Fluoridation of Port Macquarie Hastings District-a case study of novel environmental risk taking on a grand scale involving microorganism metabolism of Fluoride

Abstract

The people of Port Macquarie Hastings in the state New South Wales, Australia, voted overwhelmingly against Fluoridation of their drinking water but their wishes were ignored due to political pressure to aid the disposal of industrial waste from the Phosphate Fertilizer industry. The water supply is drawn from the Hastings River and the project is unusual due to storage of unfiltered Fluoridated water in interconnected earth dams exposed to sunlight. No environmental impact assessment was performed before the project despite the presence of threatened, vulnerable and endangered wildlife in the catchment area. Risks to public health from organic molecules containing Fluorine manufactured by bacteria and algae appear never to have been considered.

Full text

Fluoridation of Port Macquarie Hastings District – a case study of novel environmental
risk taking on a grand scale involving microorganism metabolism of Fluoride
Geoff Pain
November 2017
Abstract
The people of Port Macquarie Hastings in the state New South Wales, Australia, voted overwhelmingly against
Fluoridation of their drinking water but their wishes were ignored due to political pressure to aid the disposal of
industrial waste from the Phosphate Fertilizer industry. The water supply is drawn from the Hastings River and the
project is unusual due to storage of unfiltered Fluoridated water in interconnected earth dams exposed to sunlight.
No environmental impact assessment was performed before the project despite the presence of threatened,
vulnerable and endangered wildlife in the catchment area. Risks to public health from organic molecules containing
Fluorine manufactured by bacteria and algae appear never to have been considered.
Keywords: Actinomycetes, Actinomycetoma , Cancer, Fluoride, Fluoridation, Fluorinase, Fluoroacetaldehyde,
Fluoroacetate (1080), Fluorocitrate, Fluorothreonine, Geosmin, GMO, Gudgeon, Methylisoborneol, Mutation,
Mycetoma, Neurotoxin, Nocardia, Organofluorine, Oyster, PFAS, Photochemistry, Politics, Preeclampsia,
Streptomyces, Warfare
Introduction
Port Macquarie Hastings is a coastal community of about 70,000 people dependent on the Hastings River for its
drinking water.
Raw water is pumped from the Hastings River at Koree Island (5 km south-west of Wauchope). The three Koree
Island river intake pumping stations have a combined capacity to pump 120 ML per day via rising mains into nearby
Rosewood Reservoirs.
Water can’t be drawn at certain times of year due to insufficient flow and algal blooms [Thompson 2001, NSWOW
2009, Ryder 2017]. As a result the local water authority monitors indicators of biological activity including the foul
smelling and tasting molecules Geosmin and Methylisoborneol [Giglio 2009]. These molecules are produced by a
number of biota including Actinomycetes Streptomyces. They cause earthy taint, with a taste and odour threshold of
approximately 0.00001 mg/L (10 ng/L) [Young 1996].
Use of other organisms to destroy the Actinomycetes has been proposed, however it is worth noting that Fluoride is
toxic to many of the organisms that are supposed to degrade the noxious cyanobacteria [Ho 2009].
Due to scarcity of water three reservoirs are used with the facility to back pump between them. The Hastings District
Water Supply Augmentation Scheme [HDWS], built at a cost of over $65M includes the Cowarra 10GL off-creek
storage dam. The raw water is treated in the rising mains at the Wauchope Water Treatment plant with lime and
carbon dioxide to increase alkalinity and stabilise the pH of the raw water (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The Hastings River at Koree Island, Rosewood Quarry and Wauchope Water Treatment Plant
Figure 2 Cowarra Off-Creek Dam with capacity of 10GL
Figure 3 Port Macquarie Off-Creek Storage Dam (Rosendahl Reservoir)

