Australia - Roos victims of factory fluoride
Roos victims of factory fluoride
DEBORAH GOUGH
February 21, 2010
SCORES of starving and pain-ridden kangaroos have been culled after developing tooth and bone deformities from breathing and ingesting fluoride emissions.
Many more are believed to be suffering from growths that will kill them.
The affected kangaroos are living near the Alcoa aluminium smelter in Portland, in the state's south-west, and the Austral Bricks factory at Craigieburn.
Autopsies performed at Melbourne University on 49 kangaroos culled at Alcoa on a single day last year found all but one were suffering from flurosis, which leads to excessive bone growths, or lesions, on joints in the paws, ankles and calves.
It can also cause tooth and jaw deformities that hinder eating and foraging.
The Sunday Age has been told more than 200 ill kangaroos living near both affected sites have been culled in recent years, but this figure could not be confirmed.
The Environment Protection Authority was first warned of the effect of fluoride dust and fumes on kangaroos living near the Alcoa smelter in 2005, although lameness was detected in some animals grazing there as early as 2001.
Jenny Charles, associate professor in veterinary pathology at Melbourne University, said research had found that up to 90 per cent of the roughly 130 kangaroos living at the Portland site had some form of flurosis on their teeth and a quarter had visible limb lumps.
Dr Charles said autopsies on Craigieburn kangaroos showed lower levels of fluoride in their systems, but the effects of flurosis seemed to be worse. Other foraging animals may also be affected.
Wildlife Victoria alerted the Department of Sustainability and Environment to the plight of the Craigieburn kangaroos in 2008. Wildlife shelter operator Manfred Zabinskas told The Sunday Age last week that he had been horrified when he saw how many kangaroos were sick. ''They were in real pain,'' he said.
EPA director of environmental services Bruce Dawson denied the authority had been slow to reduce maximum emission levels.
He said that while the levels were safe for humans, it was now clear they were too high for some animals and a new level was likely.
However it could take years before research indicated what that level should be..........
DEBORAH GOUGH
February 21, 2010
SCORES of starving and pain-ridden kangaroos have been culled after developing tooth and bone deformities from breathing and ingesting fluoride emissions.
Many more are believed to be suffering from growths that will kill them.
The affected kangaroos are living near the Alcoa aluminium smelter in Portland, in the state's south-west, and the Austral Bricks factory at Craigieburn.
Autopsies performed at Melbourne University on 49 kangaroos culled at Alcoa on a single day last year found all but one were suffering from flurosis, which leads to excessive bone growths, or lesions, on joints in the paws, ankles and calves.
It can also cause tooth and jaw deformities that hinder eating and foraging.
The Sunday Age has been told more than 200 ill kangaroos living near both affected sites have been culled in recent years, but this figure could not be confirmed.
The Environment Protection Authority was first warned of the effect of fluoride dust and fumes on kangaroos living near the Alcoa smelter in 2005, although lameness was detected in some animals grazing there as early as 2001.
Jenny Charles, associate professor in veterinary pathology at Melbourne University, said research had found that up to 90 per cent of the roughly 130 kangaroos living at the Portland site had some form of flurosis on their teeth and a quarter had visible limb lumps.
Dr Charles said autopsies on Craigieburn kangaroos showed lower levels of fluoride in their systems, but the effects of flurosis seemed to be worse. Other foraging animals may also be affected.
Wildlife Victoria alerted the Department of Sustainability and Environment to the plight of the Craigieburn kangaroos in 2008. Wildlife shelter operator Manfred Zabinskas told The Sunday Age last week that he had been horrified when he saw how many kangaroos were sick. ''They were in real pain,'' he said.
EPA director of environmental services Bruce Dawson denied the authority had been slow to reduce maximum emission levels.
He said that while the levels were safe for humans, it was now clear they were too high for some animals and a new level was likely.
However it could take years before research indicated what that level should be..........
posted by Bill at
9:44 AM
1 Comments:
Do the fluoride sellers care ?. No way. They are killing humans - and new research says that fluoride may lead to the extinction of whales. Do they care. No- of course not - its the money that matters.
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Anonymous, at 22 February, 2010
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