Statements from European Health, Water, & Environment Authorities on Water Fluoridation
At present, 97% of the western European population drinks non-fluoridated water. This includes: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and approximately 90% of both the United Kingdom and Spain. Although some of these countries fluoridate their salt, the majority do not. (The only western European countries that allow salt fluoridation are Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.)
Despite foregoing “one of the top ten public health achievements of the twentieth century,” tooth decay rates have declined in Europe as precipitously over the past 50 years as they have in the United States. This raises serious questions about the CDC’s assertion that the decline of tooth decay in the United States since the 1950s is largely attributable to the advent of water fluoridation.
STATEMENTS FROM EUROPEAN OFFICIALS:
Austria:
“Toxic fluorides have never been added to the public water supplies in Austria.”SOURCE: M. Eisenhut, Head of Water Department, Osterreichische Yereinigung fur das Gas-und Wasserfach Schubertring 14, A-1015 Wien, Austria, February 17, 2000.
Belgium:
“This water treatment has never been of use in Belgium and will never
be (we hope so) into the future. The main reason for that is the
fundamental position of the drinking water sector that it is not its
task to deliver medicinal treatment to people. This is the sole
responsibility of health services.”SOURCE: Chr. Legros, Directeur, Belgaqua, Brussels, Belgium, February 28, 2000.
Denmark:
“We are pleased to inform you that according to the Danish Ministry
of Environment and Energy, toxic fluorides have never been added to the
public water supplies. Consequently, no Danish city has ever been
fluoridated.”SOURCE: Klaus Werner, Royal Danish Embassy, Washington DC, December 22, 1999.
To read the Danish Ministry of the Environment’s reasons for banning fluoridation, click here.
Finland:
“We do not favor or recommend fluoridation of drinking water. There are better ways of providing the fluoride our teeth need.”SOURCE: Paavo Poteri, Acting Managing Director, Helsinki Water, Finland, February 7, 2000.
“Artificial fluoridation of drinking water supplies has been practiced in Finland only in one town, Kuopio, situated in eastern Finland and with a population of about 80,000 people (1.6% of the Finnish population). Fluoridation started in 1959 and finished in 1992 as a result of the resistance of local population. The most usual grounds for the resistance presented in this context were an individual’s right to drinking water without additional chemicals used for the medication of limited population groups. A concept of “force-feeding” was also mentioned.
Drinking water fluoridation is not prohibited in Finland but no municipalities have turned out to be willing to practice it. Water suppliers, naturally, have always been against dosing of fluoride chemicals into water.”
SOURCE: Leena Hiisvirta, M.Sc., Chief Engineer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland, January 12, 1996.
France:
“Fluoride chemicals are not included in the list [of ‘chemicals for
drinking water treatment’]. This is due to ethical as well as medical
considerations.”SOURCE: Louis Sanchez, Directeur de la Protection de l’Environment, August 25, 2000.
Germany:
“Generally, in Germany fluoridation of drinking water is forbidden.
The relevant German law allows exceptions to the fluoridation ban on
application. The argumentation of the Federal Ministry of Health against
a general permission of fluoridation of drinking water is the
problematic nature of compuls[ory] medication.”SOURCE: Gerda Hankel-Khan, Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany, September 16, 1999.
Luxembourg:
“Fluoride has never been added to the public water supplies in
Luxembourg. In our views, the drinking water isn’t the suitable way for
medicinal treatment and that people needing an addition of fluoride can
decide by their own to use the most appropriate way, like the intake of
fluoride tablets, to cover their [daily] needs.”SOURCE: Jean-Marie RIES, Head, Water Department, Administration De L’Environment, May 3, 2000.