Fluoridation of the Water Supply
About $1.8M was spent on the Fluoridation facility (Figure 4). Fluoridation and chlorination are completed at the
Rosewood Reservoir site, prior to the water being stored in Rosewood #2 and #3 Reservoirs. The unfiltered water in
Rosewood Reservoirs #2 and #3 is then gravity fed to the 10,000 ML Cowarra Off-Creek Storage (Figure 2) and 2,500
ML Port Macquarie (Rosendahl Reservoir, Figure 3) Dams [PMHC 2016]. Hydrofluorosilicic (HFSA) waste is supplied
to Port Macquarie Hastings Council by IXOM Operations Pty Ltd (formerly Orica) at the rate of about 600 kg per
pumping day. Fluoride is a bioaccumulative endocrine disruptor with no nutritional value [Pain 2015a, Pain 2017a].
HFSA is known to increase plumbosolvency, the leaching of Lead from brass [Pain 2015b] which leads to all the
diseases caused by Lead poisoning, including damaged teeth. Blood lead concentrations in pregnant women are a
major risk factor for preeclampsia, with an increase of 1 μg/dL Lead/blood associated with a 1.6% increase in
likelihood of preeclampsia, the strongest risk factor for preeclampsia yet reported [Poropat 2017].
Figure 4 The Fluoridation equipment at Rosewood Road Fluoridation plant which cost $1.8 million
The HFSA is contaminated with light and heavy metals, further increasing the toxic load to residents and local
produce including oysters in the estuary (Figure 5). The oysters also accumulate Fluoride.
Figure 5 The estuary of Hastings River that receives all the toxins of Fluoridation

According to a project manager, who provides an interesting account of the design, construction and politics behind
the Fluoridation plant [Randall 2014], “The issue of fluoridation of the Port Macquarie-Hastings District Water Supply
was first addressed by the former Port Macquarie Municipal and Hastings Shire Councils prior to amalgamation in
1980. The councils resolved to defer a decision on fluoridation for the newly constituted Hastings Municipal Council.
Fluoridation was not considered again until 1985 when a series of reports and discussions on the issue over several
years resulted in the decision to hold a community poll on the issue at the September 1991 Local Government
election.
The community poll asked: “Are you in favour of having Sodium Fluoride or Sodium Silicofluoride, as appropriate,
added to the Hastings District Water Supply to fluoride ion levels recommended by the NSW Department of Health?”
The poll results reported to the November 1991 Council meeting were 20,533 votes “No” to fluoridation and 8,198
“Yes”. (emphasis added)
Based on these results, Council resolved not to fluoridate but “acknowledged the dental health benefits provided by
fluoride” and resolved to lobby NSW DOH for an upgrade of dental services in the area.”
In early 2004, the Mid North Coast Area Health Service convened a meeting of council to address the claimed “dental
decay crisis” on the Mid North Coast. On August 6, 2004 NSW Health directed the addition of fluoride to the Port
Macquarie-Hastings District Water Supply.
A series of fluoridation workshops and meetings were held. Council received letters supporting fluoridation from the
NSW Cancer Council, Australian Dental Association and local State Government members.
After 6 years of haggling over costs and design, in May 2010, Council signed a $1.78 million funding agreement with
NSW DOH for the construction of the fluoridation plant. The conditions of this funding agreement require Council to
refund this amount if fluoridation is discontinued within a period of 15 years.
Under Section 6B of the Act, a water supply authority cannot discontinue fluoridation unless directed by NSW DOH.
Port Macquarie Hastings Council held a Forum on Fluoridation on 15 February 2012 addressed by Colgate Professor
of Dentistry W Evans with NSW Health Fluoridation Advisory Committee representative Dr S Sivaneswaran in
attendance [Lusk 2016]. Members of the public reiterated their opposition, however fluoridation of water
commenced that year with a “target” value of 1ppm, interestingly much more than the 0.7 ppm target currently
used in Australia’s capital city, Canberra.
Residents in Port Macquarie Hastings receive different Fluoride doses depending where they live.
A centralised fluoridation dosing plant at the Rosewood Road Reservoir resulted in a gradual increase in the level of
fluoride due to the initial dilution of the fluoridated water (1 mg/L of fluoride target) which is piped into the Port
Macquarie Off-Creek Storage Dam. The pre-existing stored water in the dam had a natural level of fluoride of
approximately 0.1 mg/L. Because the dams are open, rainfall and evaporation impacts on the actual concentration at
any time, removing effective control of the target.
Residents in Wauchope including Beechwood, Rawdon Island, Sancrox and Thrumster areas, who receive water
directly from the Rosewood Road Reservoir, immediately received a fluoride content of 1 mg/L.

