QUEENSLANDERS concerned about the introduction of fluoridated drinking water are rushing to purchase the latest filtering systems.

Almost 80 per cent of southeast Queensland households are now drinking fluoridated water, with only Toowoomba, Caboolture, Redland City and pockets of the Sunshine Coast, north of the Maroochy River, still to come online.

But the State Government has conceded it has received two petitions against water fluoridation totalling almost 6000 signatures in the past month.

The Queensland Health website advises people concerned about fluoride will have to choose other drinking water sources, such as bottled or filtered water.

Water filter sales are rocketing in Queensland.

Generic supermarket bottled water sells for up to $1.08 a litre, meaning the cost for a family of four drinking the recommended daily intake of two litres of water a day is $60 a week.

However, Food Standards Australia New Zealand has proposed allowing manufacturers to voluntarily add fluoride to bottled water.

“Whenever people start talking about fluoride you see the increased interest.”

Mr Young said the only system which effectively filtered out fluoride used reverse osmosis technology, a filtration process that uses pressure to force water through a membrane, eliminating contaminants.

However, he said not even the best filters could eliminate all traces of fluoride.

Typical units can range from $400 to $1000, and can cost up to $150 a year to maintain.

please read the following information by Selwyn Johnston, Independent representative for Cairns (North Queensland) FLUORIDE The Greatest Fraud of the Twentieth Century FLUORIDE… THE TRUTH & THE MYTHS “Water fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century… if not of all time.” Dr Robert Carton, former President of the Union of Government Scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency. Enforced fluoridation will not prevent tooth decay, but it will destroy an essential aspect of consumer choice over the basic resource of drinking water. And it could have a strongly adverse effect on the health of children as well as adults. Mass studies in North America and New Zealand reveal no significant difference in decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. Most European countries do not fluoridate… so where are all the toothless Europeans? Tooth decay is caused by poor dental hygiene and high consumption of refined sugar products. Enforced fluoridation does nothing whatsoever to address either of these problems. If anything, it could even be counter-productive if people neglect dental hygiene because they think fluoride in their drinking water will solve the problem for them. Medicating everyone on the grounds that this will, debatably, help a small percentage of the population, is simply not logical. It’s even worse when we consider the wealth of scientific evidence that fluoride can have nasty side effects ranging from cancer, to cavities in tooth enamel. Fluoride is, in fact, highly poisonous, and the following outlines the long list of health problems associated with it, with copious scientific references. I am opposed to mass medication. I am opposed to the destruction of consumer choice in a matter so basic as public drinking water. I believe the precautionary principle should be applied… that is, if you can’t prove fluoridation is harmless, then you do NOT fluoridate. I believe in strong, sensible measures to improve health, and, … enforced fluoridation is definitely NOT one of them. There are ONLY two (2) undeniable scientifically proven FACTS when it comes to good healthy teeth… GOOD HEALTHY TEETH ARE ATTAINED BY… (i) A HEALTHY DIET, and (ii) DAILY DENTAL HYGIENE In addition, OBESITY is reversed or controlled by (i) as above. I intend to exert myself in alerting the public to the full story of fluoridation, thus allowing an informed public to decide if the government should be enforcing it upon them. Summary (see Appendix for references) Fluoride is a known toxin. It is more toxic than lead and only marginally less poisonous than arsenic Fluoride is described by its manufacturers’ safety data as a ‘hazardous waste’. It is illegal to dump it at sea The contents of a family-size tube of fluoridated toothpaste are enough to kill a 12.5 kilo child Fluoride consumption by human beings increases the general cancer death rate Fluoride exposure disrupts the synthesis of collagen and leads to the breakdown of collagen in bone, tendon, muscle, skin, cartilage, lungs, kidney and trachea Fluoride inhibits antibody formation in the blood Fluorides have a disruptive effect on various tissues in the body