If fluoride hastens water pipe corrosion, what is it doing to our children’s health?
Monday, January 25, 2010
THE recent hardship caused by burst water pipes highlighted the precarious condition of our water supply network. That approximately 40% of all water in Ireland is lost in leakage was widely publicised in recent weeks when so many pipes failed in the freeze. Though many people were previously unaware of the dire condition of the national network of water pipes, the rate of leakage – the highest in the EU – has been criticised by Brussels for some time. The excuse we are being given for this level of leakage is that the pipes are old, but this is not the whole story.
We are not unique among our EU neighbours in having old piping. What makes us unique is that we are the only country that as a matter of national policy pours a toxic industrial waste, hexa fluorisilic acid (fluoride), into our water. This acid is very severe and corrodes the pipes and joints over time. Even more is the damage it does to our health: infertility, bone diseases, cancer, thyroid disease, mental illness, reduced IQ in babies, heart disease, etc.
Though we are told that water is fluoridated to prevent dental cavities, the health authorities admit more than 40% of Irish teenagers now suffer from dental fluorosis, which is permanent damage to tooth enamel from too much fluoride. Northern Ireland does not fluoridate its water. The level of cavities among its population is the same as ours. However, dental fluorosis is not as significant a problem among Northern teenagers as it is here.
Most toothpaste contains calcium or sodium fluoride. This is less harmful than the type of fluoride put in drinking water. However, because even this fluoride is dangerous, the toothpaste packaging carries warnings it is not to be used by young children or be swallowed.
Some toothpaste warnings even advise the user to go to a doctor or a poison control centre if he or she swallows even a pea-size quantity.
Despite this known danger, the Government insists on having us swallow an even more dangerous form of fluoride.
Now that we will be asked to pay for the water we use in our homes, I suggest we insist the supply is reliable and, more importantly, safe and healthy for our children and ourselves. I would also suggest people educate themselves about fluoride ... the medical research, as well as many other interesting aspects of water fluoridation, is available on the internet.
Kathy Sinnott‘St Joseph’BallinabearnaBallinhassigCo Cork
