Life

Concerns over adding fluoride to water supply

Roisin Armstrong looks at the benefits and drawbacks of adding fluoride to our water supply and examines why the issue so polarises opinion IT WOULD appear that about every 10 years or so the issue of adding fluoride to the water supply is raised. This is an enormously controversial issue which polarises opinion.

On the one hand, the government and all its associated health bodies and most dentists claim that we need fluoride to prevent tooth cavities. Fluoride is a natural mineral that is found in many foods and in all drinking water. The amount of fluoride in water varies from area to area - the type of fluoride added into water supplies is not the same as that which occurs naturally.

Tooth decay, also known as dental decay or dental caries, is a major health concern worldwide and it is still a big problem in the developed world. The benefits of fluoride for the developing teeth of children are said to be that it changes the structure of developing enamel, making it more resistant to acid attack. Dentists recommend that children up to three years of age should use toothpaste with fluoride but should only use a tiny amount. An adult should always supervise tooth brushing and they should always spit toothpaste, never swallow, and always rinse well with water.

Fluoridation of water is regularly touted as a means of improving the public's dental health. However, it is estimated that only 3 per cent of the population has bad teeth issues.

Those arguing for adding fluoride to the water supply claim that it will be added at the safe level of one part per million (ppm), which may seem reasonable until you consider that is what you would receive if you just drank the water.

Consider how that dilutation chalks up when you eat vegetables grown in it and eggs produced from it - it is estimated it takes one pint of water to produce one egg - drink beer or cider manufactured using it, consume dairy products, bread, fizzy drinks - the list goes on.

Consider also that fluoride is present in toothpastes, mouth washes, some chewing gums, pesticides, herbicides, coal, unleaded petrol fumes and some drugs. What then is the cumulative effect of fluoridated water?

The British Medical Association's New Guide to Medicines and Drugs 1994 states that "prolonged intake of water containing 2ppm [of flouride] may lead to discolouration of the teeth. Very high levels over 8ppm may lead to bone disorders, degenerative changes in kidneys, liver, adrenal glands, heart, central nervous system and reproductive organs".

To gain some knowledge of the other side of the argument, I spoke to Walter Graham, information officer for an organisation called Councils of NI Against Fluoridation. Mr Graham has devoted many years of his life travelling the length and breadth of Ireland and beyond, trying to educate councils and other governing bodies about the damaging effects of fluoridation.

One of Mr Graham's papers compiled in March 2006 was a review of all available literature on fluoride's health effects, gathered by the National Research council, an arm of the US Academy of Sciences. The report was written at the request of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Drinking Water and found the following adverse health effects of fluoride not previously identified: thyroid impairment, impaired glucose tolerance (Type 2 diabetes), dental fluorosis (when the teeth develop discolored markings as a result of loss of tooth enamel), bone fractures, lowering of IQ and brain damage, especially in the presence of aluminium (which may also be found in drinking water).

The investigating committee found that many of these adverse effects were found where water had been fluoridated at the level of only 1.5ppm.

As Mr Graham states from his research findings: "All drugs require a margin of safety in the order of 100x, in that, if the drug is effective at 1ppm it should do you no harm until 100ppm.

"Consider the effect of fluoridation when just feeding a baby with formula. If it is the case that when water is fluoridated that 1mg of fluoride is delivered per two pints of water, that baby will be taking in sufficient water to be receiving 0.5mg of fluoride every day, three times the safe level, a 14lb baby six times the safe level," Mr Graham said.

"The addition of fluoride acid to our water was put to all Northern Ireland's councils years ago and Ulster said no. So why are we being threatened with this again at taxpayers' expense, when 98 per cent of Europe has rejected mass medicating its population?"

? Roisin Armstrong is an acupuncturist and kinesiologist.r.armstrong@irishnews.com ? NATURAL: Fluoride is a natural mineral found in alldrinking water, though levels vary from area to area? HIGH LEVEL: It is estimated it takes one pint of water to produce one egg