Fluoride confuses the immune system and causes it to attack the body’s own tissues, and increases the tumour growth rate in cancer prone individuals Fluoride kills red blood cells and damages gastric mucosa, resulting in the symptoms of ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ Fluorides are medically categorized as protoplasmic poisons, which is why they are used to kill rodents Fluoride is a cumulative poison… we excrete about half what we ingest. The rest is stored, mainly in the bones, where it increases the density but changes the internal architecture of the bone. This makes bones more brittle and prone to fracture. (Eight papers published in reputable medical journals have described the increased risk of hip fracture in elderly people living in fluoridated areas) Where does fluoride come from? This is a ‘commercial secret’, which successive Governments don’t want you to know. However, I do want you to know. ‘Fluoride’ is hexafluorosilicic acid – a toxic industrial waste by-product derived from the super-phosphate fertiliser, and aluminium, industries. The suppliers’ Safety Data Sheet for hexafluorosilicic acid clearly states: “DO NOT let this chemical enter the environment. Dispose of this product as hazardous waste. Consult the supplier to see if he will take it back. Readily filters into soil. Recover cleaning water and dispose of at a specialist site.” What’s wrong with fluoride? Scientific studies have shown: Fluoride is implicated in genetic disorders, cancer and low IQ levels in children Calcium levels in the body decrease as fluoride levels rise Fluoride induces pitting and cavity formation on the surface of tooth enamel (cavities distinctly different from those formed as a result of dental caries) Blood fluoride levels rise continuously with prolonged use of fluoridated toothpaste People who ingest fluoride risk problems as the muscles, connective tissues and bone tissue undergo degenerative changes. The appendix gives copious scientific references to support the case against enforced fluoridation. Fluoride does NOT stop tooth decay! Large-scale studies of the official school dental data of tens of thousands of children in the US, New Zealand and Canada show that there is no difference in the incidence of decayed, missing and filled teeth between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. Tests in fluoridated West Midlands (UK) have found a high proportion of children suffering discoloration of the teeth due to fluoride, and a high proportion of adults with up to four times the ‘safe’ level of fluoride in their body. European children don’t have worse teeth than those in fluoridated parts of Britain. The National Pure Water Association has repeatedly asked the UK Department of Health to cite one scientific or laboratory study from anywhere in the world which proves that fluoridation reduces tooth decay in humans. They have failed to do so. “There is not a single scientific, or laboratory, study from anywhere in the world which proves that fluoridation reduces tooth decay in humans. There are, however, hundreds of published scientific papers which show that water fluoridation is dangerous to human, animal, plant and aquatic life, which is no surprise, since fluoride is more toxic than lead and only marginally less so than arsenic.” National Pure Water Association, UK Who opposes fluoridation? Most European governments oppose fluoridation. So do most local authorities in Australia. So do many health-promotion organisations around the world. The Netherlands tried fluoridation and banned it after doctors discovered adverse health effects. In 1997, more than 1,000 members of the union working at the Environmental Protection Agency HQ in Washington DC, who are directly responsible for the implementation of the US Safe Drinking Water Act, voted unanimously to ban water fluoridation. “Our members’ review of the body of evidence over the last eleven years, including animal and human epidemiological studies, indicate a causal link between fluoride/fluoridation and cancer, genetic damage, neurological impairment and bone pathology. Of particular concern are the recent epidemiological studies linking fluoride exposure to lower I.Q. in children. As professionals charged with assessing the safety of drinking water, we conclude that the health and welfare of the public is not served by the addition of this substance to the public water supply.” Vice-President of the National Federation of Federal Employees, USA. Since 1997 fluoridated toothpaste in the USA has carried the following warning: “If you accidentally swallow more than is needed for brushing [sic] seek professional help or contact a Poisons Control Centre.” The American Dental Association opposed this health warning. They make $billions from “accreditation” of fluoride products and certainly didn’t want to see a poisons warning on their nice “clean” mega-buck earner. The British Dental Association and the British Dental Health Foundation also make tens of thousands of pounds annually in “accreditation” of similar products. Consumer choice, or involuntary mass ‘medication’? If you are convinced of the efficacy of fluoride, you can of course buy fluoride toothpaste. It is readily available and costs no more than fluoride-free toothpaste. You have the right to make that choice. But if the ‘fluoride lobby’ gets its way, you will never, ever, have the choice not to swallow fluoride repeatedly every day. You will always have to imbibe a cumulative poison every time you drink a glass of water or a cup of tea. “No physician in his right senses would prescribe for someone he has never met, whose medical history he does not know, a substance which is intended to create bodily change, with the advice: ‘Take as much as you like, but you will take it for the rest of your life because some people say that it can reduce tooth decay in children.” Dr Peter Mansfield, Director, Templegarth Trust. Despite a wealth of evidence from around the world, Government bureaucrats still insist that “… water fluoridation is safe and effective and no adverse effects have ever been found…” The NHS even lacks a facility for testing fluoride levels in blood and urine. No wonder it doesn’t spot the adverse effects, when it isn’t looking for them. In 1998 Dr. Peter Mansfield, Director of the Templegarth Trust, tested over 200 volunteers from the fluoridated West Midlands (UK). He found that 60% of them were ingesting up to four times the amount of fluoride considered to be “safe”. He sent the results to the very highest levels at the Department of Health… and was ignored. But he has been attacked by leading pro-fluoride promoters. He commented: “They have no results of their own and are not willing to replicate my tests. It is obvious that the symptoms of joint pain and stiffness suffered by many of these volunteers are misdiagnosed. This is most serious negligence.” Successive Australian governments have rejected a call for a full public inquiry into the effects of fluoridation, preferring instead to close its eyes to the evidence. Meanwhile it uses taxpayers’ money to promote fluoridation. The government now wants to allow local authorities to order enforced fluoridation. Cairns and Brisbane are among the regions in Queensland that have been singled out as targets. What needs to be done? Tooth decay is caused by poor dental hygiene and excessive consumption of refined sugar products. Fluoridation won’t improve dental hygiene, but it will destroy consumer choice and add a known toxin to the drinking water of millions… against their will. I believe that a majority of Australians want: A properly resourced strategy for reducing tooth decay, including education about dental hygiene, targeting children and adults A TOTAL ban on the fluoridation of drinking water A health warning on all sources of fluoride intended for human consumption What can you do? Write to your local Councillor demanding the above Request your Councillor to forward your letter to Tony Abbott, Federal Minister for Health, making the same demands Support the Selwyn Johnston, Queensland Independent campaign against fluoridation. References on the scientific case… against fluoride Fluoride exposure disrupts the synthesis of collagen and leads to the breakdown of collagen in bone, tendon, muscle, skin, cartilage, lungs, kidney and trachea. A. K. Susheela and Mohan Jha, “Effects of Fluoride on Cortical and Cancellous Bone Composition”, IRCS Medical Sciences: Library Compendium, Vol 9, No.11, pp 1021-1022 (1981) “Fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons, with the capacity to modify the metabolism of cells by inhibiting certain enzymes. Sources of fluoride intoxication include drinking water containing 1 ppm or more of fluorine.” Journal of the American Medical Association, September 18, 1943 Fluoride stimulates granule formation and oxygen consumption in white blood cells, but inhibits these processes when the white blood cell is challenged by a foreign agent in the blood. Robert A. Clark, “Neutrophil Iodination Reaction Induced by Fluoride: Implications for Degranulation and Metabolic Activation,” Blood, Vol 57, pp. 913-921 (1981) Fluoride depletes the energy reserves and the ability of white blood cells to properly destroy