I READ with horror that the flouridationists are back.

I READ with horror that the flouridationists are back. I thought that we had dealt with that problem some 30 years ago.

Apart from the ethical consideration of mass medication it has proved to be harmful to health.

Before I was asked to go to Canada to work I had files full of reports of the harmful effects ranging from mottling of tooth enamel and gastric problems to paralysis.

In some countries fluoridation had been banned by the government and I even met members of the dental profession who moved so that their children would not be affected. It is well known that fluoridation is particularly harmful for kidney patients.

Dr Max Kammerling may be correct in saying that fluoride occurs naturally in some areas and that coincidentally tooth decay there is below average but I have never seen any evidence to substantiate the alleged connection. Furthermore the naturally occurring fluoride in those areas is calcium fluoride and this is not what they would add to our water supply.

Very little of this fluoride will be consumed in drinks, most will go straight down the drain. The whole procedure is highly unscientific as there is no way of knowing how much each person will drink.

We will be told that the concentration is within safe limits but of course this concentration will increase by boiling. By how much? That depends on how long it is boiled and how violently. More unknowns!

When I arrived in Canada I went to live in a town which obtained its water from the city of Pierrefonds. Now, Pierrefonds had been fluoridating its water but had ceased to do so because of the damage it did to the water mains. Once they stopped fluoridating the number of water main bursts dropped dramatically.

Later I moved to a city adjacent to Toronto from which it received its water supply. Toronto water was fluoridated and within a few weeks I was crippled by fluorosis and had to start buying bottled water.

My latest relevant news from Canada is of crumbling teeth attributed to fluoridation!

So you will see that I am opposed to fluoridation not just for ethical, emotional of financial reasons but from truly painful experience.

KENNETH F TUCKER

Milton Road, Weston