here," said Jeff Reinhardt, customer service and public affairs manager at the district.
Calabasas resident Robert Singer, a member of the Conejo Valley Citizens for Safe Drinking Water, a grass-roots organization based in San Diego, has pushed for a public discussion of the issue. In a letter to Mundy, he requested that the district refuse "future water deliveries that contain Hydrofluorosilic acid and its contaminant."

The district, however, cannot refuse water from the MWD since Las Virgenes does not have its own local water source. All water in the 65,000-customer Las Virgenes area is supplied from the state water project, Mundy said.

Singer is also calling for a document to be entered into the official public record concerning agency "accountability, transparency, compliance with the law, conformance with industry standards and duty of care."
Several Oak Park residents are members of the citizen's group as well, including Caroline Aslanian and Nicole Johnson.
Aslanian told Las Virgenes board members at the July 22 meeting that she was speaking on behalf of her parents, who can't afford the $700 reverse osmosis system needed to remove fluoride from their tap water.
"I'm here to represent my parents," Aslanian said, "and people like my parents who don't have a choice but to use fluoridated water. My parents don't have a choice to get rid of it."
Fluoride, opponents say, causes a host of health problems, including fluorosis—which in mild cases causes teeth to be discolored—to skeletal fluorosis, a crippling condition.
Fluoride advocates say the minute amount of fluoride added to water is a benefit to public health and has helped curb tooth decay for more than 50 years.
Aslanian said just because fluoride has been added to tap water for years "doesn't make it right."
Johnson has tackled the issue in Oak Park, addressing the Triunfo Water District on several occasions. The MWD law stipulates that any water district with less than 10,000 service connections can be exempt from the law, but since Triunfo obtains all its water from the MWD, the point appears to be moot.
Johnson added that the citizens' group has been asking for longterm toxicological reports. The report is legally required for any substance put in the water supply, Johnson said. Triunfo, she said, did their "due diligence" and found that these reports have never been filed with the Environmental Protection Agency. They simply don't exist.
"So the manufacturer has not done what they are legally required to do," Johnson said. "Strangely, the absence of this report doesn't bother the board, but it deeply troubles those of us who don't wish to consume what the EPA considers to be toxic industrial waste."
Mundy said the district is in compliance with Assembly Bill 733, a bill passed in 1995 that requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to regulate drinking water and to establish standards for monitoring contaminants that may be hazardous to public health. A contaminant is defined as any substance found in water, including beneficial elements.
The intent of the bill is to reduce tooth decay among California children.
To remove water from the water supplies in the Las Virgenes area would require a third party to construct and operate a facility that is not subsidized by ratepayers, Mundy said.
The amount of fluoride added to water is tiny, Reinhardt said. Four milligrams per liter is the level considered safe by federal standards; 2 milligrams per liter is California's maximum contaminant level, and Las Virgenes treated water includes 0.8 milligram per liter, he said, adding that naturally occurring levels of fluoride in the water measure 0.4 milligram per liter.
Johnson and other opponents of the additive don't want any fluoride added to water. "We've never been given the opportunity to vote for this medication to be added to our water," Johnson said.
The meeting is at 5 p.m. Tues., Sept. 9 at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District headquarters, 4232 Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas.
For more information, call (818) 251-2200.