A group concerned with the effects of fluoride in water has demanded the Government stop fluoridation immediately.

The Fluoride Free Water group marched to the Department of Health this afternoon and called on the Minister Mr Martin, to carry out health studies into the effects of fluoride in water.

They also want the Minister to begin an independent public inquiry into the mass medication, which they say is a breach of human rights. Dr Don Mac Auley, a dentist, delivered a protest letter addressed to the Minister.

International scientific studies have linked fluoride in water to hip fractures, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, thyroid disorders and neurological damage.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1997 Dr Mac Auley discovered the agent being used to fluoridate Irish water is a highly corrosive acid and a waste product of the fertiliser industry, containing lead, chromium and arsenic.

Dr Mac Auley is concerned Ireland has not signed the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicines. Under Article 5 of this convention no one is allowed to be forced to take medication to which they have not given consent.

Dr Mac Auley told ireland.com the fluoridation forum set up by the Minister last May was inadequate and he claimed it was pro-fluoride. “We deserve better than that,” he said.

Marchers held placards reading “Fluoride is More Toxic than Lead” and “Poison on Tap”. Sister Rachel Hoey of Fluoride Free Water carried a bottle filled with thick brown liquid that took 60 days to collect from a tap with a filter.

“It’s toxic filth,” she said. “Babies just a few weeks old are given a formula that is made up with fluoridated water. It is steadily building up in our children.”

Fluoride is added to 73 per cent of Irish water supplies and Sister Hoey is angry that the Minister has announced plans for more fluoridation plants to be built.

Mr Joseph Glynn, a researcher from Earthwatch, said it was “irresponsible” for the Government to medicate people without prescription and dismiss scientific evidence about the effects of fluoride.

“People are spending a lot of money buying bottled water to avoid this. They have justified fears about tap water but the Minister has not actually addressed the fears,” Mr Glynn said.

“I see the damage in my surgery on a daily basis now,” Dr Mac Auley said. “There was no fluoride in toothpaste when fluoridation first began in the 1960s but there is so much more now and it is not being monitored.”

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