“The majority of scientists across the world oppose water fluoridation with 98 per cent of Europeans not drinking fluoridated water. For instance, the Netherlands have banned anyone from ever fluoridating their drinking water. “Scientists have looked into the arguments and decided that fluoride is a dangerous toxin. “Back in Southampton, contrary to the scare stories, the dental health here has been getting better, without fluoridation, for years.

“We have about five times fewer dental problems now than we had 50 years ago. “More people now brush their teeth properly. Any beneficial effect of fluoride comes on the surface of the teeth (fluoride is a nasty chemical so kills bacteria), NOT from drinking it.

“So what does the most authoritative scientific study in the UK say?

“The government’s York Review gave the ‘definitive’ position in 2000. “The authors said that there was NOT a massive improvement in dental health and that 48 per cent of those in fluoridated areas developed dental fluorosis. “They also did NOT find that water fluoridation was safe.

“Further, water fluoridation is not cost effective. “Areas with water fluoridation have some of the highest levels of spending on dentistry. That is not surprising as dental fluorosis can cost thousands of pounds to treat, repeated every seven years.

“There have been literally hundreds of research studies that have identified a link between fluoride, even in quite low doses, and sometimes fatal illnesses. “In the USA, what does their most important and prestigious scientific body say about fluoride? The USA’s National Research Council (NRC) said in 2006: n Fluoride damages the teeth n Fluoride may cause cancer n Fluoride damages the brain n Fluoride can weaken bones and increase the risk of fractures n Fluoride interferes with the glands and hormones “These effects were found at worryingly low levels of fluoride.

“As fluoride is also in many toothpastes and teas, some people drinking water at one ppm (the level proposed for Southampton) already receive higher than the safe limit. Babies should NEVER be fed fluoridated water. “There is no known need for any fluoride in the body at all, and we only excrete around half of what is taken in. So fluoride collects in our bodies over the years.

“Scientifically the argument is massively against fluoridation.

“This is an attempt at forced mass medication of the worst kind.

“What is proposed is hexafluorosilicic acid, which has six fluorine ions on every molecule. Adding this means people have to drink a dangerous unnatural chemical in their drinking water that they cannot remove with a normal filter. “To put it simply: • Water fluoridation does more harm to teeth than good.

• Fluoridation is linked to extremely serious diseases. • It is ethically wrong to force people to drink fluoride.

“As Dr Peter Mansfield of York Review said: “No physician in his right senses would prescribe for a person he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: ‘Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some children suffer from tooth decay’. It is a preposterous notion. “Fluoridation is medically a highly irresponsible policy and must be stopped.”