Over 200 starving and pain-ridden kangaroos have been killed after developing tooth and bone deformities from breathing and ingesting fluoride emissions.
Many more are believed to be suffering from growths that will kill them.
The affected kangaroos are living near the Alcoa aluminium smelter in Portland, in the state's south-west, and the Austral Bricks factory at Craigieburn.
Autopsies performed at Melbourne University on 49 kangaroos culled at Alcoa on a single day last year found all but one were suffering from flurosis, which leads to excessive bone growths, or lesions, on joints in the paws, ankles and calves.
It can also cause tooth and jaw deformities that hinder eating and foraging.
The Environment Protection Authority was first warned of the effect of fluoride dust and fumes on kangaroos living near the Alcoa smelter in 2005, although lameness was detected in some animals grazing there as early as 2001.
Jenny Charles, associate professor in veterinary pathology at Melbourne University, said research had found that up to 90 per cent of the roughly 130 kangaroos living at the Portland site had some form of flurosis on their teeth and a quarter had visible limb lumps.
Dr Charles said autopsies on Craigieburn kangaroos showed lower levels of fluoride in their systems, but the effects of flurosis seemed to be worse. Other foraging animals may also be affected. Cattle are more sensitive then Kangaroos to fluoride poising.
Wildlife Victoria alerted the Department of Sustainability and Environment to the plight of the Craigieburn kangaroos in 2008. Wildlife shelter operator Manfred Zabinskas told The Sunday Age last week that he had been horrified when he saw how many kangaroos were sick. ''They were in real pain,'' he said.
EPA director of environmental services Bruce Dawson said 'We are taking this seriously. Clearly the impact on the local kangaroos and vegetation is not acceptable and action is required."
Mr Dawson said there were plans to herd the kangaroos away from the most polluted areas.
Latest federal National Pollutant Inventory figures show Alcoa's Portland plant is Victoria's largest emitter of fluoride dust, with 120 tonnes a year.
Austral Bricks' three plants at its Craigieburn site is second largest with a combined total of 66 tonnes a year. The largest Victorian emitter of fluoride overall is Melbourne Water.
The Alcoa kangaroos live on the 500-hectare Portland Aluminium site, known as the ''Smelter in the Park''.
Wildlife Victoria chief executive Sandy Fernee said the situation was urgent. Kangaroos were being forced out of their territories and left with contaminated land.
Fluoride Toxicity
Teeth Affected by Fluorosis
The claim that ingested fluoride makes tooth enamel stronger is clearly suspect. If it's known that it demineralizes teeth, thus resulting in fluorosis, how can it possibly make them stronger?
Fluorosis, though, is only the most obvious effect. As disheartening as damaged teeth are, the bigger concern is what it does deeper inside the body. Here are some facts that should give an idea of how serious this issue is:
- Fluoride reduces thyroid function. Could this be the reason underactive thyroids are so common in women now? One of the top five prescription drugs in the US is Synthroid, used for treating hypothyroidism.
- Fluoride may increase bone volume, but it does so at the cost of weakening the bones.
- Fluorosis involving bones causes horrific deformities, as the image to the right shows.
- The pineal gland is a major accumulator of fluoride. This fact was not discovered until the 1990s, and it's implications have not received much study.
- Fluoride poisons kidneys.
- Fluoride is a primary ingredient in many pesticides, a significant part of why they're poisonous.
- In 1987 and 1990, the Journal of Dental Research documented that a single tube of children's fluoridated toothpaste is enough to kill a 9-year-old child.
Deformities Caused by Fluorosis
This is merely a smattering of fluoride facts. If you still have any doubts about its toxicity, then consider the fact that every tube of fluoridated toothpaste sold in America carries this notice:
WARNING: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately.Yes, fluoride is that toxic. And now there's pressure building—mostly kept out of the public's awareness—to put it in salt. Toothpaste and water apparently aren't enough fluoride poisoning.
In several major European countries, India, and Japan, salt fluoridation is routine. Of course, the usual excuse is that it's good for teeth, but that claim is highly questionable. Fluoride ingestion offers no benefit, and fluoride is highly toxic.
In spite of its known toxicity, many countries are now requiring that salt be fluoridated, and most of the others are not far behind.
If you think that fluoride in water is a problem, then you'd best start looking at your salt. In many places in Europe and South America, salt is fluoridated.The degree to which inorganic fluoride can induce skeletal changes varies considerably between the various animal species. Franke (1989) cites data which show that cattle are the most sensitive to skeletal fluorosis, followed by sheep, horses, pigs, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs and poultry. The sensitivity of cattle is attributed to their negative calcium balance, which is particularly noticeable in lactating cattle after calving; another contributing factor is the length of time which the bolus remains in the stomach of ruminants.
Skeletal fluorosis is characterized by hyperostosis, osteopetrosis, and osteoporosis (Obel, 1971; Shupe, 1980). An extensive review of cattle fluorosis has been given by Obel (1971). Agriculture Canada (1976) found that 25/36 cattle located on several Cornwall Island farms in the Saint Regis Quebec region displayed real or potential symptoms of chronic fluorosis. This diagnosis was based on the presence of lesions in the teeth and skeleton, as well as measurement of inorganic fluoride levels in blood and urine (Agriculture Canada, 1976). A subsequent study of livestock in this region reported stiffness and inflamed leg joints, dental fluorosis, osteosclerosis, osteonecrosis and bone deformations (Krook and Maylin, 1979).
Descriptions of the symptoms and range of F in bone ash for each clinical phase of skeletal fluorosis follow:
- Phase 1: sporadic pain; stiffness of joints; osteosclerosis of pelvis and vertebral column (6,000-7,000 ppm F in bone ash).
- Phase 2: chronic joint pain; arthritic symptoms; slight calcification of ligaments; increased osteosclerosis/cancellous bones; with/without osteoporosis of long bones (7,500-9,000 ppm F in bone ash).
- Phase 3: Crippling Skeletal Fluorosis: limitation of joint movement; calcification of ligaments/neck and vertebral column; crippling deformities of spine and major joints; muscle wasting; neurological defects/ compression of spinal cord (more than 8,400 ppm F in bone ash).
