Southern View: 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.
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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.
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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 from
his soapbox. 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 World Health
Organisation recommends
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1mg/l or one part per million,
hardly a toxic dose for a mineral
that doesn’t accumulate in
the body. It’s much easier to
scaremonger if you leave out
any details that might counter
your beliefs.
Fee, Fendalton
I am very annoyed that
people do not have a choice with
fluoridation. It’s mass poisoning.
I certainly do not want to drink
a neurotoxin everyday. What
about babies and pregnant
mothers? I would have to buy a
special water filter that can get
rid of fluoride. Children who
have rotten teeth are most
likely not drinking water and
consuming too much sugar.
Better to educate than fluoridate.
Daniel Brice, Woolston
I strongly support John
Verd’s article on water
fluoridation. It’s a poison and,
like all things we ingest, it
should be done of our own
hand. I will be doing as much
as possible to stop our precious
water from being tainted with
this chemical and having the
choice taken from me of water I
put into my body.
Heather Sinclair,
Somerfield
I would hate to see
Christchurch water fluoridated.
I would be very concerned
about residents’ health.
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