A report published in Britain recently recommends Ireland and other countries reverse its decision to follow the American example, and stop putting the poisonous chemical called fluoride in public drinking water and hygiene products.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Toxicology — the official journal of the British Toxicology Society and the German Toxicology Society - author Dr. Robert Verkerk said "mass fluoridation of the public water supply [must be]stopped immediately. This is borne out by actual data from Ireland which shows that every third child is affected [by a high risk of dental fluorosis]."

Fluorosis is a condition which causes staining on the teeth and indicates unhealthy toxicity in the body.

A recent study has shown that fluoride is responsible for the rise of rare bone cancer in boys. The Harvard School of Dental Health found that young boys exposed to fluoridated tap water from ages 5-10 suffered an increased risk of osteosarcoma--bone cancer--between the ages of 10 and 19.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a respected Washington-based research organisation made the report public, though it was left unpublished. The EWG now recommends "fluoridation of public water supplies should stop, because risks outweigh possible benefits, especially for infants and young children."

Europe bans fluoride in drinking water. Most countries in the EU banned the American practice of fluoridation. With development and education, cavity rates have fallen all across Europe, regardless of fluoride use.

A report of the Oireachtas Joint Health Committee in 2007 called to stop fluoridation to protect children. It states: "The contribution of international expert, Dr. Hardy Limeback was persuasive in this regard when he commented that using the most authoritative international data, the risk of fluorosis far outweighed the benefits of fluoride."

Ireland took to fluoridation in the '60s following recommmendations by representatives of the US military, but not before a famous legal fight. In 1960, the Fluoridation Act became Irish law, but was delayed for the High Court to hear the case in 1963 and the Supreme Court, on appeal, in 1964. The High Court case was the longest in Irish history.

There are numerous international scientific studies linking fluoride with serious health conditions such as bone fractures, cancer, osteoporosis, thyroid dysfunction and neurological impairment.

Sodium fluoride is a common ingredient used in rat poison for forty years, and should be avoided, despite all the happy talk about it on TV.

American scientists say the rat poison is harmless and beneficial to humans at 1 part per million.

Moves to ban fluoridation in Ireland have been stopped with bureaucratic paneling by the Minister for Health, Micheál Martin and subsequent Health Ministers.

In 2005, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions in the USA, representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals of the Civil Service, called for a halt on drinking water fluoridation across the US and demanded the EPA recognize fluoride poses a serious risk of causing cancer in people.

The Irish Medicines Board declared that fluoride is "not a medicine" and has "never been proven safe or effective for use on humans."

Still the Irish government follows the example of America, and the advice of dentists who have built careers promoting fluoride with conflicting evidence at best, and reasonable concern about a large-scale danger to Irish (and American) health.

The following is a documentary about the book researched for ten years, by award-winning journalist Christopher Bryson called the Fluoride Deception: