Letters: '400 studies worldwide showing fluoride reduces human and animal intelligence'

ON February 26 I attended a talk chaired by Darlington Green Party Councillor Matthew Snedker, and addressed by Doctor John Furness, who was there to promote water fluoridation for Darlington.

In the journal Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, he suggest adding fluoride to the water of deprived areas of Manchester, most of South Yorkshire, Hull and North Yorkshire, County Durham and Teesside, on the assumption fluoride will lower admissions to hospital for tooth extraction in young children.

However, poverty is not always linked to poor oral health, so how are you going to ensure those not needing this toxic drug do not get it?

Sunderland (currently targeted for fluoridation), suffers from deprivation. Public Health England tells us (in 2018):- “Sunderland is one of the 20 per cent most deprived districts/unitary authorities in England and about 23 per cent (11,100) children live in low income families”.

Over a three-year period, average hospital extractions due to tooth decay in non-fluoridated Sunderland in the age range 0 - 9 expressed as a percentage of the cohort in that age grouping, were two-thirds less than in fluoridated North Tyneside, an area with the lowest level of childhood poverty in the North-East.

Perhaps Doctor Furness could comment? ‘Dark Waters’ – the poisoning (via tap water) of 70,000 people with Perfluoro-octanoic Acid (PFOA) is in cinemas now.

I chatted with the audience in one venue as they exited, and saw their expressions when I told them about plans to fluoridate the North-East.

The mutagen PFOA has 15 fluorine atoms per molecule, and water fluoridation chemicals have six fluorine atoms per molecule. We are playing with fire.

Our national organisation – the UK Freedom From Fluoride Alliance – has been attempting to debate with local authorities in the North-ast, but our entreaties have been consistently disregarded.

With over 400 studies worldwide showing fluoride reduces human and animal intelligence our councillors can no longer ignore the truth.

Act now – do the right thing.

Tony Watson, School Aycliffe