(Originally appeared in the Denver Post on 03/22/2005)
The Battle over Fluoridating Water Supplies
Re: "Ft. Collins fluoride foes smiling over water vote," March 22 news story.
In your article on the Fort Collins ballot initiative to remove fluoride from the city water supply, you say, "Most say fluoride in drinking water has led to drastic declines in tooth decay." Actually, most dentists in developed countries agree that mass medicating the population is inappropriate. Japan does not fluoridate its water, and only 2 percent of the water supplies in Europe are fluoridated.
One of the most fluoridated countries is Canada, and even there, two-thirds of the residents enjoy pure water without added fluoride. Toronto is one of the minority of fluoridated cities, and the head of preventive dentistry at the University of Toronto, Hardy Limeback, has been actively lobbying for the last four years to remove fluoride from their water.
Limeback is a past president of the Canadian Dental Association and formerly was a fluoridation proponent. After witnessing excellent dental health in Vancouver and Montreal, he switched to the European position favoring pure water.
Even though the worldwide majority is opposed, we fluoridate the majority of Colorado water due to the efforts of a massive government propaganda campaign documented in a 2004 book, "The Fluoride Deception."
Sincerely,
Mark Brophy, Fort Collins