Hamiltonians are being slowly poisoned by a toxin which causes brittle bones and brain damage.
That’s the claim of New York based St Lawrence University chemistry professor Paul Connett, author of The Case Against Fluoride, who was in the city last night.
The controversial chemist is here at the invitation of the Fluoride Action Network ahead of the Hamilton City Council tribunal on whether to keep fluroide in the water in May and appeared at the Celebrating Age Centre in Victoria St.
Asked whether he would drink a glass of Hamilton water, Mr Connett said: ”Not every day. I could withstand one or two glasses I am sure. It’s the long term effects I’m worried about. About 50 per cent of flouride goes into your bones giving symptoms like arthritis. As the fluoride grows the bones get brittle. We know this because there are millions of people living in India and China who have very high levels of natural fluoride in their water supply.”
Mr Connett said he knew of 36 studies that showed flouride effected the IQ levels of consumers reducing their quota by seven points.
”We have got studies that shows fluoride can damage the brain. New Zealand has no health studies whatsoever on this.”
”The District Health Boards around New Zealand will not defend their position if someone, like me, has the information.
Waikato District Health Board, which is in favour of fluoridation of drinking water, refused an invitation to front at the meeting, with spokesperson Mary Ann Gill saying: ”The only meetings the DHB is likely to attend regarding fluoridation are those held by territorial local authorities to make decisions about the use of fluoridation in public water supplies. The official position is well aired and the information readily available including on our website.”
But Dr Felicity Dumble, medical officer of health, said in a statement that Mr Connett’s claims appeared to be based on a catch-all US analysis of a number of studies largely done in China over a number of years.
”The meta-analysis, in recommending further research, noted each of the studies reviewed had deficiencies, some serious, which limited the conclusions that could be drawn.
”In particular, the studies did not consistently control for the major factors which might affect IQ such as parental education and household income, and exposure to other substances, such as mercury. These are highly relevant to measured IQ and if not controlled for, will inevitably skew results. The IQ differences between the two groups were small, and other studies have been reported to show that adult populations in the regions with higher fluoride in drinking water do not have significant differences in IQ.”
She said his claims did not translate to New Zealand.
”The studies are in areas where fluoride concentrations are as much as 10 times the New Zealand level. This was often due to naturally-occurring fluoride in untreated drinking water.
Print 
PDF