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This Council is one of 26 local health authorities served by the
Metropolitan Water Board who support the fluoridation of water
supplies as a dental caries preventive measure. Unfortunately, a
minority of 6 authorities have consistently opposed such action and
the Metropolitan Water Board is persisting in its policy of not
introducing fluoridation until there is unanimity among the authorities supplied.
The possibility of placing the duty of fluoridation of London's
water supplies on the Metropolitan Water Board by a General
Powers Bill has been explored by the London Boroughs' Association, but the Clerk to the Board has indicated the impracticability of such a suggestion if only for the fact that the respective
areas do not coincide. Legislation, to be effective, would need to
be made obligatory throughout the country and the Minister is
not prepared, at this juncture, to support this solution.
Lead Poisoning
An indication of the necessity for an inquiring mind and attention
to detail was revealed in a case of lead poisoning reported to the
department during the current year.
Following receipt of information that a 3-year-old Indian boy
had been admitted to the Brook Hospital suffering from lead
poisoning and that subsequently the mother and another child were
found to have a high lead content in the blood which required
urgent treatment, the district Public Health Inspector, in company
with a hospital doctor, visited the child's home.
After detailed and painstaking investigations which elminated
paintwork, toys, water supply, cooking utensils, food, etc., the
source of the poisoning was narrowed down to a mascara-like
substance found to consist of 80% lead sulphide and commonly
used by Indian and Pakistani women on themselves mainly as a
beauty preparation and on their children for "medicinal purposes"
in cases of eye irritation and for improving the vision.
Notification of the case to the Ministry was followed by a Press
Notice issued by the Home Office warning the public of the
potential danger of lead poisoning arising from the use of certain
brands of eye cosmetics imported from India and Pakistan.
A full report covering the incident was made to the British
Medical Journal by the Brook Hospital doctors in the issue dated
13th January, 1968.
It is interesting to record that the use of this compound of lead
sulphide ore known as "galena" as a cosmetic has an extremely
ancient history for pieces of galena have been found in an Egyptian
grave dated 4000 B.C. Moreover, it would seem likely that even