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Switzerland Ends The Use Of Fluoride In Their Drinking Water, 41 Years Of Usage

Basel: The End of Water Fluoridation after 41 years
27 April 2003 (April 2005)

Rudolf Ziegelbecker Konradin Kreuzer
FORUM FÜR VERANTWORTBARE ANWENDUNG DER WISSENSCHAFT, BASEL und FLÜH/Schweitz;
(FORUM FOR RESPONSIBLE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE, BASEL and FLÜH/Switzerland)
Peterstalstrasse 29, A-8042 Graz/Austria CH-4112 Flüh/Switzerland
Telefon/Fax +43 316 47 11 28, e-mail: e-mail:
http://www.nux.ch
Graz/Basel, 27 April 2003

Dear All, We would like to inform you about the following:

Swiss Canton Basel-Stadt stops Fluoridation of Drinking Water
on 9 April 2003

The Great Council of the Swiss Canton Basel-Stadt has, on April 9, 2003, on a motion brought forward by the Commission for Health and Social Issues, totally repealed the "Resolution of the Great Council concerning the introduction of fluoridation of drinking water for the control of caries". The fluoridation of drinking water initiated by Basel-Stadt on May 2, 1962 was thus stopped after 41 years.

The reasons that were given were:

• The preventive effect of the fluoridation of drinking water could not be proved by any study. When specialists do not succeed in producing definite proof in 40 years, the issue has to be abandoned.

• Inspite of the fluoridation of drinking water caries has been on the increase with children.

• The danger of fluorosis is played down, nobody talks about fluorosis of the bones. The fluoridation of drinking water is particularly problematic in the case of young children and babies.

• Less than 1% of the fluoride in drinking water is actually used for "prevention of caries", more than 99% of the fluoridated water is used for washing, cleaning, industrial production etc. and thus only pollutes the environment, a very undesirable imbalance.

Rudolf Ziegelbecker Konradin Kreuzer