Fluoride Free Water congratulates Meath County Council on their recently adopted stance on water fluoridation. On 11/6/2001, the following motion was passed unanimously, "(t)hat Meath County Council calls on the government and Minister for Health to amend the Health (fluoridation of water supplies) Act 1960, so as to allow local authorities to make the final decision on whether drinking water should be fluoridated".
County Meath now joins Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Kildare, Clare and Dublin Corporation, in calling for the Minister of Health to return the power to fluoridate to local government. This decision further erodes public confidence in the Forum on Fluoridation set up by Minister Martin. Meanwhile, other county councils have expressed their concerns about fluoridation to local citizens' groups opposing this continued mass medication.
Dr. Don Mac Auley, a Meath based dentist and advisor to Fluoride Free Water, stated, "we welcome the council's decision. We also have little confidence in the integrity of central government, just look at the Forum on Fluoridation. Recently the forum declared that the acid, used to fluoridate our water "is pure" but a confidential document released under the FOI Act shows that this acid is in fact a product of the fertiliser industry and is contaminated with carcinogens such as arsenic, chromium, nickel and mercury. This pro-fluoride forum, like others (BSE and Hep. C), appears more interested in hiding the truth and withholding information from the public than looking at fluoridation.
He added, "I see the tooth damage (dental fluorosis) fluoride causes on a daily basis in my dental surgery and as our teeth are the only visible part of our skeleton then what is fluoride doing to our bones? Unfortunately, the Minister of Health appears to be more interested in a public relations exercise than fulfilling his duty under the law. The law states that the Minister of Health carries out health studies into the effects of w ater fluoridation on public health. This has never been done in forty years of putting this untested chemical into our drinking water."
In addition, Meath County Council also passed a motion requesting a full report on fluoridation in the county including water testing and analyses of the fluoridating agent.