foreign agents by the process of phagocytosis. As little as 0.2-ppm fluoride stimulates superoxide production in resting white blood cells, virtually abolishing phagocytosis. Even micro-molar amounts of fluoride, below 1 ppm, may seriously depress the ability of white blood cells to destroy pathogenic agents. “Immune Status of Children in Chemically Contaminated Environments”, Zdravookhranenie, Issue 3, pp 6-9 (1987) Fluoride confuses the immune system and causes it to attack the body’s own tissues, and increases the tumour growth rate in cancer prone individuals. Alfred Taylor and Nell C. Taylor, “Effect of Sodium Fluoride on Tumour Growth”, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, Vol 119,p 252(1965); Sheila Gibson, “Effects of Fluoride on Immune System Function”, Complementary Medical Research, Vol 6, pp 111-113 (1992) Fluoride inhibits antibody formation in the blood. S. K. Jain and A.K. Susheela, “Effect of Sodium Fluoride on Antibody Formation in Rabbits”, Environmental Research, Vol. 44, pp 117-125 (1987) Fluoride depresses Thyroid activity. Viktor Gorlitzer Von Mundy, “Influence of Fluorine and Iodine on the Metabolism, Particularly on the Thyroid Gland,” Muenchener Medicische Wochenschrift, Vol 105, pp 182-186 (1963); “Effect of Fluorine on Thyroid Iodine Metabolism and Hyperthyroidism”, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 18, pp 1102-1110 (1958) Fluorides have a disruptive effect on various tissues in the body. Vilber A.O. Bello and Hillel J. Gitelman, “High Fluoride Exposure in Hemodialysis Patients”, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol. 15, pp 320-324 (1990) Fluoride promotes development of bone cancer. S.E. Hrudley et al., “Drinking Water Fluoridation and Osteosarcoma” Canadian Journal of Public Health, Vol 81, pp 415-416 (1990); Irwin Herskowitz and Isabel Norton, “Increased Incidence of Melanotic Tumours Following Treatment with Sodium Fluoride”, Genetics Vol 48, pp 307-310 (1963) Fluorides cause premature aging of the human body. Nicholas Leone, “Medical Aspects of Excessive Fluoride in a Water Supply”, Public Health Reports, Vol 69, pp 925-936 (1954); “The Village Where People are Old Before their Time”, Stern Magazine, Vol 30, pp 107-108,111-112 (1978) Fluoride ingestion from mouth rinses and dentifrices in children is extremely hazardous to biological development, life span and general health. Yngve Ericsson and Britta Forsman, “Fluoride retained from mouth rinses and dentifrices in preschool children”, Caries Research, Vol.3, pp 290-299 (1969); W.L. Augenstein, et al., “Fluoride ingestion in children: a review of 87 cases”, Paediatrics, Vol 88, pp 907-912, (1991); George Waldbott, “Mass Intoxication from Over-Fluoridation in Drinking Water”, Clinical Toxicology, Vol 18, No 5, pp 531-541 (1981) Fluorides diminish the intelligence capability of the human brain. Fluoride, Vol 26, No.4, pp 189-192, 1995, “Effect of Fluoride Exposure on Intelligence In Children”. Presented to the 20th Conference of the International Society for Fluoride Research, Beijing, China, September 5-9, 1994 Fluoride studies in rats can be indicative of a potential for motor disruption, intelligence deficits and learning disabilities in humans. Humans are exposed to plasma levels of fluoride as high as those in rat studies. Fluoride involves interruption of normal brain development. Fluoride affects the hippocampus in the brain, which integrates inputs from the environment, memory, and motivational stimuli, to produce behavioural decisions and modify memory. Experience with other developmental neurotoxicants prompts expectations that changes in behavioural functions will be comparable across species, especially humans and rats. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol 17, No, 2, p 176, “Neurotoxicity of Sodium F luoride”, Muellenix, Denbesten, Schunior, Kernan, 1995 Fluorides accumulate in the brain over time to reach neurologically harmful levels. