Nor'West News: August 23, 2016

4
Tuesday August 23 2016
Your Local Views
Anti-fluoridation argument
doesn’t ‘hold much water’
Nick King
responds to
last week’s
opinion piece
by John
Verd about
the dangers
of water
fluoridation
in Christchurch
With respect John, I think
your passion for the well-being
of others is admirable but, in this
case, misguided.
To suffer a ‘toxic dose’ of
fluoride, at the current safe and
recommended level you’d have to
guzzle 25 gallons of water. You’d
die from hyperhydration first.
Sola dosis facit venenum – the
dose makes the poison.
You quote Hirzy and Connett
as if that adds weight to the antifluoride
argument.
They are not respected in their
field, nor do they speak for the
(United States) Environmental
Protection Agency. And they’re
at odds with their peers and
mountains of research.
I suspect these ‘studies’ are the
well-known ‘Chinese studies’,
popular among conspiracy theorists
and widely discredited. Fifty
poor studies versus thousands
of more robust studies does not
make a solid case.
The Chinese studies fail to
acknowledge the higher than recommended
levels of fluoride and
other chemicals (also other factors
that may contribute to lower
IQ), including arsenic and iodine
– iodine being a good example
of “beneficial in small doses,
dangerous in higher doses”.
The dose makes the poison.
Even if it is a by-product of an
industrial process, so what? Lots
of things are. We call it recycling.
It’s safe at the levels required to
be beneficial to teeth.
Sure, it might be classed as
a hazardous product which, of
course, it will be if you’re counting
it by the truck load.
Hydrochloric acid is highly
corrosive, but is also produced
naturally by your own body.
There’s arsenic in rice.
The dose makes the poison.
I’m all for questioning and
challenging the status-quo –
things go stale if we don’t.
But scaring people with
sciencey-sounding rhetoric isn’t
very helpful, even if your intentions
are good.
I too have my own reservations
about this situation because of
Christchurch’s reputation for
amazing water, and I have an
emotional attachment to that.
But the points you covered just
don’t hold much water (pun
intended) and are potentially
unnecessarily scary for people.
Readers respond to last
week’s opinion piece
by John Verd about
fluoridated water
Pam Webber, Middleton
I agree with you. (It’s)
abhorrent that they intend
ruining our beautiful
Christchurch water. Keep up the
good work.
Ian Orchard, Papanui
I won’t be losing sleep over
the possibility of fluoridated
water until I get some more
details which John Verd
omitted. The somewhat
breathless revelation that
hydrofluorosilicic acid (more
properly Hexafluorosilicic acid)
is a by-product of the fertiliser
industry isn’t particularly
relevant. Like sausages, lots
of ingredients in food come
from pathways that we prefer
not to know about, without
being in any way hazardous.
On the other hand, plenty of
ingredients can be dangerous
in the wrong concentrations.
Sodium chloride and
dihydrogen oxide are two classic
examples. Sodium bicarbonate,
frequently recommended for
tough cleaning jobs, is also an
essential ingredient in cakes.
John makes no mention of the
concentration of fluoride ions
in treated water. The WTO
recommends 1mg/l or one
part per million, hardly a toxic
NOR’WEST NEWS
dose for a mineral that doesn’t
accumulate in the body. He also
omits to mention the ‘elevated’
levels of fluorine required to
cause reduced IQ, or whether
association is actual causation,
or if any of the 50 studies had
survived peer review? It’s much
easier to scaremonger if you
leave out any details that might
counter your beliefs.
A reader responds to
a recent article about
construction of the new
Northern Corridor project
Peter Reid – Bishopdale
Good about the pedestrian
and cycleway. I presume it will
take the same form as the one
alongside QE II. Seems odd to
have a third lane north over the
Waimakariri, but not south. It
will ease congestion a bit and,
for a while, for rush hour motorists
coming into the city until
numbers increase and congestion
gets back to present levels. Not
that I’m against the project. I left
Christchurch in 1969, a few years
after the original motorway was
done. When I returned in 1986, I
was very disappointed to find an
extension hadn’t been done to the
east of Belfast into the city. Have
they ditched that silly extra exit
off QE II in the vicinity of Hills
Rd through a park and across to
Innes Rd, or somewhere there,
that was proposed a couple of
years ago?
Winter Brand
Sale 30% off
WE SPECIALISE IN THE CARE AND
PRESERVATION OF TREES
• Pruning
• Expert Tree Felling
• Fully Insured
• Free Quotes
• Powerline Clearing
• Branch Chipping
• Competitive Rates
• Orion Approved Contractor
FULLY
QUALIFIED
ARBORISTS
Beautiful Teeth
Meet the
Owner
Ryan Carlton
Natural Smile
Free Consultation, No Obligation
• Full Dentures • Dentures Repaired • Implant Assisted Dentures
• Injection Moulded Unbreakable Partials • Relines
• Mouthguards • Additions/Repairs • Purchase cleaning and care
products from our website.
All dentures personally
designed and created to ensure
a comfortable natural fit.
DENTURES PLUS (2014) LTD
Denture Clinic and Laboratory
396 Innes Road, St Albans. Phone 385 5517.
Email: denturesplus@paradise.net.nz
www.denturesplus.co.nz
Open 7 days | twO lOcatiOns
7d Mandeville st, Opp placeMakers
ph 03 366 4166
dressMart hOrnby, Main sOuth rd
ph 03 344 5304
Orbiter Bus stops Innes Road
Member of NZ Arboriculture Association
For quotes and enquiries phone 03 349 7143 | For urgent enquiries phone 027 272-6710
Email: office@arbor-tek.co.nz
www.arbor–tek.co.nz