FAN Bulletin 779

March 13, 2007

Dear All,

First some good news. The Irish green party held a press conference today announcing its opposition to fluoridation and calling for a halt to the practice in Ireland. If the Greens can do this in Ireland, the UK and NZ, why are they so quiet in the US and Australia? See the first report below.

While information on every twist and turn in the fluoridation debate distributes rapidly around the world from citizen to citizen via the internet and emails, this does not “seem” to be the case for government health officials. For example health officials in Australia, New Zealand – and now South Africa - “seem” to be be unaware of some of the recent major developments like the Bryson book (paperback, 2006); Bassin (2006) study; the NRC (2006) report and the ADA/CDC recommendations not to make up baby formula with fluoridated water. I say “seem” because these health officials have a job to do and it would be very uncomfortable for them to recognize key arguments against the practice they have been told to promote.

The report from today’s Pretoria News indicates that despite all the contrary evidence available the South African government still wants to introduce mandatory fluoridation into major South African cities. The good news is that Tony Carnie, one of SA’s leading environmental journalists has already located some dissenting voices both inside and outside the government.

Please warn any friends or contacts you may have in South Africa. Please refer them to our website http://www.FluorideAction.net and to the videos available on google for free watching. These are listed below with the latest number of viewings.

1. “Don’t Swallow Your Toothpaste” (Channel 4, UK) (24 minutes) (456)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5118194644870429589&hl=en

2. Canadian TV debate on fluoridation in the “Medical Hotseat” series (Health Discovery Channel, Canada) (22 minutes)
(130)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8651924132181016035

3. Harvard cover-up (Fox-TV, Boston) (7 minutes) (129)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6559260786488769155

4. “The Fluoride Deception” (FAN’s interview with Chris Bryson) (28 minutes) (22,324)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7319752042352089988&q=the+fluoride+deception

Paul Connett
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GOOD NEWS FROM IRELAND

Last Updated: 13/03/2007 12:10
Greens pledge to end fluoridation
Kath Kyle http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0313/breaking41.htm#

The Green Party has said it would end the fluoridation of the State’s water supplies if elected to Government.

Health spokesman John Gormley said that water fluoridation had reached its sell-by date and that the latest international research meant that the practice was no longer tenable.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, Mr Gormley said: “The latest advice from the American Dental Association tells parents to avoid using fluoridated water when bottle feeding babies because of the dangers of fluorosis - the staining and pitting of teeth which can result from overexposure to fluoride.

“There has been a huge increase in fluorosis in Ireland in the last decade. And as it is wholly impractical for mothers to source non-fluoridated water, it is prudent to stop water fluoridation immediately.”

Green Party candidate for Dublin Central, Patricia McKenna, added: “Sources of fluoride have increased dramatically since Ireland’s water was first fluoridated, yet the Department of Health has failed to carry out a single study - despite repeated promises - on total fluoride intake.

“People should have a choice on what food and medication they consume.”

Cllr Tony McDermott, Green Party candidate for Dublin South Central, concluded: “We need to abolish the Dental Health Foundation and the Expert Body on Fluorides and Health and replace them with a Chief Dental Officer with a brief to deal with the tooth decay problem by tackling the causes - junk food and the advertising of unhealthy food to our children.”
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0313/breaking41.htm

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BAD NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3727341

Pretoria News,
March 13, 2007

Plan to dose tap water with fluoride

Tony Carnie

The Department of Health is back from the drawing board, determined to force all big towns and cities to dose their drinking water with fluoride.

And while government dentists believe the move is necessary to protect children’s teeth, the international scientific community remains sharply divided about the potential for long-term harm to elderly people, the sick, and very young children who drink fluoridated water.

New draft laws were circulated recently to water boards and municipalities. But the latest version appears to contain few changes to previous regulations which were rejected by several large water supply boards and other groups opposed to the compulsory medication of national drinking water supplies.

The recommended guideline for optimum fluoride levels has been fixed at 0.7mg of fluoride per litre of water, the same level originally gazetted in September 2000.

The original plan for compulsory fluoridation was due to take effect in September 2003, but was quietly shelved following widespread concern about the cost implications for water suppliers along with several concerns about health, including the potential for bone disease, cancer, infertility and mottled teeth.

The Water Research Commission also published a comprehensive review of the government fluoridation plans in 2004 which raised several red flag risks - including the possibility that HIV/Aids patients and people with kidney disease and heart problems could be especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of fluoride.

Bettina Genthe, of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, also cautioned parliament’s portfolio committee on water affairs that fluoride appeared to be toxic to immune system cells, even at very low water concentration levels.

She warned against the fluoridation plan on the basis that there were still too many gaps in the scientific data.

Former Rand Water chairman Piroshaw Camay said that the country could be setting itself up for more “national disasters” and urged the Health Department to “abandon this fruitless exercise”.

Camay, who is also director of Core, a Johannesburg-based policy research and advocacy group, noted that water supplies in Mangaung, near Bloemfontein, had to be cut off a month ago because they had not been chlorinated properly.

“Proper chlorination is almost as routine as tying your shoelaces, but if some people are still failing in this area, what new problems can we expect from fluoridation?”

In 1993, the American town of Middleton, Maryland, discontinued fluoridation permanently after an over-dosing problem forced city officials to drain their entire water works system and to supply customers with bottled water.

Camay said cost estimates by Rand Water five years ago showed that the price of water would go up by at least 1c/kl from compulsory fluoridation.

Although the new draft regulations suggest that the National Treasury will contribute towards the initial fluoride equipment costs, along with operating costs for five years, Camay said municipal ratepayers would ultimately be saddled with extra costs.

He said the primary beneficiaries of fluoridation would be children between the ages of 7 and 12, which was seen as a critical period in dental development. “However, I believe there are better ways of protecting children’s teeth than by dosing all South African tap water.”

The alternatives included providing fluoride tablets, fluoridated toothpaste and toothbrushes to specific target groups, but the Health Department had yet to prove that it had ever investigated these options seriously.

The new draft regulations do make allowances for smaller towns to be exempted from fluoridation because of prohibitive costs, and there are also provisions for exemptions if the natural water fluoride levels comply with government guidelines.

However, the draft law states members of the National Fluoridation Committee “shall not be liable in respect of anything done in good faith under these regulations”.

The question of legal liability in the event of toxic overdoses or cumulative health damage has been a source of concern for several interest groups.

In some parts of the world, including Rajasthan in India, young children and adults have developed crippling bone diseases and deformities from drinking water with naturally high levels of fluoride.

Although fluoridation is common in the United States, Canada, and parts of Latin America and Asia, only about 1% of water in Western Europe is dosed with extra fluoride.

The majority of Western Europe has either banned, discontinued or never practised fluoridation. Some countries also allow cities and towns to opt out of fluoridation after a popular vote, but there is no such allowance in the proposed South African legislation.