FOR decades now there have been persistent attempts to force upon us the fluoridation of our water supplies.

The justification for this is a minimal improvement in children's teeth, an "improvement" which does not consider the wide variation in child dental care or the alternatives to this mass introduction of poisonous substances into our water supply without our permission. Alternatives include the prescribing of tablets (with parents' permission) or the presence of fluoride in toothpaste, which manufacturers claim brings significant health improvements.

The dental profession makes exaggerated claims for fluoridation, including (in my view) the false claim that it is perfectly safe and is something which naturally occurs in the water in some areas.

First, it is not pure fluoride but a compound of hydrofluosilicic acid, probably industrial waste. A European chemical company sells this to Ireland. The Irish Government adds this toxic waste to its drinking water at the rate of 2,000 gallons a day and new research on bone cancer shows an elevated risk of 40 per cent in the Irish Republic compared to Northern Ireland where there is no fluoridation. The bone cancer in question is osteosarcoma, the most prevalent cancer in young males between the ages of nine and 20.

Fluoridation is unethical because it violates individual rights to informed consent to medication; doses cannot be controlled, neither can each individual's response; its imposition ignores the fact that some people are more susceptible to its possible harmful effects than others; and it even violates the Nuremberg code on human experimentation.

Many years ago the north west, to its credit, opposed fluoridation. Now legislation is being discussed in Parliament for a referendum.

Dental care is the responsibility of parents and children and I am not prepared to suffer osteoporosis so that they can gorge themselves on sweets!

JIM HOMEWOOD,

Rectory Green,

Prestwich.