Chemophobic scaremongering: Much ado about absolutely nothing

Sometimes anti-fluoride propagandists end up shooting themselves in the foot. This always seems to happen when they produce “evidence’ that fluoridating chemicals are loaded with toxic heavy metals.

It feels like shooting fish in a barrel to debunk their use of analytical figures because the data they produce always shows them to be completely wrong. I wrote about this before in Fluoridation: emotionally misrepresenting contamination. So, I am effectively repeating myself by discussing the meme image below that Fluoride Free NZ is currently circulating in social media.

Still, this time, I will show how insignificant these analytical figures by comparing the calculated final concentrations in tap water – due to addition of the chemical – with measured concentrations for these contaminants in Hamilton tap water.

Added contaminants as percentage of MAVs

But first – what contribution would this sample of fluorosilicic acid make to the contaminant levels in Hamilton’s tap water – and how do these levels compare with the maximum acceptable values (MAVs) defined in New Zealand’s Drinking Water Standards? The values for the MAVs are published in:

Ministry of Health. (2008). Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand 2005 ( Revised 2008 ) (Vol. 2005). Wellington.

In this table, the “Tap water (mg/L)” data are the calculated final concentrations after addition of the fluoridating agent in the meme. The “%age of MAV” data are these values expressed as a percentage of the maximum acceptable values (MAVs) for the contaminants.

Impurity	MAV (mg/L)	Tap water calculated (mg/L)	%age of MAV
Aluminium	0.1	8.69E-05	0.0869
Antimony	0.02	< 3.56E-07	<0.0018
Arsenic	0.01	1.26E-05	0.1264
Barium	0.7	4.27E-06	0.0006
Cadmium	0.004	2.37E-07	0.0059
Chromium	0.05	4.74E-06	0.0095
Copper	1	1.19E-06	0.0001
Iron	0.2	1.62E-04	0.0810
Lead	0.01	2.37E-07	0.0024
Manganese	0.04	3.56E-06	0.0089
Mercury	0.007	< 1.98E-07	<0.0028
Molybdenum	0.07	< 3.56E-07	<0.0005
Nickel	0.08	3.95E-06	0.0049
Selenium	0.01	< 1.98E-07	<0.0020
Uranium	0.02	2.05E-06	0.0103

Sorry, I have had to use scientific formating for some numbers because the final calculated concentrations in tap water are so low. On average, the calculated concentration  of these contaminants due to the fluoridating agent is about 0.02% of the MAV.  The largest relative contribution is for arsenic – just over 0.1%.

Regulations require that the contribution of contaminants from fluoridating agents should always be less than 10% of the MAV . The actual level of contaminants in this particular sample is well below those regulated maxima.

The Fluoride Free NZ meme is just promoting naive chemophobic scaremongering about absolutely nothing. These activists just haven’t bothered calculating what the analytical data means for the final concentrations in tap water. Or even bothered comparing the data with the regulated maximum amounts allowed for fluoridating chemicals. These values are available in Standard for the Supply of Fluoride for Use in Water Treatment.

Added contaminants as a percentage of concentrations in inlet water and treated water.

Let’s now compare the estimated contribution from contaminants in this sample of fluorosilicic acid to the levels of the very same contaminants in the Hamilton water. I have taken data from this document issued by the Hamilton City Council:

Waikato River and Treated Drinking Water Comprehensive Analysis Report 2013/14

The next table is for samples taken on 18th July 2013 at the intake to the treatment plant (that is the source water before treatment). The “Added FSA%” is the calculated level of impurity resulting from fluoridation expressed as a percentage of the impurity naturally present in the source water.

Impurity	Intake (mg/L)	Added FSA%
Aluminium	1.68E-01	0.05
Antimony	8.50E-04	<0.04
Arsenic	1.96E-02	0.06
Barium	1.88E-02	0.02
Berylium	<1.10E-04	0.18
Cadmium	<5.30E-05	0.45
Chromium	<5.30E-04	0.89
Copper	<5.30E-04	0.22
Iron	2.94E-01	0.06
Lead	1.18E-04	0.20
Manganese	2.15E-02	0.02
Mercury	<8.00E-05	<0.25
Molybdenum	3.80E-04	<0.09
Nickel	<5.30E-04	0.75
Selenium	<1.10E-03	<0.02
Tin	<5.30E-04	0.22
Uranium	<2.10E-05	9.78
Zinc	8.13E-01	0.00

Now, a similar calculation and comparison – this time “Added FSA%” is the calculated level of impurity resulting from fluoridation expressed as a percentage of the impurity already present in the “treated water” – which is the final tap water. (At this time the Hamilton water supply was not fluoridated).

Impurity	Treated (mg/L)	Added FSA%
Aluminium	2.04E-02	0.43
Antimony	8.00E-04	<0.04
Arsenic	<1.10E-03	1.15
Barium	1.26E-02	0.03
Berylium	<1.10E-04	<0.18
Cadmium	<5.30E-05	0.45
Chromium	<5.30E-04	0.89
Copper	8.00E-04	0.15
Iron	<2.10E-02	0.77
Lead	4.82E-04	0.05
Manganese	1.75E-03	0.20
Mercury	<8.00E-05	<0.25
Molybdenum	3.70E-04	<0.10
Nickel	3.52E-03	0.11
Selenium	<1.10E-03	<0.02
Tin	<5.30E-04	0.22
Uranium	<2.10E-05	9.78
Zinc	4.82E-03	0.14

The extremely low levels of contaminants – both calculated and already in the intake water and final treated water – mean some of the calculations are rather meaningless. Especially as some of the analysed values are given as less than the detection limit.

However, the very low calculated contribution of contaminants from this fluorosilicic acid sample – usually < 1% of that naturally present – shows how ridiculous the Fluoride Free NZ claims about contamination introduced by fluoridating agents is.

Never trust anti-fluoride campaigners

Fluoride Free NZ is simply scaremongering – relying on naive chemophobia where just the chemical name and analytical data (even where the “<” symbol indicates below the level of detection) seem to scare people.

This example illustrates, once again, that the claims made by anti-fluoride and similar activists should never be accepted at face value. They should always be checked against reliable sources.

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