Toxic Water

The following is re-posted from GPO Leader Frank de Jong. I believe it's time this issue was addressed by Owen Sound and other Bruce-Grey communities:

Halton council is debating whether or not to halt water fluoridation. Despite the recommendation by their medical officer of health, Dr. Bob Nosal, to continue adding fluoride to water, Halton Council, reacting to public pressure, has wisely delayed the decision to allow time for more study.

Fluoride in drinking water reduces dental caries, say some experts. Other experts show that the number of dental caries is the same whether water is fluoridated or not. B.C. and Alberta, for example, have similar rates of caries yet drinking water in B.C. is 95 per cent non-fluoridated, and drinking water in Alberta is 75 per cent fluoridated. Most of Western Europe doesn't fluoridate its water, with no difference in dental health to our own.

Other studies show that fluoride can cause brain damage, especially in children. Fluoride is a potential immunotoxin, embryotoxin and neurotoxin. Yet Ontario has done no studies. Apparently the province cares more about our children's teeth then their brains.

There is evidence that fluoride reduces tooth decay only when used on contact but does nothing positive when taken internally, toothpaste containing fluoride is effective, but since it is a toxin, care should be taken not to ingest any of it. Some claim certain levels are safe, others that there is no safe level.

There is concern over babies drinking fluoridated water for six months -- even before they even have teeth -- at a time when they are most susceptible to the toxin. There is concern over fluorosis, which causes white spots on teeth when a person has too much fluoride in their body. Yet in Ontario, at great expense, we expose our bodies to fluoride, plus we wash our cars, flush our toilets, take showers, and water lawns and gardens with fluoridated water.

To fluoridate or not is an Ontario-wide issue, and should not be left to resource-strapped municipalities to address, one at a time. The health of our citizens, especially our children, demands that the Ontario government launch medical and health studies to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to continue this controversial practice, or whether the precautionary principle dictates that it should be stopped.