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UK Against Fluoridation

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Fluoride: Cause for concern

Fluoride: Cause for concern

We’ve all heard the news and some of us may even have been affected by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Yet, most people probably remain unaware that fluoride, from the volcanic ash, has been identified as posing a big risk to human and animal health...

This threat comes from the fluoride, in volcanic ash, contaminating our drinking water and as a result of animals, such as cattle and sheep, consuming ash deposited on grass and soil. With the volcano erupting a second time in a month there are fears that this risk may be bigger than first thought.

Yet, the EFSA believes the risk of fluoride contamination from the volcano is negligible and should not be a concern for humans and animals in the European Union...

Shocking!

Robert Pocock from the Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment strongly disagrees: “EFSA’s previous risk assessment of fluoride on which its views of the hazards of fluoride from the Icelandic volcano are based, are deeply flawed. If accepted, it would put thousands more children in Ireland at risk of permanent damage to their teeth through ‘moderate’ dental fluorosis.”

And Mr. Pocock is right. Ireland is the only country in Europe with a mandatory fluoridation policy - fluoride has been added to their water since 1963. At present approximately 73 per cent of Irish people are drinking water treated with industrial grade fluoride. One of the major side effects of fluoridation is fluorosis - an overexposure to fluoride which affects the enamel on our teeth.

According to the Oral Health Services Research Centre in Cork, Ireland, by the age of 15 years, approx 1 per cent (or 400) children in Ireland have developed 'moderate' dental fluorosis and 1 per cent of children have developed 'severe' dental fluorosis, with only 63 per cent of children in the Republic of Ireland having ‘normal enamel’.

The EFSA makes the totally irresponsible claim that for a 60Kg adult a lifetime daily intake of 7.2mg fluoride is safe. This ‘safe limit’ totally disregards established evidence that as little as 2 to 3mg of clinically- administered fluoride per day reduces normal thyroid functioning in adults.

Not only that, but it also contravenes the daily upper limit recommended by The World Health Organisation (WHO) which is set at 4mg per day (in fact it’s almost twice as much!). Anything higher than 4mg, consumed regularly, could cause bone abnormalities, joint pain and disability.

Whilst it’s still difficult to determine what the impact of the new volcanic fluoride risks may be, the fact remains that thousands of children in Ireland as well as a few fluoridated areas of England, are already at risk from over- exposure to fluoride from their drinking water..................

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