Professor Paul Connett, executive director of the American Environmental Health Studies Project, says water and fluoride don't go together. He chats to Mark Story ahead of his visit to Napier.
What are your three primary objections to the compulsory fluoridation of public drinking water?
a) It violates the individual's right to informed consent to medical or human treatment.
b) The evidence that swallowing fluoride lowers tooth decay by a significant amount is very weak.
c) The fluoride ion is toxic and can interfere with many biological processes in the body.
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You're soon to be presenting to the New Zealand Government. What does this entail?
I shall present a summary of the scientific evidence that associates fluoride exposure with damage to the brain. I have followed this evidence since 1996 when I first got involved with this matter.
Our local DHB is pro-fluoride. How is it that medical professionals can interpret the science so differently?
First you have to ask how much research the medical professionals have done on this issue. Many are so busy in their own practices. Second, you have to ask if they belong to a government agency or professional body that promotes fluoridation. Bureaucrats know if they question a policy – especially a long-held one – that their future in the agency may be limited. DHBs are essentially at the end of a chain of command which starts with the Ministry of Health, which has been unable to provide an adequate scientific defence of this outdated practice.