How safe do you think your drinking water is where you live?
Do you feel the need to buy bottled water?
Do you filter your water before drinking from the tap?
Fluoride-Free Water does not believe it is safe to drink tap water in Ireland which has been fluoridated.
Why not? Water fluoridation was known, from the start, to cause dental fluorosis in at least 10% of children exposed to it. Dental fluorosis is irreversible tooth enamel damage for life (see pictures below). We believe that drinking the chemicals used in fluoridation is an unecessary risk to health. According to the Department of Health report, Forum on Fluoridation Ireland 2002, "Roughly 50% of an absorbed amount of fluoride will be excreted in the urine during the following 24 hours and most of the remainder will become associated with calcified tissue (bones and teeth)."
Among the agents listed on page 192 of the report by the Department of Health are Arsenic, Mercury, Chromium, Lead, Nickel, Silicon, Fluoride (Hydro Fluoro Silicic Acid – H2SiF6). Currently, 71% of the public water supplies in the Republic of Ireland contain these agents.
We are a non-profit, independent, campaign group who believe that the policy of water fluoridation is very harmful to people, animals, and aquatic life; and that it also damages our environment and is totally unethical, and illegal. The agent, Hydro Fluoro Silicic Acid (H2SiF6), in water fluoridation is a listed poison under Irish Poisons Act 1982, First Schedule, Part 11 (SI 188).
Most of Europe does not fluoridate its drinking water for health, legal and environmental reasons, as you can see below.
Dental fluorosis is tooth enamel damage for life. This damage is clearly seen in the photographs of dental fluorosis shown on this page. Promoters of water fluoridation knew in advance that at least 10% of children would be affected with this condition under the water fluoridation policy. Children, their parents and guardians, did not get a chance to refuse water fluoridation and avoid this damage. Help us protect future generations from this damage by saying NO to water fluoridation today.
Dental fluorosis or mottled teeth are structurally weak, and when decay does set in, the result is often disastrous (Ref: Drs. M.C. and H.V. Smith, American Journal of Public Health 1940).
Below you will find some quotes from representatives of various national authorities on reasons why they reject water fluoridation in their respective countries. In many cases you can click on the national flag for further details.
Data from Dr. Paul Connett, the CEO of the Fluoride Action Network web site.
Click here for a summary chart showing percentage water fluoridation in Europe.
71% water fluoridation.
Northern Ireland: No fluoridation.
Scotland: No fluoridation.
Wales: No fluoridation.
England: 10% water fluoridation.
Austria: No fluoridation – "toxic fluorides have never been added to the public water supplies in Austria." (17th February 2000).
Belgium: No fluoridation.
Czech Republic: No fluoridation – "since 1993 drinking water has not been treated with fluoride in public water supplies throughout the Czech Republic. Reasons:
Denmark: No fluoridation – "toxic fluorides have never been added to the public water supplies." (22nd December 1999)
Finland: No fluoridation. One city, Kuopio, stopped in 1992.
France: No fluoridation – "fluoride chemicals are not included in the list of chemicals for drinking water treatment. This is due to ethical as well as medical considerations." (25th August 2000)
Germany: No fluoridation – "Generally in Germany fluoridation of drinking water is forbidden." (16th September 1999)
Luxembourg: No fluoridation – "Fluoride has never been added to the public water supplies in Luxembourg."
Holland: No fluoridation. It was rejected in 1976.
Norway: No fluoridation. It was rejected in 1975.
Spain: 3% water fluoridation.
Sweden: No fluoridation – "Nobel Medical Institute recommended against fluoridation. It is banned since 1971."
Switzerland: No fluoridation.
We ask for your help to stop this now.
We support other environmental groups including:
We want to end harmful water fluoridation in Ireland forever for health, legal and environmental reasons.
We will share information on dangers of fluoridation from books, websites, and online videos.
Water fluoridation is known to cause Dental Fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is tooth enamel damage for life. The Department of Health & Children published pictures of dental fluorosis in the Forum on Fluoridation Ireland 2002 Report. Dental fluorosis is irreversible damage to children's teeth. This damage was known to be a high risk by promoters of water fluoridation from the start, and no one told the children. The children and their families had a right to say NO to this damage, a right which has been denied to them since 1963.
We believe mandatory water fluoridation is an unreasonable health risk to our children and it is unconscionable to deny them their right to say no.
Harmful fluorides in tap water are a poison and they damage both teeth and soft tissue and bone. It is illegal to force anyone to take a poison without their knowledge or informed consent. You can say 'no' to a poison, and this is known in law as your right to 'personal bodily integrity'.
We believe you always retain that right, and that it is violated by compulsory water fluoridation.
The Irish environment has been flooded with toxic fluorides from water fluoridation since 1964. Only 1% of water usage is drinking. The remaining 99% is also fluoridated and this seeps out into the rivers, lakes and groundwater affecting the delicate ecosystem for over forty years. Overdosing has been noted by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in many areas in Ireland in their Water Quality Reports.
We believe information on the toxic risks of agents used in water fluoridation, which impact on general health and the environment, was not adequately released to the public since water fluoridation began in Ireland.