Netherlands:
4.2.5 – Feasibility of implementation in the NetherlandsThe implementation of fluoridation of drinking water is practically feasible, by adding a controlled dose of a fluoride compound to the drinking water. This could be realized at relatively low cost. On the other hand, there are also several major barriers for implementation. In the first place, at present the addition of chemicals to drinking water is prohibited by law in the Netherlands. This law came into effect because it was widely perceived that drinking water should not be used as a vehicle for pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, fluoridation of drinking water would conflict with the freedom to choose for natural drinking water. This principle of freedom of choice is considered as an important basic principle in the Netherlands.
SOURCE: 2007 – RIVM report 270091004/2007 for the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. Title of report: Economic evaluation of prevention: further evidence.
Northern Ireland:
“The water supply in Northern Ireland has never been artificially
fluoridated except in 2 small localities where fluoride was added to the
water for about 30 years up to last year. Fluoridation ceased at these
locations for operational reasons. At this time, there are no plans to
commence fluoridation of water supplies in Northern Ireland.”SOURCE: C.J. Grimes, Department for Regional Development, Belfast, November 6, 2000.
Norway:
“In Norway we had a rather intense discussion on this subject some 20
years ago, and the conclusion was that drinking water should not be
fluoridated.”SOURCE: Truls Krogh & Toril Hofshagen, Folkehelsa Statens institutt for folkeheise (National Institute of Public Health) Oslo, Norway, March 1, 2000.
Sweden:
“Drinking water fluoridation is not allowed in Sweden…New scientific
documentation or changes in dental health situation that could alter the
conclusions of the Commission have not been shown.”SOURCE: Gunnar Guzikowski, Chief Government Inspector, Livsmedels Verket — National Food Administration Drinking Water Division, Sweden, February 28, 2000.
See statement by Dr. Arvid Carlsson, the Nobel Laureate in Medicine, who helped lead the campaign to prevent fluoridation in Sweden in the late 1970s.
Czech Republic:
“Since 1993, drinking water has not been treated with fluoride in
public water supplies throughout the Czech Republic. Although
fluoridation of drinking water has not actually been proscribed it is
not under consideration because this form of supplementation is
considered:- uneconomical (only 0.54% of water suitable for drinking is used as such; the remainder is employed for hygiene etc. Furthermore, an increasing amount of consumers (particularly children) are using bottled water for drinking (underground water usually with fluor)
- unecological (environmental load by a foreign substance)
- unethical (“forced medication”)
- toxicologically and physiologically debateable (fluoridation
represents an untargeted form of supplementation which disregards actual
individual intake and requirements and may lead to excessive
health-threatening intake in certain population groups; [and]
complexation of fluor in water into non biological active forms of
fluor.”
SOURCE: Dr. B. Havlik, Ministerstvo Zdravotnictvi Ceske Republiky, October 14, 1999.
UPDATES
“Many felt dental health was an issue to be dealt
with at the level of the individual, rather than a solution to be
imposed en masse. While people accepted that some children were not
encouraged to brush their teeth, they proposed other solutions to
addressing these needs rather than having a solution of unproved safety
imposed on them by public health authorities whom they did not fully
trust. They did not see why they should accept potential side effects in
order that a minority may benefit. In particular, water was something
that should be kept as pure as possible, even though it was recognized
that it already contains many additives.” (See study summary)
November 2004: After months of consulation, Scotland – which is currently unfluoridated – rejected plans to add fluoride to the nation’s water.April 9, 2003: The City Parliament of Basel, Switzerland voted 73 to 23 to stop Basel’s 41 year water fluoridation program. Basel was the only city in Switzerland to fluoridate its water, and the only city in continental western Europe, outside of a few areas in Spain.
Fluoride is a poison. Fluoride was poison yesterday. Fluoride is poison today. Fluoride will be poison tomorrow. Because Templeton was the first community to add the poison to our water we have lost almost all of our IQ. When we urinate we can see our IQ leaving our bodies and being flushed down the drain. Templeton has only so much IQ left so lets try to make it this year that we begin the process of getting the poison our of our water supply. When in doubt get it out.
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