A Fluoride-Free Future – Kane Titchener at NZDSOS Conference 2024

Read The Video Transcript

Dr Cindy de Villiers (00:01):
Thank you, Anna. That was really inspiring. Our final speaker is Kane Titchener from Fluoride Free New Zealand. He has been a staunch opponent of water fluoridation for over a decade, raising awareness of the issue through countless presentations across the country to educate the public. He’s also got some good news from the US to share with us today. Thank you, Kane.

Kane Titchener (00:40):
Thank you very much for having me this afternoon, and thank you to NZDSOS for inviting me. Those lights are incredibly bright, so let’s see how we get on. My name is Kane Titchener, and I’ve been working on this issue for the last 12 years in New Zealand, trying to stop fluoridation. I’ve been working with Fluoride Free New Zealand, which is a group of volunteers. We’ve been fighting fluoridation since 2003. There are quite a few fluoride fighters here today, and I want to acknowledge them. Thank you all, there are too many to name individually.

Our focus is on science and education. We’ve recently toured New Zealand, presenting the evidence, and we even had a debate with two dentists in Timaru, which was a real hoot. We absolutely demolished them, which was fantastic. We’ve had many successes over the years, stopping fluoridation in places like Kaitaia, Waipukurau, New Plymouth, and more. We’ve also prevented it from starting in Ngaruawahia and Rotorua.

When preparing this presentation, we received some huge news from the US. So, my presentation might jump around a bit, but basically, there’s been a major result in federal court in San Francisco. In the case of Food and Water Watch vs the US EPA, Judge Chen ruled in our favour, declaring fluoride an unreasonable risk. This case has taken seven years, involving tens of thousands of hours of research by Michael Connett, the lawyer, and his team at the Fluoride Action Network. Their ability to explain the difference between hazard levels and exposure levels was key to this victory.

The federal court concluded that plaintiffs had proven that water fluoridation at the level of 0.7 milligrams per litre presents a significant risk to human health. This, ladies and gentlemen, signals the end of fluoridation in the United States and, by extension, New Zealand. There is substantial, credible scientific evidence showing that fluoride poses a risk to human health. It’s linked to a reduction in children’s IQ and is hazardous at dosages too close to the levels found in US drinking water.

03:36:
The EPA’s own experts agree that fluoride is hazardous at certain levels. They found that fluoride is linked to reduced IQ in children at exposure levels of 1.5 milligrams per litre. Here in New Zealand, we fluoridate at between 0.7 and 1 milligram per litre. In 2015, I wrote to the Ministry of Health when the US reduced their levels to 0.7 parts per million, and the Ministry replied, saying, “That doesn’t apply to New Zealand.” This is the state we live in—total medical tyranny.

I’ll go into the National Toxicology Program shortly, but first, we’re currently working to stop the fluoridation of 14 councils in New Zealand. Sadly, Hastings, New Plymouth, and Waitaki have already been fluoridated. This issue is urgent, and we need your help right now. We’ve got many coordinators around the country speaking to councils. There’s been no consultation, no transparency, and no localism. Please sign our petition at the desk, grab a pamphlet, buy a book, or a shirt. We need your support.

4:53:
I won’t go into too much detail about the legal action. Fluoridation chemicals are added to the water supply using phosphate rock, which is fluoride-rich, containing around 4% fluoride. When hydrofluoric acid is added to the rock, two toxic gases—hydrogen fluoride and silicon tetrafluoride—are released. These gases are captured in what’s called wet scrubber chimneys, and the resulting solution is added directly to the water supply. Auckland used to dump 700 tonnes of this waste per year. After we spoke to Auckland Council in 2015, that amount was reduced to 400 tonnes, with fluoride levels lowered to 0.7 parts per million.

Let’s play this ad quickly.

05:49:
Hydrofluoric acid, commonly known as fluoride, is a waste product collected from the chimneys of the fertiliser industry. This chemical also contains traces of lead, aluminium, mercury, and arsenic. It is banned from being released into the air, sea, lakes, or rivers because it’s toxic to animals and the environment. Instead, ratepayers’ money is used to buy this toxic chemical, handled by workers in hazmat suits. This fluoride is what’s added to our drinking water. Find out the facts at fluoridefree.org.nz.

06:20:
As you can imagine, we received a few complaints about that ad when it aired on TV3, but we responded to them all and won the appeal. The facts speak for themselves.

Now, let’s talk about fluoride’s impacts. Fluoride causes all sorts of issues, poisoning enzymes and causing skeletal and dental fluorosis. But what concerns us the most is fluoride’s neurotoxicity. Like lead, dental fluorosis is a biomarker of fluoride exposure. Lead has the Bertrand’s line—a blue line on the gums—while fluoride causes mottling of the teeth. The Cochrane Review, which is considered the gold standard in medical science, found that 40% of people exposed to 0.7 parts per million of fluoride develop some form of dental fluorosis, and 12% develop it at a cosmetically concerning level.

07:50:
This shows that people are being poisoned by fluoride. The Ministry of Health relies on outdated and biased studies to justify fluoridation. The Cochrane Review found that there is no credible evidence that fluoridation reduces dental decay, nor does it reduce inequalities or benefit adults. A 2022 UK study confirmed that there’s no benefit to fluoridation and that poverty, not fluoride, is the major factor in tooth decay.

In non-fluoridated Scotland, the Childsmile programme has halved the number of general anaesthetic operations for dental decay. The government knows this, and even the National Government talks about it.

Research on fluoride’s harm to the brain has been growing for years. In 2006, the National Research Council said fluoride interfered with brain function. A 2012 Harvard meta-analysis of 27 human IQ studies showed that children in high-fluoride areas had significantly lower IQs. Infant formula reconstituted with fluoridated water has been linked to a 9-point IQ reduction on average, with some children seeing an 18-point drop.

09:12:
The National Toxicology Program’s recent review, conducted over eight years in collaboration with the FDA and NIH, found that fluoride exposure is consistently associated with lower IQ in children. They found no safe threshold for fluoride in water. This is a massive finding—reducing IQ by 5 points halves the number of geniuses and increases by 50% the number of those needing mental health support.

The American Dental Association tried to claim these findings don’t apply to water fluoridation, but the National Toxicology Program rejected this. The highest-quality studies, from Canada and Mexico, show a 3-5 point IQ reduction in optimally fluoridated areas.

12:43:
In New Zealand, the Ministry of Health is misleading the public. The 2014 Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor’s report, updated in 2021, falsely claims there’s no convincing evidence of neurological harm from fluoridation. This is untrue—see the Bashash and Green studies showing fluoride’s effects on developing brains. We are being lied to.

Thank you very much. Please sign the petition, buy a book, or grab some materials, and help spread the word. Thank you.