To Fluoridate Or Not, The Topic Of Debate

By 250 News

Dr. James Beck (left), Dave Fuller and Marilyn Judd

Prince George, B.C. - Approximately 50 people attended a two-hour public forum hosted by the Prince George Safe Water Coalition this afternoon to debate the issue of drinking water fluoridation.

Coalition Founder, Marilyn Judd, wants fluoride removed from the drinking water in Prince George and to that end, invited Dr. James Beck to the city to speak at today's forum at CNC, and to go before city council tomorrow evening. 

Dr. Beck is the author of, "The Case Against Fluoride."  He's a medical doctor and biophysicist who was asked to delve into the issue in Calgary a decade ago, while a prof at U of C.

In introducing Beck, forum moderator, Dave Fuller, outlined the situation in Prince George, where back in 1998, city council received an exemption from the provincial government to introduce fluoride into several new areas in the city without the required referendum.

Dr. Beck said, "The issue of fluoridation is really multi-faceted and when you bunch it all together and say, 'Should we have fluoridation or not?', it's kind of overwhelming."

To manage it more easily, he divided it into three issues:  Is it effective?  Is it safe? Is it ethical?  Dr. Beck read and evaluated numerous research papers to draw his conclusions, "So I'm not basing what I tell you on personal clinical experience, but I'm basing it on 10 or 11-years of study of the scientific literature on fluoridation."

The biophysicist detailed a number of studies showing little or no difference in tooth decay between jurisdictions with fluoridated water and those without.  He said one of the better studies of 39-thousand children in 84 communities showed a minimal difference of (.6 of one tooth surface) less decay with fluoridation.  But he pointed out that, when weighed against research showing the known and possible harmful health effects associated with fluoride, that minimal benefit was not worth it. 

Local dentist, Dr. Richard Wilczek, was in attendance at the forum and said, after 30-years of practising in the city, he seen the difference fluoride makes in preventing dental caries in children.  He said we live in a society where general measures taken for the overall wellbeing of all are acceptable.  Many in attendance disagreed.  Werner Kesseling said, "I'm concerned that I have less rights than people who demand fluoride in the water - I demand water without fluoride."

Dr. Beck said this is where the medical ethics issue comes into play, about imposing a substance on people without the option to cease taking it, to control the dosage or monitor the effects on individuals.   He said often a compelling point in the fluoridation debate is that it's necessary for the children of low-income families who can't afford dental or proper nutrition, but pointed out what a few in the room raised, that when the City of Calgary voted by a 13-to-2 margin to remove fluoride from the drinking water, it also passed an amendment to take the money spent on that system and put it into dental education programs.

Northern Health declined an invitation to send a representative to the forum, but in a position statement submitted by Medical Health Officer, Dr. David Bowering, he wrote that, "Water fluoridation provides a fair way to ensure that everyone is protected, regardless of income, education and financial ability to seek dental care.  People benefitting the most from water fluoridation are those most susceptible to tooth decay - typically, these are the poorest and most disadvantaged members of our community."

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Comments

Posted by: Jimmi on April 3 2011 5:28 PM

It would be nice if these folks with this much time on their hands, went after overuse of antbiotics, pesticide, bans, etc....

instead of trying to scare the crap out of people with this non-issue....

Posted by: Brownshoe on April 3 2011 5:55 PM

ya and half of them then stood outside and had a smoke

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on April 3 2011 6:08 PM

You can ridicule all you want! 94% of B.C. tap water is now fluoride addition free! Prince George is the only larger community left in B.C. which refuses to let people have a choice! It is not a question of IF the fluoride addition will be stopped - it is only a question of WHEN!

Vancouver does not add fluoride, Kelowna does not, Kitimat does not...etc etc.

We have to keep educating the city council and mayor!

They refuse to deal with the issue now but will (like Calgary) have to deal with it eventually.

Calgary just voted to stop it.

It is not a question of IF the fluoride addition will be stopped - it is only a question of WHEN!

Posted by: NoSeverance on April 3 2011 6:34 PM

It costs how much to put fluoride in our water? So everytime someone waters the grass fluoride gets wasted. Stop putting fluoride in the water and use the money somewhere else.

Everytime we brush our teeth with toothpaste that has fluoride in it we treat our teeth. The fluoride on the teeth is good but don't swallow that toothpaste! Fluoride in the body not good.

The problem here is we aren't in control of the dose. "They" are deciding what is good for us and medicating us unethically.

Put it to a vote this fall. We can vote out treating our water with fluoride along with Mr. Rogers.

