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Ireland has launched an extensive review of water fluoridation amid ongoing public resistance to the 50-year-old practice. The review by Ireland's Health Research Board, a government agency, will examine the latest national and international studies to assess the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation.
It comes as anti-fluoride campaigns continue to surface across this country of 4.5 million, particularly in County Cork, where 48 county councillors have unanimously called for an immediate end to the practice.
Critics draw links between water fluoridation and a variety of health problems, and argue the practice deprives them of their right to choose whether to ingest the substance. But Ireland's Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, a committee of scientists that reviews emerging research and advises the health minister, insists that water fluoridation at recommended levels is safe and effective. Halting the practice could have serious consequences in Ireland, where dietary habits put the public at unusually high risk of tooth decay, they say.
"We are sure it will lead to an increase in oral disease," says Joe Mullen, Ireland's chief dental inspector and a former member of the committee. "We are absolutely certain of that. It's not a case of a theoretical possibility that this might cause harm."
Ireland...