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Home > News archives > WISA position paper on fluoridation in preparation

WISA position paper on fluoridation in preparation

Water Sewage & Effluent, December 1998
President's comment

Our membership comprises people from many different occupations, various types of companies, different organisations and people with other affiliations.   We are all bound together with a common stream- water.  It is clear that, with these differing interests, opinions about a subject will also differ.  For this reason, WISA has in the past not taken a stance on a particular issue such as the fluoridation of drinking water.  The concern was that WISA would be unable to formulate a consensus opinion and therefore would not be able to speak on behalf of all its members.

At the Strategic Planning Session held at Maccauvlei on April, 16 and 17 1997, one of the strategic thrusts identified for the future direction for WISA to follow was that we should strive to be recognised as the leading voice of the water industry.  It has therefore been agreed that WISA should prepare position papers on matters of interest.

One of the burning issues is fluoridation of drinking water.   The main argument in favor of fluoridation is a medical one - it may reduce decay in children's teeth.  Research has revealed that industry, in trying to get rid of its toxic waste by-products, hit on the idea of drinking water.  The main argument in favor of fluoridation is a medical one - it may reduce decay in children's teeth.   Research has revealed that industry, in trying to get rid its toxic waste by-products, hit on the idea of adding it to drinking water.  They justified this by arguing that it reduces cavities in teeth.  Unlike chlorination, which is designed to treat the water and make it safe to drink, fluoridation is meant o influence a human physiological process - the mineralisation of tooth enamel.  Scientists have known for years that fluoride at very low
concentrations can damage vegetation, aquatic life and liverstock, and chemists have learnt to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable element and they now know that fluoride is a potent enzyme poison.  New evidence regarding the possible action of fluoride on human cells and tissues is emerging all the time.

Fluoride is considered to be a carcinogen.  It is reported that drinking fluoridated water will double the number of hip fractures for both older men and women and inhibit broken bone healing.

Not only is there a wide variation in the amount of water we consume, we are now ingesting fluoride from many more everyday sources, including food, dental health products, medicines as well as pesticide, insecticide and fertiliser residues an even the air we breathe.