BRITISH COLUMBIA: As Kamloops prepares for a referendum on fluoridation, a world-famous doctor has expressed strong opposition to water fluoridation.

“I would advise against fluoridation. Individual prophylaxis (treatment) is preferable on principle grounds and is as equally effective,” says Dr. Arvid Carlsson of Sweden, co-winner of last year’s Nobel Prize for medicine.

Carlsson was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of how brain cells transmit signals to each other, laying the groundwork for improved treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

He says fluoridation will harm some people and is not considered a proper health-care measure in his home country.

“Fluoridation of water supplies would also treat people who may not benefit from the treatment. Side-effects cannot be excluded and, thus, some people might only have negative effects without any benefit.”

“In Sweden, water fluoridation, to my knowledge, is no longer advocated by anybody. In Sweden, the emphasis nowadays is to keep the environment as clean as possible with regard to pharmacologically active and, thus, potentially toxic substances.”

Carlsson’s concern regarding the dangers of fluoridation echo the worries of University of Toronto dental professor Dr. Hardy Limeback.

Previously a supporter of fluoridation, he is now Canada’s most highly regarded opponent of fluoridation.

Dr. Limeback says he believes ingested fluoride is not greatly effective, fluoridation leads to dental fluorosis from excessive fluoride levels and personal treatment is a safer way to administer fluoride.

Kamloops voters will register their opinion on the controversial issue during the Oct. 13 municipal election.

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