Coast fluoridates water by January
Mon 03 November 2008
Sandra Smith, Communication
Sunshine Coast residents will be drinking fluoridated water by January 2009, as the Queensland State Government implements the first stage of its water fluoridation plan.
Work is in progress at South-East Queensland water treatment plants, including Landers Shute near Palmwoods, to phase in the water fluoridation.
Landers Shute Water Treatment Plant reticulates water from the Baroon Pocket Dam for the Sunshine Coast.
Queensland Health is overseeing the $35 million state-wide rollout, following the endorsement of a new Water Fluoridation Act in March 2008. 
More than half of Queensland will have fluoridated water by January 2009, and 80 per cent of the state will have fluoridated water within two years.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh advocates state-wide water fluoridation, despite the continuing concerns of some members of the community and public debate about the benefits and risks of fluoride exposure.
“Governments are elected to govern in the best interests of the community and I will not sit back and let a widespread health problem spiral out of control when a safe, reliable and proven prevention exists,” Ms Bligh said in a Ministerial Statement.
Australian Dental Association Queensland Branch (ADAQ) former president Dr Martin Webb said a recent survey showed that about 75 per cent of the community supported fluoridation and that the government is acting for this majority.
“As a preventive health measure, the introduction of fluoride has some opposition on the grounds of health risks and that it is a breach of civil liberties,” Dr Webb said.
“The government has decided to listen to the compelling scientific argument from the rest of the country and the rest of the world.”
Dr Webb, a practising Maleny dentist for more than 15 years, said that water fluoridation has no harmful effects due to the low concentration of fluoride, and that people are often misinformed about the potential harmful effects of fluoridation.
“You actually have fluoride naturally occurring in water bodies, so if you look at what the concentration of fluoride is in rivers, streams, creeks and the seawater, it is around 0.3 parts per million,” Dr Webb said.
“With public water fluoridation, what we are proposing to do is to increase that to around 0.6 parts per million, which is just about nothing.”
Dr Webb said that water fluoridation is the safest and most effective way to ingest fluoride, and research shows that fluoride is most beneficial through a topical application.
“Water fluoridation works best when you have small amounts of fluoride in contact with the teeth on a regular basis throughout the day,” Dr Webb said.
“What we’re finding is that people in fluoridated areas are getting less root decay than those people who are living in un-fluoridated areas.”
Dr Webb said that people who don’t want to drink fluoridated water can buy bottled or spring water, or install a reverse osmosis water filtration system in their homes.
A reverse osmosis water filter costs $105 for a simple countertop unit or $980 for an “undersink” model.
The Queensland Government will not be providing rebates for water filters.
An independent report on Queensland Health’s systems in 2005 found that “Queenslanders have the lowest standard of oral health in Australia” and recommended that “there should be an informed public debate about widespread fluoridation of Queensland’s water supply”.
The public debate against water fluoridation is led by Queenslanders for Safe Water, Air and Food Inc, an association that advocates fluoride-free water pending a state-wide referendum and government rebates for reverse osmosis water filters in fluoridated areas.
Association president Merilyn Haines argues that water fluoridation is “mass medication”.
“Water is life giving,” Mrs Haines said.
“We can’t live without water and we shouldn’t be contaminating our water.
“Putting fluoride in water is medicating people, and the government has no right to medicate us through our public water supply or medicate us in any way at all without our consent.”
The organisation believes that the government is forcing water fluoridation on the community, despite the ongoing controversy and lack of unanimity.
“The debate has been going on for 50 years, so I don’t think you’ll ever get people to agree,” Mrs Haines said.
“Often people who promote fluoride or who are in favour of fluoridation will still agree that you should have a choice on whether you are medicated.”
Queenslanders for Safe Water, Air and Food Inc will continue its campaign after the introduction of water fluoridation with ongoing public meetings and petitions.
Mrs Haines said that the government has refused to listen to their concerns, and that they will be making the campaign political.
“They can force it on us, but to end it, it’s a matter of turning the tap off,” Mrs Haines said.
The organisation is planning to collect the petitions against water fluoridation circulating in the community, and submit these to the government.
Bligh, A 2008, Ministerial Statement, The Honorable Anna Bligh MP, Premier of Queensland, viewed 12 October 2008, <http://www.health.qld.gov.au/fluoride/document/premier_statement.pdf>
Image(s) designed by Sandra Smith