When researchers compared the intelligence levels of children in Chinese villages they found that IQs went down as levels of fluoride in the environment went up. The average IQ of the least fluoride-exposed children (105) was 25% higher than the average IQ (80) of the most exposed children.

Drinking water is the major source of fluoride exposure, but there are many hidden, unsuspected sources such as soft drinks and fruit juices reconstituted from juice concentrate.

New research from the Harvard Medical School discovered that fluoride accumulates in brain tissue where it can damage the central nervous system. Fluoride has already been implicated in bone cancer, brittle bones, tooth decay and fluorosis.*

Although there is no real evidence of any health benefits, the British Medical and Dental Associations continue to push for the obligatory fluoridation of water (amounting to the compulsory medication of the British population).

ACTION - For more information on fluoridation and the campaign against it see the National Pure Water Association's website www.npwa.freeserve.co.uk or phone 01924 830097.
* where excessive levels of fluoride in the body causes illness, from mottled teeth (usually the first symptom) to brittle bones, neurological damage and cancer.

Health warnings on fluoride toothpaste could become obligatory in the UK after the issue of a US alert on the dangers. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) now requires tubes to be labelled ‘Warning: Keep out of the reach of children under six years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing seek professional advice or contact a poison control centre immediately’. (Previously the warning was ‘Don’t swallow. Use only a pea-sized amount for children under six’ but it was discovered that too few American children knew how small peas were!)

Peter Mansfield, president of the National Pure Water Association, and Paul Connell, Professor of Chemistry at St. Lawrence University, New York, presented research demonstrating that fluoride can cause cancer and damage to the brain and immune system, but their information was dismissed by eight leading medical organisations, including the British Medical and Dental Associations. Peter was not deterred:"Research shows that fluoride accumulates with age. We are sitting on a time bomb and will see the effects of this in 20 years time, with millions of people suffering from backache or crippling osteoporosis as a result of fluoride levels."