[jambutty]

I’ve been arguing against the adding of fluoride to the water supply ever since the notion was first put forward and I am not alone.

I am against it for two reasons.

It cannot possibly be cost effective. You don’t need an ology to work out that only a small proportion of the water that you use in your home is actually drunk. I doubt if one person drinks the same amount that is used for one flush of the toilet. Then there is the bath/shower water, hands/face washing, the washing machine, washing up, mopping, car cleaning and garden watering. If I were to hazard an educated guess I would suggest that barely 5% of the water supplied to the average home is actually drunk at home and only half of that by children who MIGHT benefit. This means that some 95% of the cost of fluoridating the water supply is wasted. And guess who would pay for it? Some people and children have been known to react to excessive fluoride.

Then there is industry that uses the same water and I would dare to suggest that 99% of it is not drunk.

The other equally important, if not more important, reason is that on no account whatsoever should our drinking water be used to distribute involuntary medication to the masses. If nothing else it will establish a precedent so that in years to come when we, near or at the bottom of the pile get fed up of the way the country is being run and make vociferous demands for a better deal, our rumblings could be quelled with the introduction of a tranquilliser in the water.

If the Health Chiefs, BDA and government are so concerned about the health of kids’ teeth then the simplest and most cost effective solution is to supply fluoride toothpaste and a suitable brush to children under 16 years of age free of charge. To prevent exploitation these items would have to be specially manufactured under a specific and unique brand name. It was done with cigarettes and tobacco for the Royal Navy so there is no reason why it could not be done for fluoride toothpaste and brush. Thereafter they could get replacements by producing the empty toothpaste tube or worn out brush.

The issue should certainly not be put to local vote, primarily because far too many people cannot see any further than their own selfish nose.

Finally, weren’t there moves to fluoridate bottled water? What happened to that crackpot idea?