IN the US the rate of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in dogs is almost 10 times that in humans.

Scientists have never determined a safe level of fluoride intake for dogs, and this is one possible cause.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) have found high levels of fluoride in eight major brands of dog food, out of 10 brands tested.

The primary source of fluoride was bone meal and other animal products, including poultry or beef meal.

Brands that contained no bone meal (a vegetarian brand and a brand produced by a small manufacturer) contained no detectable fluoride.

The EWG recommends that consumers purchase dog foods that do not contain bone meal or other animal by products and say the government should set fluoride standards for pet foods.

It was fluoride-bone cancer that created the Harvard scandal some years ago, when the Elise Bassin findings were suppressed by Dr Chester Douglas (a Colgate employee).

The Medical Research Council Report (preferred to but seldom quoted by the UK government) says: “The aetiology of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) is poorly understood,,, exposure to fluoride should be included along with other possible risk factors.”

One factor of the US findings seems, surprisingly, to have failed to draw attention to one very significant question.

The animal species whose fluoride-laden bones were found to contribute to the risk level in animal feed are all short lived, compared to humans.

But fluoride, from whatever sources, had built up to a serious level in their bones.

These bones then contributed to a possible problem in the next species in the food chain.

If bones collect fluoride to this extent in a species with a life span of a few years, how long does it take to do the same in us?

Fluoride comes at us from many directions, every day already, with more added all the time.

Do you want to add to the risks by having more added to your drinking and bath water?

Or would you prefer that the money were spent by the NHS on curing people whose cancers were unavoidable?

Fluoridated water will be drunk by the animals in your food chain, producing your beef, chicken and milk. And your bones need to last you a long time. You hope.

Margaret Reichlin, MacCallum Road, Upper Enham.