Donegal County Councillors are set to call on Irish Water to remove fluoride from national drinking water supplies. The service provider will be asked to explore alternative ways of treating Irish water, following the passing of a motion by Letterkenny MD Cllr Adrian Glackin.

Speaking at July’s county council meeting, Sinn Fein Cllr Glackin raised statistics to highlight concerns about the levels of the mineral that is added to water. For almost 60 years, water in Ireland has been treated with fluoride to prevent dental decay at a level of between O.6 and 0.8 parts per million.

Cllr Glackin said: “I think the long-term effects of fluoride have not been studied.

“With the amount of fluoride in water naturally and it being in toothpaste, I think there is no need for fluoridation any more.”

Cllr Glackin referenced Northern Ireland to point out that where no fluoride concentrations are added to supplies, the levels are 0.1MG/Litre.

In Ireland, artificial fluoridation leaves water supplies with levels of 0.6MG/Litre and 0.8MG/Litre.

Cllr Glackin said that 2% of the whole population of Europe are receiving fluoridated water, which some people believe is ‘mass medication’ of people.

It was agreed that a motion would be sent to Irish Water to request the removal of fluoride. A Corporate Policy Group (CPG) deputation will raise the issue with staff at the next meeting.

*Original article online at http://www.donegaldaily.com/2018/07/24/donegal-councillor-says-its-time-to-end-water-fluoridation/