Effect of Fluoride on Algae and Cyanobacteria
As discussed in recent reviews [Wolk 1973, Bhatnagar 2000, Agalakova 2011], Fluoride can suppress [Vennesland
1966, Zurita 2007] or intensify growth of populations of algae and cyanobacteria depending on its concentration,
time of exposure, and alga species.
Some species can tolerate relatively high concentrations of Fluoride [Jonker 2013] and low pH makes the Fluoride
more toxic due to formation of HF. Some species actively metabolize Fluoride ion.
Naturally fluorinated compounds are extremely rare in nature. They have been studied for their potential as toxic
drugs in medicine [Eustáquio 2010, Waler 2013] as well as chemical warfare [Rivett 1953].
The extreme toxicity of organofluoride compounds requires them to be handled as special wastes [Environment
Agency 1999]. About 20% of licensed toxic drugs contain a fluorine atom [Deng 2008].
Nucleocidin (4’-α-fluoro-5’-O-sulfamoyl adenosine, Figure 6) was first isolated from Streptomyces calvus [Hewitt
1956].
Figure 6 The structure of Nucleocidin.
Fluorinase, 5'-fluoro-5'-deoxyadenosine synthase, was the first enzyme identified and isolated from the soil
bacterium Streptomyces cattleya [O’Hagan 2002]. Subsequently Fluorinase was identified in Streptomyces sp. MA37,
Actinoplanes sp. N902-109 and Nocardia brasiliensis [Ma 2015 and references therein].
The success of enzymes that Fluorinate organic substrates is known to be due to the removal of solvation water
molecules inside the organic structure [Zhu 2007]. It has been shown that the Fluorine atom has attached hydrogen
bonds inside the Fluorinase enzymes [Cobb 2006].
This provides interesting insights into where Fluoride goes when it enters the human body.
Much of the Fluoride circulating in the blood of humans exposed to the toxin is not available to the ion selective
electrode. In other words, analysis of whole blood shows much higher Fluorine content than is sensed by an
electrode [Pain 2017c].
We can be confident that the “hidden” Fluoride circulating in our bodies is strongly held in a hydrophobic
environment, enhancing its reactivity and toxicity.

Human Disease Risk from natural Organofluorine compounds
Amputation or death can result from Actinomycetoma, a chronic, granulomatous and subcutaneous tissue infection
caused by Actinomycetes. Nocardia brasiliensis is the major causative pathogen of the Actinomycetoma (Mycetoma)
infections in Mexico.
It has been suggested that the toxicity of Actinomycetes might be due to conversion of serum Fluoride to
Fluoroacetate and Fluorocitrate [Wang 2014]. Endemic Fluorosis and Mycetoma cases overlap in Africa, Mexico and
India, where Actinomycetoma infections are known as Madura foot.
Comorbidity studies are proving useful as shown by correlation between Fluorosis and Cataract [Pain 2017b].
Cases of Mycetoma due to Nocardia brasiliensis have been reported in Australia [Lucas 2000].
Fluorinase catalyses a reaction between S-adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAM) and fluoride ion to produce 5'-
fluorodeoxyadenosine (5'FDA) and L-Methionine. Formation of Fluoroacetaldehyde as an intermediate allows
synthesis of the potent toxins Fluoroacetate [Sanada 1986] and Fluorothreonine (Figure 7) [Reid 1995, Murphy 2001,
Tamura 2003, Deng 2008].
Figure 7 Formation of Toxic Organofluorine compounds by microorganisms possessing the Fluorinase enzyme
Fluoroacetate, a known neurotoxin [Grandjean 2006] can in turn be transformed into the bioaccumulative
neurotoxin Fluorocitrate which was of great interest to the Australian, British, Canadian, South African and US armed
forces [Rivett 1953].