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol 17, No, 2, p 176, “Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride”, Muellenix, Denbesten, Schunior, Kernan, 1995 “Drinking water containing as little as 1.2 ppm fluoride will cause developmental disturbances. We cannot run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances. The potentialities for harm outweigh those for good.” Journal of the American Dental Association, Editorial, October 1, 1944 The contents of a family-size tube of fluoridated toothpaste is enough to kill a 12.5 kilo child. In 1991, the Akron (Ohio) Regional Poison Centre reported, “… death has been reported following ingestion of 16 mg/kg of fluoride. Only 1/10 of an ounce of fluoride could kill a 50 kilo adult. According to the Centre, “fluoride toothpaste contains up to 1 mg/gram of fluoride.” Even Proctor and Gamble, the makers of Crest, acknowledge that a family-sized tube “theoretically contains enough fluoride to kill a small child.” (National Pure Water Association, UK) “Fluorides have been used to modify behaviour and mood of human beings. It is a little known fact that fluoride compounds were added to the drinking water of prisoners to keep them docile and inhibit questioning of authority, both in Nazi prison camps in World War II and in the Soviet gulags in Siberia.” National Pure Water Association, UK Fluorides are medically categorized as protoplasmic poisons, which is why they are used to kill rodents. The Journal of the American Medical Association on September 18, 1943, states, “… fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons, changing the permeability of the cell membrane by inhibiting certain enzymes. The exact mechanisms of such actions are obscure.” Fluoride consumption by human beings increases the general cancer death rate. In 1975 Dr John Yiamouyiannis published a preliminary survey, which shows that people in fluoridated areas have a higher cancer death rate than those in non-fluoridated areas. The National Cancer Institute attempts to refute the studies. Later in 1975, Yiamouyiannis joins with Dr. Dean Burk, chief chemist of the National Cancer Institute (1939-1974) in performing other studies which are then included in the Congressional Record (USA) by Congressman Delaney, who was the original author of the Delaney Amendment, which prohibited the addition of cancer-causing substances to food used for human consumption. Both reports confirmed the existence of a link between fluoridation and cancer. (Note: Obviously Dr. Burk felt free to agree with scientific truth only after his tenure at NCI ended, since his job depended on towing the party line) Fluorides have little or no effect on decay prevention in humans. In 1990 Dr John Colquhoun is forced into early requirement in New Zealand after he conducts a study on 60,000 school children and finds no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. He additionally finds that a substantial number of children in fluoridated areas suffered from dental fluorosis. He makes the study public. There is no scientific data that shows that fluoride mouth rinses and tablets are safe for human use. A 1989 study by Hildebolt, on 6,000 school children contradicts any alleged benefit from the use of sodium fluorides. In 1990 a study by Dr John Yiamouyiannis on 39,000 school children contradicts any alleged benefits from the use of sodium fluorides. In 1992 Michael Perrone, a legislative assistant in New Jersey, contacts the FDA requesting all information regarding the safety and effectiveness of fluoride tablets and drops. After 6 months of stalling, the FDA admitted they had no data to show that fluoride tablets or drops were either safe or effective. They informed Perrone that they will “probably have to pull the tablets and drops off the market.” In 1976, Dr D. W. Allman and co-workers from Indiana University School of Medicine (USA) feed animals 1 part-per-million (ppm) fluoride and found that in the presence of aluminium in a concentration as small as 20 parts per billion, (like in a toothpaste tube, using aluminium pans to boil water, or drinking beverages in aluminium cans), fluoride is able to cause an even larger increase in cyclic AMP levels. Cyclic AMP inhibits the migration rate of white blood cells, as well as the ability of the white blood cell to destroy pathogenic organisms. Journal of Dental Research, Vol 55, Sup B, p 523, 1976, “Effect of Inorganic Fluoride Salts on Urine and Tissue Cyclic AMP Concentration in Vivo”. “Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not of all time.” Robert Carlton, Ph.D., former U.S. EPA scientist on “Marketplace” Canadian Broadcast Company Nov 24, 1992 “Regarding fluoridation, the EPA should act immediately to protect the public, not just on the cancer data, but on the evidence of bone fractures, arthritis, mutagenicity and other effects” William Marcus, Ph.D., senior EPA toxicologist, Covert Action, 1992, p 66 In the final analysis, when ALL the facts are revealed, the ONLY way to arrive at the expressed majority ‘will of the people’, is to put the question… ‘Do YOU agreed with the fluoridation of your drinking water supply?’ to a duly constituted and legally conducted ‘REFERENDUM’ of the people, which coincides with a State or Federal election!’ It simply comes down to… It’s YOUR choice!