Join the Fluoridation Free coalition in calling for a nationwide ban on fluoridation of public drinking water

The Ministry of Health has decided to create a special taxpayer-funded task force to push for fluoridation in the wake of rising public opposition. The Ministry cited its recent loss in the Far North to local activists, and effective loss in Kapiti, as the reason for creating the task force.

Fluoridated water causes an increased risk of developing a bone disease, according to the latest report of the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks.

Bottle fed babies’ health is at risk if their formula is made up with fluoridated water, according to the latest report of the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks.

As a result, Fluoride Action Network New Zealand (FANNZ) is calling on all councils around the country to issue a warning to parents and caregivers not to use fluoridated tap water for making up infant formula.

"Quite honestly I was rather shocked to hear this allegation that I was not properly qualified, having fully qualified over 30 years ago. I didn't expect to be treated like this in NZ in the 21st Century."  Says Dr Kevin Baker.  At council submission hearings on Thursday night, Dr Neil Stephen, head of the School Dental Clinics, stated that Dr Baker had only trained as a doctor but had never qualified.  This left all people attending the meeting with the impression that Dr Baker was a charlatan.  In fact, Dr Baker trained at Cambridge University where he qualified with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and is very well qualified at the postgraduate level. 

“A disgrace to the office of a Minister, and an affront to our democracy, born of ignorance and unbelievable arrogance!” This is how Mark Atkin of Fluoride Action Network NZ (FANNZ) describes Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne’s media release on the Far North District Councils decision to honour its resolution to not begin fluoridation if the public voted against it.

“The good people of Kaitaia and Kaikohe have demonstrated how common wisdom can prevail over fanatical obsession, by decisively rejecting that addition of toxic fluoride waste to their drinking water” say health campaigners from the local area and Fluoride Action Network NZ (FANNZ).

Ministry of Health 2008 dental statistics for NZ show no benefit from fluoridation. This mirrors research published last year by the American Dental Association, also showing no benefit, from a study of 39,000 US children.

Local campaigners wanting to keep fluoride out of Far North water supplies have lodged complaints about five of the Northland DHB’s fluoridation advertisements.

“The DHB has spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to tell us we should have toxic waste in our water” says complainant Cliff Royal. “These ads are false and misleading in the most blatant ways” he says.

Research just published shows fluoride affects the aorta (main artery) and heart in ways that lead to increased heart attacks. “This confirms findings from the earliest days of water fluoridation in the USA that deaths from heart attacks sky-rocketed in the fluoridated communities, compared with the unfluoridated ones” points out Mark Atkin, of Fluoride  Action Network NZ and the Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition.

Fluoridated water can cause a 300% increase in lead toxicity, and children under 3 are at greatest risk, according to research just published. To make things worse, fluoridation chemicals used in our water supplies are themselves contaminated with lead!

Even a low level of lead exposure can cause intellectual impairment. It also increases violent behaviour – a US study showed violent crime has increased 56% more rapidly in fluoridated communities than unfluoridated ones.

Latest research shows that children with teeth damaged by fluoride (30% in fluoridated NZ communities) also have worse bone problems than others – something fluoridation opponents have said for years but promoters like the Ministry of Health continue to deny.

The long awaited report on the Far North fluoridation trial has finally been released, following presentation to the Far North District Council last Thursday.

A highlight of the report was the results from unfluoridated Kawakawa and Moerewa. These showed a remarkable improvement compared with the fluoridated towns, which showed far less.

The conclusion and recommendations were as written, and announced, in 2006 – the year before the trial began. “The researchers pre-determined the outcome, and have not let facts get in their way” says Mark Atkin of Fluoride Action Network NZ, after analysing the report. “No wonder the DHB refuses to release the raw data for independent statistical analysis and peer review” he adds, “It would show what a sham this study is.”

Fluoridation causes more premature births, one of the top causes of infant death in the USA. It poses the greatest risk to poor non-white mothers and babies. This is the finding State University of New York researchers from data spanning 1993 to 2002.

Research in Chile in the 1970s also showed fluoridation caused an increase in infant death rates. Chile stopped fluoridation as a result.

Children's cavity rates are similar whether water is fluoridated or not, according to data published in the July 2009 Journal of the American Dental Association by dentist J.V. Kumar of the New York State Health Department.

The data was from 30,000 children, first analysed in 1990. Kumar confirms the analysis of John Yiammouyanis, who showed then that there was no benefit from fluoridation. Errors in the official Government analysis at the time incorrectly claimed an 18% reduction in tooth decay from fluoridation; errors Yiammouyanis exposed.

The heath risk to babies fed baby formula made with fluoridated water, especially infants up to 12 months old, has been confirmed in the October Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA).
The research team concludes,  "Most infants from birth to age 12 months who consume predominantly powdered [or] liquid concentrate formula are likely to exceed the upper tolerable limit [of fluoride] if the formula is reconstituted with fluoridated water (0.7 - 1.2 ppm).”
The warning was first issued in 2006, having been identified in New Zealand in the 1990s - the NZ/Australian standard for infant formula background report states that using fluoridated water to make it up poses a risk of dental fluorosis.The NZ Ministry of Health continues to deny there is a risk.

Just as a deficiency of iodine reduces intelligence by reducing thyroid function, as recently publicised, so too does fluoride. This is the finding of 23 published studies from China, many recently translated into English – by an average of 4 to 5 IQ points. Although seemingly small, this shift significantly increases the number of severely intellectually retarded children.

The harm from fluoride, added by a minority of local councils to New Zealand water supplies in the belief it reduces tooth decay, is accentuated in people with iodine deficiency according to the leading international review, in 2006 – a double whammy.

16 September 2009

The Hawkes Bay District Health Board has been forced to retract information it provided the Central Hawkes Bay District Council on why it believes fluoridation should be continued in Waipukurau.  The incorrect information has already been sent to all households in Waipukurau.

11 September 2009

Fluoride Action Network Dunedin is pleased with results from a recent Dunedin City Council telephone survey ranking fluoridation consultation at number four on the list of concerns about water issues both now and in the future.

"We are very pleased that the public feel that consultation about fluoridation is a high priority" says Olive McRae, Dunedin campaign manager for Fluoride Action Network Dunedin.

7 September 2009

A new study shows that “arthritis” alone costs the health system (i.e. taxpayer) $2 billion per year (1.2% GDP). And it will keep increasing unless something is done, according to the authors.

“But much ‘arthritis’ is actually misdiagnosed skeletal fluorosis, caused by over-exposure to fluoride – the toxin put in many of NZ’s water supplies - according to the World Health Organisation. Doctors are not trained to diagnose this in NZ” advises Mark Atkin, Fluoride Action Network NZ’s co-representative on the Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition.

27 August 2009