Is fluoride slithering poison that seeps into brain?

Walter Graham has been campaigning against the ongoing fluoridation of the water supply in the Republic and against its introduction here for almost two decades.

On Page 34 of today’s paper, Mr Graham, makes a number of arguments against fluoridation in the wake of the Health Minister Edwin Poots’ announcement he is considering fluoridation of the water supply to ensure fluoride is delivered to poorer people and dental disease is more often prevented.

Mr Graham refers to the potentially lethal toxicity of garden variety fluoride toothpaste and reveals how in the United States health warnings are compulsory.

He writes: “A 2002 report by the Department of Health in the Republic of Ireland, which said that: ‘Fluoride is a poison in large doses,’ warned that ‘young children are particularly at risk of ingesting potentially life-threatening doses of fluoride from oral care products.’

“The report made a stark revelation; ‘Swallowing as little as one-quarter of a tube (of fluoride toothpaste) may be life threatening for a one-year-old child.’

“A tube of toothpaste has enough fluoride to kill a child up to about age 12, it added.”

He also quotes a County Londonderry based toxicologist, Dr Vyvyan Howard, who says: “There are studies that show that osteoporosis, thinning of the bones, is higher in fluoridated communities and that when you get towards the end of your life the rate of hip fractures is measured to be twice as high in fluoridated townships in America than non-fluoridated ones.”

Former Belgian Public Health Minister Magda Aelvoet, who has also came out stridently against fluoride, is quoted by Mr Graham.

The Green party stalwart remarkably stated “fluoride is a slithering poison that seeps into the brain.”

And in 2002 a report by the Belgian Health Ministry claimed swallowing fluoride caused osteoporosis and neurological defects. Belgium then banned fluoride supplements and called for a European-wide ban on fluoride toothpaste.

Back in April 2013 Mr Poots said he was considering introducing fluoridation here.

Last month the Sentinel reported how the Department of Health didn’t specifically respond to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘Fluoride in Drinking Water’ report, which recommends a maximum fluoride limit in drinking water of 1.5 milligrams per litre and warns that whilst the chemical can prevent tooth decay it can also have significant negative effects.

In response to the Sentinel the Chief Dental Officer Simon Reid stated: “DHSSPS is aware of this 2006 report, which is in the public domain, and it has been used in consideration of the issue of water fluoridation. However it is important to highlight to your readers that this report mainly relates to reducing the very high naturally occurring concentrations of fluoride in the water supplies in certain countries where the problem that Mr Mullan highlights of ‘crippling skeletal fluorosis’ can occur.”