UK - No plan to add fluoride
No plan to add fluoride
14 February 2008
THERE are no plans to add fluoride to water supplies in Stevenage and North Herts, despite a top politician's call to do so as a key means of tackling tooth decay.
Last week health secretary Alan Johnson said he wants strategic health authorities (SHAs), which are able to compel water companies to add the chemical, to use that power. The Government has no power itself to compel SHAs to act.
But critics argue the long-term health risks of fluoridation are unknown. There have been suggestions of a heightened risk of cancer, infertility and bone fractures, but these have never been substantiated.
A spokesman for the East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "There is international evidence that [fluoridation] reduces the prevalence of tooth decay." However, "There are no current plans to adjust the fluoride content of water.
''Any such action would be initiated by the PCT through a request to the East of England Strategic Health Authority, followed by wide consultation."
Water supplies in Mid Beds already contain fluoride
14 February 2008
THERE are no plans to add fluoride to water supplies in Stevenage and North Herts, despite a top politician's call to do so as a key means of tackling tooth decay.
Last week health secretary Alan Johnson said he wants strategic health authorities (SHAs), which are able to compel water companies to add the chemical, to use that power. The Government has no power itself to compel SHAs to act.
But critics argue the long-term health risks of fluoridation are unknown. There have been suggestions of a heightened risk of cancer, infertility and bone fractures, but these have never been substantiated.
A spokesman for the East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) said: "There is international evidence that [fluoridation] reduces the prevalence of tooth decay." However, "There are no current plans to adjust the fluoride content of water.
''Any such action would be initiated by the PCT through a request to the East of England Strategic Health Authority, followed by wide consultation."
Water supplies in Mid Beds already contain fluoride
posted by Bill at
9:53 AM
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