Letter to Western Daily Press

5th Feb 2008
Sir,Toxic Chemicals for Our Water Fluoride products are banned in Belgium and have been rejected by most European countries. Our government is again pushing to fluoridate our water supplies and is disseminating false or incomplete evidence to the general public. The Department of Health claims that children in areas such as Birmingham, which has been fluoridated for 40 years, have half the rate of tooth decay compared with those living in unfluoridated areas such as Manchester. This is misleading as it does not take into account for instance the greater expenditure on dental care in the Birmingham area, not does it quote the age range of the sample of children chosen. The longer term effects of fluoridation may not be visible immediately. Furthermore not all children in any given area are prone to tooth decay. Are we ALL to be compulsorily medicated to benefit those that are, regardless of our health needs?Hexafluorosilicic acid (the chemical added) is a bi-product of the fertilizer industry and has NEVER been tested as a medicine. It is classified as a Part 2 poison. It is so corrosive that it can dissolve tarmac and if ingested neat would kill within minutes. Do we want ten times as much of this poison to be travelling our roads?It is admitted in the ‘York Review’ of 2000 (about the possible benefits of fluoridating water) that 50% of people in the fluoridated areas (10% of Britain) have dental fluorosis which ranges from a mild pitting of teeth to a psychologically damaging mottling (12%). The supposed benefit of 15% is not rigorously proven and there is much evidence of harm to the body: possible cancers in teenage boys, brittle bones, birth defects, liver failure of patients on dialysis etc. not to mention blood poisoning in children exposed to large volumes of fluoridated water at bath times, also the stunting effect on plant growth when such water is used for irrigation and crippling effects on horses and other animals. It is not possible to remove fluoride from the water except by reverse osmosis, a very expensive procedure.According to the law the public has to be consulted by the local Primary Care Trusts before any fluoridation can take place, so please register your objections with your PCT, your MP and your Strategic Health Authority as soon as possible.
Rob Mehta Chairman Campaign for Safe Water, Avon, Wilts and Gloucestershire