Daily Echo - New research sees USA move away from Water Fluoridation.

New research sees USA move away from Water Fluoridation.
The future of controversial plans to fluoridate Hampshire tap water will be decided in court next week. A judicial review is being held in London's High Court examining whether South Central Strategic Health Authority was right to approve the scheme despite public opposition. But as JON REEVE reports, while the future of the practice in the UK is decided through the legal process, health experts in America have just announced a major reduction in the amount of fluoride in tap water there.
IT has been polarising opinion in Hampshire for years.
But as the future of fluoridation in the county is debated in the courts, with implications for other schemes around Britain, across the pond there are already changes being made in the country that delivers more fluoridated water to its people than any other in the world.
In the United States, where cities like New York and Chicago have been fluoridated since the 1940s, the government has just changed its rules on how much of the chemical can be added to water supplies.
The move to slash limits has come in response to growing fears about side effects.
America's Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have changed their guidelines, which previously recommended a
range of between 0.7 and 1.2 parts per million (ppm).
The difference was designed to allow for the varying climates across the US, with less fluoride needed in warmer areas where people drink more water.
But that guidance has now been downgraded so nowhere should have more than 0.7ppm.
The plans for Hampshire, affecting nearly 200,000 people across two-thirds of Southampton and parts of Eastleigh, Totton, Netley and Rownhams, would see 1ppm added to tap water.
Peter Silva, from the EPA, said the move is based "on the most up-to-date scientific data", suggesting around 40 per cent of American children now suffer dental fluorosis
He said: "EPA's new analysis will help us make sure that people benefit from tooth decay prevention while at the same time avoiding the unwanted health effects from too much fluoride."
In most cases, fluorosis is mild, with barely visible white markings or spots forming on the enamel of teeth, but in more extreme cases it can lead to brown stains and mottling.
Opponents of fluoridation argue it can cause misery for sufferers, who have to undergo expensive and repeated treatment to correct its effects.
But the chairman of the British Fluoridation Society has previously insisted fears over fluoroste are overstated. • Professor Michael Lennon said: "Few cases are unsightly; indeed, the mildest forms give teeth a 'pearlised' appearance which, research has shown, adolescent children think is more attractive than teeth without fluorosis."
So could the shift in US policy change anything here?
A spokesman for South Central Strategic Health Authority said it would be inappropriate to comment on fluoridation issues so close to the judicial review.
But should the authority successfully defend the legal action, don't be surprised to see a further challenge, citing the' policy of our American cousins.