It appears that very many organofluorine compounds are neurotoxins with outcomes including ADHD [Hoffman
2010].
Another organofluorine natural product, (2R3S4S)-5-fluoro-2,3,4-trihydroxypentanoic acid (5- FHPA), was isolated
from a Ghanaian Streptomyces isolate named Streptomyces sp. MA37 [Ma 2015].
Fluoroacetate, more commonly known as the knock-down toxin 1080 [Fairweather 2013], named after its first
commercial catalogue number, has a human lethal dose of less than 0.5 mg/kg. In dogs the lethal dose was found to
be 0.06 mg/kg [Chenowyth 1949]. Fluoroacetate can have far reaching environmental effects on ecology through
bioaccumulation in predators [Peacock 2011].
Some plants produce this toxic compound which accumulates, in concentrations as high as 3875 ppm dry weight, as
a defence mechanism against grazing by herbivores [Baunthiyal 2012]. It is also possible that bacteria present as
endophytes might produce the toxin in a suitable host plant.
Ingestion by livestock often results in fatal poisonings, causing significant economic problems to commercial farmers
in many countries including Australia. Fluoroacetate toxicity costs the Australian livestock industry around 45 million
dollars annually due to the increased death rates and associated productivity impacts [Perkins 2015, Leong 2017].
Symptoms of acute Fluoroacetate (1080) poisoning include abnormal posturing, loss of balance, urinary
incontinence, muscle spasms and convulsions, severe respiratory distress and extremely rapid heart rate, central
nervous system depression, coma followed by death. Quite rightly, the RSPA states it is not a humane poison
[Sherley 2007]. Fluoracetate is also a chronic heart poison [Santos 2016].
Fluoroacetate conversion to bioaccumulative Fluorocitrate is enhanced in animals with higher metabolic rate.
Fluorocitrate causes reduced aconitase resulting in glutamine depletion, ammonia accumulation [Gallon 1978],
termination of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and build up of glucose. It increases citrate which leads to acidosis,
hypocalcemia and heart failure. The TCA cycle is central to cellular energy production in the mitochondria of higher
organisms (Figure 8).
Figure 8 Fluoroacetate and Fluorocitrate toxicity summary
Figure 9 shows how the toxic organofluoride compounds Fluoroacetate and Fluorocitrate, produced in legumes,
grains and leafy vegetables from Fluoride residues in phosphate fertilizer pose a serious hazard to animals.

Figure 9 Application of Fluoride contaminated Superphosphate Fertilizer contaminates vegetables that produce and
accumulate Fluoroacetate and Fluorocitrate which are toxic to mammals
Fluoroacetate is probably involved in cancer progression as it concentrates in cancerous tissue including sarcoma,
glioblastoma and the prostate [Li 2010].
Genetic Engineering and Directed Evolution of Fluorinase
Due to its importance, the complete genome sequence of Streptomyces cattleya has been determined. Gene clusters
which contain the genes encoding the fluorinase and the 5’-fluoro-5’-deoxyadenosine phosphorylase and other
related enzymes were located on the chromosomes [Barbe 2011]. The natural evolution of halogenases is a rapidly
developing field of study [Neumann 2008, Xu 2016]. Mutation of Streptomyces is easily induced by ultraviolet light
irradiation [Fukuda 2009].
The Fluorinase genes have been successfully transferred to other organisms [Deng 2008]. Due to the extreme
toxicity of naturally synthesized Fluorinated organic molecules, there has been great interest in them for drug
discovery. Large quantities are need for testing and production of toxins such as nucleocidin [Fukuda 2009, Browne
2016].The fluorinase gene has been successfully cloned and used to transform the expression hosts, E.coli BL21(DE3)
and Pichia pastoris (PichiaPink™ strains) [Browne 2016].
The focus of this paper is the risk associated with Fluoride artificially added to fresh drinking water. However, this
water is close in Fluoride concentration to that found in the oceans where various marine species of Streptomyces
are also known to produce toxic organofluorine molecules.
The Fluorinase in marine Streptomyces xinghaiensis is described as “the most efficient fluorinase by far and,
impressively, highly robust” [Ma 2016]. Thus the risk associated with deliberate mixing of drinking water with
industrial waste Fluoride can be expected to mimic the sea and help “directed evolution” [Sun 2016] of Streptomyces
and related organisms, to which humans or land based wildlife have not previously been exposed. This can be
regarded as GMO production in the wild.

