- Fluoridating Bedfordshire's tap water has cost our
local health authority almost £60,000 over the last two years.
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- We are in only ten per cent of the country where tap
water is already artificially fluoridated. Hexafluorosilicic (HF) acid
is added to the much of the county's supply by Anglian Water to
achieve a concentration of fluoride of 1ppm (part per million).
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- In theory our teeth will be healthier a report
commissioned by the NHS and published in 2000 concluded that adding
fluoride to the water supply reduces tooth decay in children by 15 per
cent.
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- Sounds like a good idea? The problem is that
fluoride in the form of HF acid is a 'bio-accumulator', meaning that
it is absorbed by the body and can accumulate to toxic levels.
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- A mottling and discolouration of tooth enamel known
as 'dental fluorosis' is a well known outcome and the NHS-commissioned
report found that almost half of the population of fluoridated areas
suffered this condition.
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- According to the Government it is merely a cosmetic
issue.
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- But fluoride may also cause skeletal problems and
studies have linked high levels of ingestion to a plethora of health
problems from increased risks of bone cancer to nervous system
disorders such as ME and Alzheimer's, thyroid problems and earlier
onset of puberty.
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- Some local people, led by a Stagsden dentist, want
more answers and have organised a public debate.
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- In Bedfordshire there are no plans to discontinue
the practice.
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- Dr Sue Gregory, consultant in public health to
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority, is adamant
fluoridation is perfectly safe.
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- She said: "There have been many studies in America,
both in terms of urine testing and blood samples to verify the
fluoride levels of populations who drink fluoridated water.
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- "The question of safety of water fluoridation has
been answered to the satisfaction of many reputable scientific bodies,
including the World Health Organisation, the Royal College of
Physicians and the British Medical Association, who are convinced by
the evidence from the many studies conducted worldwide over a period
of at least 50 years that fluoridated water at 1ppm reduces tooth
decay and has no adverse health effects."
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- So why has fluoridation been abandoned by almost all
European countries? Critics say the studies failed to take into
account the total exposure to fluoride, which is also ingested with
food and when toothpaste is swallowed.
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- Even the NHS review concluded that insufficient high
quality research had been carried out into other possible risks to
health.
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- Given all these concerns you might expect the levels
of fluoride in the Bedfordshire population to have been monitored.
They have not.
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- Although last October the Medical Research Council
recommended more research be conducted into prevalence of dental
fluorosis and trends in total exposure of children to fluoride, our
local health authority is completely convinced that the practice is
safe.
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- Campaigners also argue that fluoridation is illegal
a forced mass medication without individuals' consent.
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- "Drinking fluoride-free water is not a basic human
right but a question of individual preference," says Dr Gregory. "In a
society where people come together for mutual benefit, it is a
question of balancing such personal preferences against the common
good arising from the lower levels of tooth decay which fluoridation
brings."
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- A group of local anti-fluoridation campaigners
remain unconvinced and have organised a public debate on the issue
next week.
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- Dr Graeme Munro-Hall, a dentist in Stagsden, has
investigated the fluoridation issue in depth and is strongly against
the practice.
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- He said: "We will be bringing all relevant facts to
the the public's attention at this meeting.
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- "We will be treating the issue on a scientific basis
and letting the facts speak for themselves.
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- "We regard it as an important public health issue
and believe that it has no beneficial effect and can have a serious
negative effect on people's health.
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- "It is not only damaging the population but we have
lawyers' opinions that to put fluoride in water is an illegal activity
under the Nuremberg Convention."
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- Paul Armstrong, a local parent, has helped organise
the debate.
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- He said: "Even if only one tenth of the evidence of
the health hazards posed by water fluoridation is true, then I want it
out of my water."
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- Dr Sue Gregory and Dr Graeme Munro-Hall will
participate in an open debate at Harrowden Room, Bunyan Church Meeting
Rooms, Mill Street, Bedford on Tuesday at 7.30pm.
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- http://www.seriousaboutnews.com/cgi/xtranews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1057446000,47961,
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