Anti-fluoride flood - updates

Fluoride, a by-product of the American phosphate fertilizer industry, was first added to drinking water systems in the 1950s--before the advent of fluoridated toothpaste--because fluoride was thought to prevent tooth decay.

Today about 60 percent of the water supply in the United States and 40 percent in Canada is fluoridated. However, fluoridation is a practice largely abandoned by Europe and the rest of the world because of suspected health risks. Now, Europe makes several announcements of further measures to reduce these risks.

As of the end of July 2002, Belgium has banned fluoride supplements--chewable tablets containing the compound--because research there concludes that excessive use of fluoride increases the risk of osteoporosis, could damage the nervous system and is ineffective when taken orally. Ironically, some people previously considered fluoride to be a treatment for osteoporosis, which it actually could cause.

The Belgian government plans to present the review to the European Commission in a bid to get the rest of Europe to follow its lead. France already has removed sodium fluoride from its market. And in Ireland, authorities may lower water fluoride dosages following a September 10, 2002 report, Forum on Fluoridation, that was published in Dublin.

The report indicates that the reduction is necessary because of the wider ingestion of fluoride today from other sources--mainly through the regular use of fluoride toothpaste.

And British scientists are now calling for more research into the health effects of adding fluoride to drinking water. The plea appeared in a September 5, 2000 report published by the Medical Research Council in the UK.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta continues to stand by its controversial pro-water-fluoridation position despite the fact that research shows that only direct physical contact of fluoride with teeth will help reduce decay. Hundreds of studies now link oral ingestion of this element with osteoporosis, thyroid dysfunction, cancer and brittle teeth.