Conclusion
The Fluoridation of the Port Macquarie Hastings water supplies was opposed by 71% of the resident population but
their wishes were ignored by local and state government bureaucrats and politicians.
The scarcity of water supply prompted a very risky and unusual strategy involving fluoridation of dams exposed to
soil, air and sunlight that represents an ecological threat to humans and wildlife through metabolism of Fluoride by
microorganisms. It appears a similar risk was taken in Prospect NSW and there is an urgent need to identify all
locations with similar problems of biological activity, not usually encountered in Fluoride contaminated
groundwater.
It is likely that soil and water organisms are manufacturing known extremely toxic organofluorine compounds that
are bioaccumulative toxins affecting numerous organs. These organisms are subject to possible photochemical
mutation that could lead to formation of previously unknown organofluoride compounds in the water.
Fluoridation of the dams will prevent repeat of previous creek flushing due to the impact of Fluoride in the dam
water on endangered species known to be present, including the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon, frogs, birds of
prey and numerous species of bats. Bioaccumulation of organofluorine toxins will occur up the food chain.
It is not necessary to have more than one Fluoride atom in an organofluorine molecule, as found for example in
perfluoroalklyl substances (PFAS), for it to be bioaccumulative and extremely toxic.
Fluoridation will increase the toxic metal and Fluoride load of humans and estuarine oyster production.
Fluoridation severely restricts recycling of water, which is judged to be essential to the future of Port Macquarie
Hastings Council plans [Thompson 2005].
Immediate cessation of Fluoridation at Port Macquarie Hastings with thorough investigation of environmental
damage must be followed by a protracted period requiring dam emptying to sea and refilling, creating severe water
shortages until residents have potable water supplies restored.
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News media articles
ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2015. 14 July. Fluoride debate returns to Port Macquarie.
Camden Haven Courier. 2010. 12 May. Hastings: Construction work begins on fluoridation plant.
Fairhurst T. 2014. Port Macquarie News. 13 January. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council: Turn the tap off fluoridation.
Jennings B. 2004. 15 September. Fluoride moratorium sought. Port Macquarie News.
Lusk J. 2013. 21 May Letter to the Editor. Come clean on fluoridation. Port Macquarie News.
Port Macquarie News. 2004. 10 May. Fluoridation to be discussed in Hastings.
Port Macquarie News. 2004. 11 June. Safe Water bites back.
Port Macquarie News. 2004. 23 June. Fluoride anger in council.
Port Macquarie News. 2012. 6 February. Port Macquarie: Fluoride added to water in two weeks.
Port Macquarie News. 2012. 24 May. Port Macquarie-Hastings. Water war: Council rejects poll plea.
Tisdell L. Port Macquarie News. 2004. 26 May. Hastings Council discusses fluoride.
Tisdell L. Port Macquarie News. 2004. 2 June. Expert panel to review fluoridation in Hastings.
Wauchope Gazette. 2012. 1 March. Port Macquarie-Hastings region: Fluoridation has started.
Wauchope Gazette. 2012. 11 April. Fluoride group wants poll.