Fluoride overdose incident

There has been another fluoride incident just come to light this week - too much fluoride was put into the water supply after a new dosing system at Severn Trent Water failed. The Drinking Water Inspectorate said a fault happened at the pumping station which supplies 29,000 homes between Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton last June - read report at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8175856.stm
and
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/pubs/annrep08/CIR%2008%20Central%20Region.pdf

Bristol Anti-Fluoridation Campaign launching soon

By several accounts the first meeting of the Bristol Anti-Fluoridation Campaign on Tuesday was a success with some 18 people attending. This new group set about considering it's aims and already plans publicity material and stalls - and talking of stalls the Safe Water Campaign was again on the streets in Stroud on aturday collecting signatures and providing info re water fluoridation.

Anyhow the first few meetings in Bristol will be fortnightly to get the group up and running so the next will be held upstairs at the Stag and Hounds, Old Market Street, on Tuesday 11th August at 7.30pm.

Nothing Like a Guiness Beer with a Fluoride Chaser

Here's an old story that was doing the rounds again this year - infact the Park Royal Brewery closed in 2005 - however fluoride is still being added to water in Dublin - and here we are still trying to stop it being added - two years ago we had campaign beer mats warning of the threat to beer.

Nothing Like a Guiness Beer with a Fluoride Chaser
by Treacy Hogan
Environmental Correspondent at fluoridealert.org

GUINNESS gives you a good pint and fluoride, much to the annoyance of a Dublin nun spearheading an anti-fluoride campaign. Guinness Ireland has disclosed that Dublin stout can have as much as six times the fluoride level of stout brewed in London.

The reason: the Park Royal Brewery in London uses unfluoridated water in a treatment process that further reduces the natural background level of fluoride to 0.1 parts per million.

Following a number of queries from the public, Guinness Ireland wrote to one consumer on March 27 explaining that Dublin uses town water which is fluoridated at a typical level of 0.75 parts per million.

“Thus it is possible that Dublin stout has six times the fluoride level of London stout,” said the company. The company said the high quality water was fluoridated, along with every other public supply in the country, following a Supreme Court decision obliging the authorities to add fluoride.

However, a statement issued by the Fluoride Free Water Group campaign care of Sr Rachel Hoey, who is attached to St Raphaela’s Convent, Stillorgan, Dublin, yesterday stated there are increasing health concerns about total fluoride intake.

It said the agent used to fluoridate water was called hydrofluosilicic acid, which it claimed was a toxic waste product of the fertiliser industry.

The group said most of Europe had rejected artificially fluoridate water, with bans in Denmark, Sweden and Holland. “Therefore, these countries will be surprised to learn that they are drinking artificial fluoride in imported Irish stout.”

The group quoted the union representing scientists, lawyers and other professionals at the US Environment Protection Agency.

It said their review of evidence over the last 11 years indicated a causal link between fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment and bone pathology. Recent epidemiology studies had linked fluoride exposures to lower IQ levels in children.

However, Tom Leahy, deputy city engineer with Dublin Corporation, said he was satisfied there was no risk to public health.

Bristol meeting

Robin Whitlock of Keep Bristol water fluoride free writes from the Facebook site:

Hello guys, its time now that we got a 'real time' version of this group together, so I'm basically calling a meeting for Tuesday 28th July. Please do try and make it if you can, and if at all possible, please also post a message on the group wall to say whether you can make it or not, just so I can get a rough idea of numbers. The venue will be in the upstairs room at the Stag and Hounds Pub, Old Market - thats just around the corner from the Evening Post building. Please also spread the word among concerned friends. Cheers everyone.

Letter to Bristol Evening Post

A personal view from one of our Safe Water Campaign members:

Vic of Bristol's on-line comment on Dawn Primarolo's declared anger with respect to all MP's (without exception) being targeted in the expenses revelations, makes a good number of points. In addition to his list of one-size-fits-all comparisons, I would have added: Indiscriminate medication for all - via fluoride - without consent or prescription because some (only some) children have dodgy teeth.

Well, we can forget that one now because the European Court of Justice has said STOP. Fluoride and food products (like 'functional health drinks') made with artificially fluoridated water are to be classified as 'medicinals' and thus subject to the rigorous testing common to all other prescription and retail drug products. Since that re-classification also includes the mains water 'topped-up' with industrial fluorides, it means that all fluoridation schemes, including those going back beyond 1964, in the UK and Southern Ireland must be shut down.

There are serious trade implications involved. Fluoride-water-processed food and drink products normally imported from fluoridating countries like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and even Canada and the USA will be banned from the EU unless they can pass the 'medicinals' licensing requirements.

The ECJ ruling was dated 2005, so our largely pro-European Government has been illegally witholding key information likely to upset existing trading agreements. Our food and drink exports would be up for censure; possibly banned completely in all other EU member states. Water suppliers would then become targeted by business interests for agreeing to fluoridate at the behest of health authorities regardless of public opinion and the law which says they must not.

Who's head will roll over this dilemma? Perhaps Dawn should get together with all her Bristol pro-fluoride Labour colleagues to decide which of them will be the 'whipping boy'. The water supply companies meanwhile, need to reconsider their potential liability and public relations positions very carefully.

Bernard J Seward
Bristol