An international expert opposed to water fluoridation will address a meeting in Skibbereen next week.
Dr Paul Connett, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology will present the Case Against Fluoride in an open discussion forum in the West Cork Hotel on Thursday, June 15.
He will be joined at the free event which will run from 8-10pm by local environmental scientist Declan Waugh.
A growing body of scientific and clinical evidence appears to link exposure to fluoride to a variety of major public health disorders and questions previously held beliefs that water fluoridation is safe.
For over 20 years, Dr Connett has been an outspoken critic of water fluoridation and helped found the USA based Fluoride Action Network (FAN), one of the largest organisations opposing water fluoridation worldwide.
He is also known for his expertise in waste management and sustainable development and has given thousands of pro bono presentations in over 60 countries internationally.
The event will consist of a conversation between Dr Connett and Mr Waugh regarding how they both got involved in the fluoridation debate internationally.
Mr Waugh has been published in three international peer reviewed journals in the past year.
His most recent focus has been as lead author in two collaborative risk assessment studies on the health effects of fluoride exposure in Ireland and New Zealand.
This work addresses important [contributions] to chronic fluoride exposure and major disease burdens and poses significant challenges for continuing water fluoridation in both countries.
Expanding on this body of knowledge generated in recent years, Mr Waugh is currently researching the linkages between water fluoridation, fluoride intake in infancy and asthma, developmental and behavioural disorders, metabolic and reproductive disorders and cancer.
According to Bandon-based Waugh, ‘there have been many scandals in Ireland which have shaken public confidence in the institutions of the State, but few if any have so directly impacted on the health and wellbeing of multiple generations as much as fluoridation of public water.’
* Published online in The Southern Star http://www.southernstar.ie/ on June 8, 2017, with a print publication date of June 10.