Cairns anti-fluoride advocates question intake measurement accuracy in council deputation

Members of the Cairns public were turned away from a packed council meeting as anti-fluoride advocates made their case to councillors.

A slideshow played for councillors and members of the public during an anti-fluoride deputation at an ordinary meeting on November 20.

Members of the Cairns public were turned away from a packed council meeting as anti-fluoride advocates made their case to councillors, questioning how each individual’s daily intake of the chemical could be reasonably measured.

Following the 2024 Our Cairns survey where 37 per cent of respondents were against fluoridating the city’s water supply and 48 per cent were in support, with 15 per cent unsure, the issue has become a heavily debated topic with local GPs staunchly in favour of a return to the tooth-strengthening chemical.

But at Wednesday’s ordinary council meeting, another packed out public gallery and councillors heard from former nurse and councillor, Annette Sheppard, and anti-fluoride advocate Zane Cosgrove, in the second deputation on the controversial topic.

Ms Sheppard reminded councillors of how “experts can get it wrong” by using examples of pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies paying out “billions” for past mistakes.

Anti-fluoride advocate Annette Sheppard presents her case during a deputation to Cairns Regional Council councillors during an ordinary meeting on November 20.

“I think you’re all aware of the danger of asbestos, the dangers of tobacco smoking; other mistakes by the experts – baby powders with asbestos contamination, mercury in babies teething powder … could fluoride be next,” she asked, referring to dental fluorosis.

“So how logical is it to mass medicate an entire population, with the complexity of getting it right, surely, a precautionary principle should be applied.

“Some individuals are more at risk, there is no way of knowing how much fluoride each individual drinks or ingests from other sources to determine if they are getting excessive fluoride intake.”

A slideshow played for councillors and members of the public during an anti-fluoride deputation at an ordinary meeting on November 20.

Mr Cosgrove echoed Ms Sheppard’s argument while noting how quickly the chemical could be ingested on an ordinary diet.

“If I went home and cooked some fish from the Reef, made some potatoes, spinach, and had three cups of black tea a day – I would’ve received a toxic dose of fluoride after using mouthwash and fluoride toothpaste; if you had water fluoridation, then it’s starting to add up.”

Anti-fluoride advocate Zane Cosgrove presents his case during a deputation to Cairns Regional councillors during an ordinary meeting on November 20.

With Mayor Amy Eden away in Canberra with a Far North delegation, the meeting was chaired by Deputy Mayor Brett Olds who had previously spoken against “mass medication”.

Unlike the previous deputation presented by local GPs, members in the public gallery were disciplined, after they had reportedly received a warning from council staff.

Among those in the gallery was Dr Steve Salleras from the Cairns GP group, who countered the “mass medication” argument by stating the city’s residents who were in need of the naturally-occurring element shouldn’t be condemned by those not in favour.

“Naturally there’s about 0.3 parts per million already in our water and the council would put in 0.8 parts, you’d have to drink more than 10L a day for it to become toxic,” he said.

“If you don’t want fluoride, get a filter. Tablets don’t work, it needs to be direct contact with the teeth, if tablets worked I’d be all for it.”

Originally published as Cairns anti-fluoride advocates question intake measurement accuracy in council deputation