Declan Waugh has a shocking record of misrepresenting the scientific literature dealing with fluoride. This time he is directing his scaremongering at New Zealand and misrepresenting a New Zealand scientific report on fluoride intake (Cressey, Peter ; Gaw, Sally ; Love, J. (2009). Estimated dietary fluoride intake for New Zealanders)
He claims this report substantially underestimates fluoride intake by New Zealanders. But all he has shown is that he is incapable of reading scientific reports, and that he should not be trusted for claims he makes about it or any other scientific publication.
He says about tea:
“According to their study, the fluoride content of tea consumed in NZ contains less than 1mg F per L. In this study fluoridated tap water contained more fluoride than tea. No record is made of the brand of tea tested! (clearly it was not the most common types of black tea). The analysis was undertaken by a dental laboratory in the U.S.”
Waugh’s poor reading skills are shown by the fact that the report uses data for tea taken from previous surveys, not from a new analysis. The analysis mentioned in the Cressey report was for infant and toddler formula products – not tea!
The Cressey et al report used NZ survey figures of 0.35 and 1.75 mg/L and an US survey figure of 3.73 mg/L. It takes as a best estimate for the desk top estimation 1.15 mg/L when prepared with unfluoridated water and 2.04 mg/L when prepared with fluoridated water.
The relatively low NZ survey figures are not unusual – Declan Waugh obtains his high figures by considering only poor quality old dusty tea and brick tea.
On New Zealand beer he claims:
“According to their study the level of fluoride in bottled beer in NZ is 0.1mg/L. I have tested NZ beers and measured fluoride levels 7 times higher than what they reported in this study.”
Again wrong. The value of 0.1 he read was the value chosen for unfluoridated water ( the median of recorded values for NZ ranging from 0.0 – 1.8 mg/L)!
The values used by the Cressey report were for NZ surveys 0.20 and 0.11 mg/L, for US surgery 0.45 mg/L and for Australian survey 0.8 mg/L. It takes as the best desktop estimate for NZ beer prepared from unfluoridated water 0.16 mg/L.
If Waugh has tested NZ beers where has he published his data? (I am unaware of anything he has published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal – despite his claim to be a “scientist and fluoride researcher.” Let’s see your data and methodology, Declan.
Declan Waugh indignantly demands:
“These inaccuracies need to be brought to the attention of the media and public health authorities as a matter of public health urgency.”
We should be bringing Declan Waugh’s inaccuracies, in fact his blatant blundering and lack of respect for the published literature, to the attention of our media and public health authorities as a matter of public health urgency?
I suspect that while he may have fooled some of the media in Ireland, local Fluoride free activists and the Hamilton City Council – (see http://openparachute.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/when-politicians-and-bureaucrats-decide-the-science/), Waugh has not fooled our public health authorities.
Surely with his record they will avoid like the plague all his claims about fluoride and fluoridation.
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