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Paul Connett

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Paul Connett is a prominent water fluoridation critic,[1][2][3] executive director of the Binghamton, New York based Fluoride Action Network (FAN),[4][5] one of the largest organizations opposing water fluoridation worldwide.[6][7][8] Critics have stated that The Fluoride Action Network is funded, at least in part, by Joseph Mercola, who has been identified by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate as a leading purveyor of COVID-19 disinformation. FAN executive director Stuart Cooper has stated, "Mercola is among thousands of donors and his money accounts for a single-digit percentage of FAN's contributions".[9][10]

Connett has been invited by environmental organizations opposing fluoridation to lecture on the subject in fluoridating countries such as Canada, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.[11][12][13][14] Connett has stated, "It’s politics that is interfering with science in this issue...It’s a matter of political will, and you cannot change political will if you don’t get the people. We must involve the people."[15]

Early life

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Connett is English,[16] and is a graduate of Cambridge University. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College.

Political activism

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Connett became involved in political activism in 1968. He volunteered for Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaign, where he met Allard K. Lowenstein. Lowenstein and Connett founded the American Committee to Keep Biafra Alive, in response to the famine caused by the Biafran War. In 1971, Connett co-founded Operation Omega, a non-violent group taking humanitarian aid into East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[16] Paul's wife Ellen was arrested during one of Omega's trips into East Pakistan and spent two months imprisoned there.[17]

University career

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After teaching chemistry and toxicology for 23 years at St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, he retired from his full professorship. He is currently also the director of the American Environmental Health Studies Project (AEHSP).[18][19]

Fluoridation campaign

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In 2004, Connett published the paper 50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation in Medical Veritas,[20][21][22] a pseudoscientific journal described by QuackWatch as "fundamentally flawed".[23] In 2010 he coauthored; The Case against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There along with Dr. James Beck and Dr. H. Spedding Micklem.[24] He also wrote the book in 2013; "The Zero Waste Solution".[25] and assisted the city of Naples in pursuing its zero waste strategy.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Freeze, R. Allan; Lehr, Jay H. (2009-04-29). The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America's Longest Running Political Melodrama. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780470463673.
  2. ^ "Consumer Health Digest #13-15". The National Council Against Health Fraud. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Paul Connett". Physicians for Social Responsibility. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Chemical & Engineering News: Government & Policy- Fluoride Risks Are Still A Challenge". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. ^ Daley, John. "Denver Fluoride Fight Pits Activists Against Long-Standing Health Policy". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  6. ^ "The Fluoride Dialogue: CDHA Position Statements" (PDF). Canadian Dental Hygienists Association. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  7. ^ Morgan, Matt. "Wellington mulls re-adding Fluoride to water, sparking debate". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Fluoride's return in Wilkesboro sought". Wilkes Journal-Patriot. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. ^ Silberstein, Rachel (2023-11-27). "Fluoridation efforts in Albany face little resistance thus far". Times Union (Albany). Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  10. ^ "The Disinformation Dozen". Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  11. ^ Whiteman, Ken (3 March 2011). "Stop fluoridation, London audience told". Digital Journal. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  12. ^ "תחקיר: מה עושה פלואוריד מסוכן במים שלנו?". Ynet. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  13. ^ Field, Tony (2 February 2014). "Anti-fluoride campaigner opens debate in Auckland". Newshub. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  14. ^ Hansen, Jane (6 September 2015). "Scare tactics: How anti-fluoride activists push their fear mongering on local councils". The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  15. ^ Mercola, Dr Joseph (11 October 2010). "The Health Hazards of Water Fluoridation (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  16. ^ a b Moses, A. Dirk; Heerten, Lasse (6 July 2017). Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970. Taylor & Francis.
  17. ^ Kar, Amitava (1 November 2013). "Accidental Activists". The Daily Star.
  18. ^ Paul Connett bio
  19. ^ Paul Connett and AESHP
  20. ^ Connett, Paul H. (April 2004). "Fifty reasons to oppose fluoridation". Medical Veritas: The Journal of Medical Truth. 1 (1): 70–80. doi:10.1588/medver.2004.01.00014.
  21. ^ "Fluoridation questions and answers". Ministry of Health (New Zealand). Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Fight over fluoride reignited". Stuff.co.nz. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  23. ^ "Nonrecommended Periodicals | Quackwatch". 15 November 2019.
  24. ^ Peckham, Stephen (March 2012). "The case against fluoride: how hazardous waste ended up in our drinking water and the bad science and powerful politics that keep it there, by Paul Connett, James Beck, and H Spedding Micklem". Critical Public Health. 22 (1): 113–114. doi:10.1080/09581596.2011.593350. S2CID 144744675.
  25. ^ Paul Connett and ZWIA
  26. ^ Paul Connett helping Naples
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