Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Cathaoirleach has read out, this matter pertains to the need for the Minister for Health to provide an update to Members on the Health Research Board’s review of the international evidence on fluoridation of water and to indicate when its findings are likely to be published given that it was expected last year. A story on the front page of today's edition of The Daily Telegraphraises a fluoride link to weight gain and depression and states:

A study of 98 per cent of GP practices in England found that high rates of underactive thyroid were 30 per cent more likely in areas of the [highest] fluoridation. It could mean that up to 15,000 people are suffering needlessly from thyroid problems which can cause depression, weight gain, fatigue and aching muscles.

I have debated this with the Minister previously and she knows I do not believe in newspaper articles but scientific evidence. Ireland is the only country in Europe that still puts fluoride in the water. Whether the Senators like it or not, fluoride is a highly poisonous substance. By law, toothpaste in the US must carry a poison warning. The brushing instructions detail that one is to brush teeth thoroughly after meals with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and that if one accidentally swallows more than used for brushing one should get medical help or contact a poison control centre immediately. This is the law in the US. In Ireland, fluoride is added to tap water at potentially toxic levels. A glass of Irish tap water contains the same amount of fluoride as a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Join the dots. In the Netherlands, fluoridation of water is banned by the constitution.

In March 2006, the US National Academy of Sciences completed the most comprehensive, balanced, scientific review ever on the health effects of fluoride in water. Its 500-page report representing three years work by a panel of 12 scientists acknowledged the following adverse effects of low-levels of fluoride ingestion, which had not been previously identified: thyroid impairment, as confirmed by today's edition of TheDaily Telegraph; impaired glucose intolerance, i.e. type 2 diabetes; moderate dental fluorosis, bone fractures, moderate skeletal fluorosis, lowering of IQ; and brain damage, especially in the presence of aluminium. I hope the Minister does not have some blurb on dental health. If one drinks a glass of water, it goes past one's teeth. The water does not know to go straight to one's teeth but goes to every cell in one's body. There is more to a person than teeth. We must seriously consider taking fluoride out of the water in Ireland. Given that 80% of it is going down the drain due to leaks, we are wasting even more money.