The Editor,

SHORE NEWS

PO Box 12026 Penrose

Dear Sir,

If it is so effective, how is it that dentist Ruth Hopkins BDS (Shore News 16/8) can recognise New Zealanders by "the incredible number of fillings" in their mouth? There is something amazingly enigmatic about this. I’m talking about fluoride. It has already been add to more of our water supplies here for the last 34 years. Perhaps the solution she discloses - of avoiding sugars that stick to teeth and acids in fantasy drinks - should be utilised. Better attention to dental hygiene is necessary to avoid the bacteria that actually causes tooth decay.

Dentists, of course, have no expertise beyond the oral cavity. But your concern should focus on the long-term damage to other parts of the human body that fluoride has now been shown to cause or contribute to. Fluorosis (dental and skeletal), lowered IQ, enzyme disruption, osteosarcoma and other cancers, hip fractures and consequent deaths, to name just a few. Peer-reviewed medical and scientific studies verify all of these. What an indictment it is on a Ministry of Health that ignores them. City decision-makers too.

Hydrofluorosilicic acid is what is added to fluoridate water supplies. It comes from exhaust gas scrubbers in the phosphate fertiliser industry where HAPs (hazardous air pollutants) can’t be released to the atmosphere. Contaminants include arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc and mercury – all present in phosphate rock. HFA is highly corrosive and can react with most organic and inorganic substances to form many different complexes. There is no safety study anywhere in the world to show it is safe for human consumption no matter how diluted. Do something about getting it out of the water you drink.

Yours sincerely,