Posted by: sun storm on April 3 2011 6:38 PM

Yes I also know that Calgary has stopped it. We are one of the very few places in B.C. that still has it and why IS THAT ?? I have read a LOT of articles about flouride and cancer and find it very scary! So, I think it does not have to be in our water.

Posted by: Dragonmaster on April 3 2011 7:40 PM

Follow the money!

Posted by: bohemian on April 3 2011 8:09 PM

When the average person uses over 300 litres of water a day in Canada, but only drinks one or two, it seems that we're literally flushing 99.7% of our money down the drain.

Fluoride is supposed to be applied, not ingested, and that's why it's in toothpaste. Toothpaste alone offers all fluoride one needs.

If economically disadvantaged aren't brushing their teeth, fluoride in the water won't help them. If they are, they're getting all the protection fluoride can give already.

How about let's stop wasting money on fluoridating the water? Oh, wait... I forgot... this is Prince George...

Posted by: Palopu on April 3 2011 8:32 PM

For all the years that Prince George has been putting flouride in the water, I have never heard of or seen a case where someone got sick from it. Why is that????

You would think that with 40,000 people more or less drinking water with flouride over a period of 40 years that someone somewhere would have something specific to show us that would prove conclusively that flouride in water is dangerous.

I have been drinking it since it was introduced, along with many other people in Prince George and I feel just fine.

Lets get some specifics.

Posted by: Loki on April 3 2011 8:47 PM

Flouride should not be ingested in any measurable quantity. It should only be used in a topical manner on the teeth only, as in tooth paste.

If it can be measured in water or as an additive to any ingested substance (food additive), then it is considered to be a poison.

Stop wasting my tax money, stop adding this poison to our community drinking water.

Posted by: supertech on April 3 2011 11:36 PM

This is stupidity at it's best. We need some people on city council who can read and understand that we do not want to ingest their poison. Who are the people in PG that actually aquire a monetary gain from fluoride? Dentists. Thats is akin to asking the pentagon to stop all wars. There is absolutely no proof that fluoride stops cavities unless you listen to dentists. My dentist told there was a great improvement in Native kids from Reserves since they started putting fluoride on their teeth. Of course it wouldn't have anything to do with education about sugar, candy or poor nutrition would it?

Posted by: jakeadoo on April 4 2011 2:56 AM

Take a deep breath people and...oh crap you can't do that either or all the toxins from our airshed might get you too.We're absolutely screwed.

Posted by: Tim on April 4 2011 7:25 AM

The board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District (in California) held a public meeting March 22nd on water fluoridation. This summer they are scheduled to vote on whether or not to fluoridate the water supply. The board and their staff were given 20 copies of a 75-minute cd of doctors explaining the history, origin, and health hazards of this toxic waste. Doctors included John Lee, John Yiamouyannis, and Phyllis Mullenix. The audio is posted at the website www.MaeBrussell.com. Just go to the bottom of the homepage.

If people were to burn a cd of that audio and spread it around (especially to churches, schools, health food stores and health clubs) you might find it very effective in waking up the public in your area. Good luck.

Posted by: PrinceGeorge on April 4 2011 7:29 AM

Dentists apply fluoride to the OUTSIDE of the teeth to have an effect on the surface of the teeth! Toothpaste does the same thing - it is a SURFACE treatment!

Drinking water with fluoride added to it affects the whole body and organs like the thyroid, kidneys and the skeletal bones where it typically accumulates over the years.

Dentists look at your teeth, not your internal organs! Surgeons look at your internal organs when they are removing them because they have stopped working for one reason or another. An autopsy is another method to get a close look.

Scientific evidence is mounting that LONG TERM ingestion of fluoride is indeed not without risk! Why take a chance?

Parents are warned (officially) not to use fluoridated water to prepare baby formula! It can lead to brain damage in the infant!

Smoking used to be a harmless habit until now even second hand has been found to be a health risk!

Now the food industry is being urged to reduce the use of all the dyes which are used to make our daily foods look more enticing!

Recently the use of fluoride addition has been discontinued in Ft. St. John, Kitimat and Calgary, just to name a few places. Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops don't have it and neither does Vancouver Island.

They are paying closer attention and we are still bucking the trend.

The human body can get rid of only about half of the ingested fluoride - the rest is stored in the body where it can have adverse effects.

Prince George city councilors and the mayor need to get on board and discontinue this practice which is of no benefit and full of potentially harmful long term health effects!

Posted by: supertech on April 4 2011 8:28 PM

a class action lawsuit would wake them up. They are feeding this to us without our consent--that means it is unlawful to do it. That is what happened in Kamloops and they quickly shut the sludge tap off before it cost them personal lawsuits.