We should make a simple distinction often lost in this discussion-that is the difference between chlorinating and adding fluoride. Chlorination and fluoridation are apples and oranges.
Chlorination is a process that constitutes purification of water.
Fluoridation is an additive. Further, there is a profound difference between a natural fluorine compound found in varying degrees in our food, which benefits teeth and bones, and inorganic fluorine which destroys vitamins and enzymes essential to a body's metabolism. These chemicals are industrial wastes obtained from scrubbing the air emissions from smelters and phosphate fertilizer plants. The BC Government website proudly hails water fluoridation as safe but draws no distinction between fluoride as a trace element in our diets and fluoride as an additive. The fluoridation issue has been a hotly debated topic for decades, but generally accepted as beneficial in the prevention of tooth decay.