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UK Against Fluoridation

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Tasmania's fluoride source and cost is uncertain

Hayden Johnson
@haydenjohnson94

TASWATER has refused to reveal where Tasmania’s fluoride is sourced from after the Kentish Council raised concerns about it being obtained from China.
In February the Kentish Council wrote to TasWater chief executive officer Mike Brewster and questioned the source of fluoride used in Lake Barrington.
Mr Brewster confirmed an Australian supplier contracted to provide the chemical sourced it “from multiple locations around the world”.

This revelation raised the ire of Kentish councillor Rodney Blenkhorn, who claimed Tasmania’s fluoride was being sourced from China and could contain impurities. “A lot of these fluoride chemicals contain heavy metals,” he said.“It’s a waste product and the talk is, it contains contaminants.”
He raised the concerns about fluoride with Health Minister Michael Ferguson but was unhappy with his response. Cr Blenkhorn recalled: “I asked the question, what do you know about fluoride and where is our fluoride sourced from?” “He never got back with the information about where our fluoride chemical is sourced from – he didn’t answer the question.”

The Advocate put a serious of questions to TasWater about the cost and source of fluoride in the state’s water but the organisation did not answer, claiming the contract details were a matter of commercial confidence. “Strict supply agreements are in place for both suppliers to ensure the quality of the ingredients and the continuity of supply,” a TasWater spokesman added.

Cr Blenkhorn said fluoride should be sourced from Tasmania and called on the state government to allow councils to make fluoride-related decisions. “I’d like to see it head down the path like in Queensland where the Premier at the time gave the powers back to local government regarding the addition of fluoride in their town’s water supplies,” he said.

“People have shown overwhelming opposition to fluoride in Tasmania’s water supply.”
A legislative change driven by the Queensland Liberal Government in 2012 saw more than 16 councils end fluoridation of their water. Mr Ferguson failed to respond directly to Cr Blenkhorn’s calls but instead reaffirmed that he would continue to support water fluoridation.
“A number of international and national organisations support the addition of fluoridation of drinking water,” Mr Ferguson said.

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