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medpundit |
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Tuesday, May 13, 2003Ministers are planning to allow fluoride to be added to all drinking water in England and Wales it is being reported. The move is being considered to help reduce tooth decay among children in "deprived" areas, according to The Sunday Times. Such a measure would prove controversial as critics fear fluoride could be linked to increased risks of cancer, hip fractures, kidney trouble and birth defects. But the government has previously insisted there is no evidence to support claims of health risks from adding chemicals to drinking water. Fluoride has been added to the water in the U.S. since 1945, yet there haven't been any documented cases of poisonings from drinking the water. Most fluoride poisonings have been the result of rodenticide and pesticide ingestion. What's more, flouride, like other elements, is ubiquitous. We can't escape exposure to it. And, in the right dose it's therapeutic, not toxic: Observational studies by Dean and colleagues during the 1930s identified reductions in dental caries at a naturally occurring fluoride concentration of 1 mg per L. This level of fluoride resulted in a decrease in the prevalence of dental caries, without objectionable levels of dental fluorosis, prompting the adoption of this concentration as an optimal level. In 1993, the National Research Council concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to support changing the upper limit of 1.2 ppm of fluoride in drinking water. More recently, the U.S. Public Health Service reviewed this drinking water standard and reaffirmed optimal levels of 0.7 to 1.2 ppm fluoride (dependent on annual average of maximum daily air temperatures) to yield an average of 1 mg per day of consumed fluoride.6 Where the fluoride content of drinking water is naturally increased, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends reductions to a level of 2.0 ppm. Water sources with fluoride levels of zero to 0.3 ppm are considered to be nonfluoridated. Dosage is everything. And judging from the English actors I've seen on television, the nation could benefit from a good dose of flouride. But, the argument that opponents in Britain are making is a compelling one. What gives the government the right to medicate people without their permission? posted by Sydney on 5/13/2003 07:15:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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