Daily Echo - Fluoride fears

Fluoride fears
I've been following the Southampton debate on the issue of water fluoridation. I'm writing from the West Midlands which has been wrongly heralded by health authorities as being particularly successful in preventing dental decay due to water fluoridation.
It is anything but successful. Not only do 34 per cent of fluoridated children in some parts of the West Midlands have dental fluorosis but there is concern about the effect of fluoridated water on infants, especially premature babies. These little ones should not drink and absorb fluoride because it infiltrates the brain in the first six weeks of life (more if premature). Because of an accident in the summer of 2008 at Dimmingsdale Water Treatment Works, two new-borns in Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth were, for eight weeks, getting 400 times more fluoride in their baby formula than is found in breast milk. Babies in fluoridated areas would normally get 200 times more fluoride than is found in breast milk. Fluoride's effect on the brain is to reduce intelligence as has been demonstrated by numerous studies conducted in other countries.
The American Dental Association has warned American parents of newborns not to give their infants fluoridated water, while the American National Kidney Foundation withdrew its support for water fluoridation in June 2008.
It's highly unlikely that anyone is monitoring the progress of the Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth babies. Is this because health authorities are fearful of discovering that water fluoridation damages children's intelligence?
JOY WARREN, BSc (Hons) Environmental Science
Co-prdinator, West Midlands Against Fluoridation, wmaf.org.uk.