Our hair tissue testing is stirring up a topic that I have been finding most frustrating: the poisoning of countless New Zealanders by arsenic. I've probably a thousand hair tissue tests on my files for people who are unwell and all with elevated levels of arsenic. Some live in Central Otago.
The primary sources of arsenic in NZ are:
Treated timber.
Geothermal hot pools.
Bore water.
There are more sources, but these three would account for 90% of cases.
My frustration is the lack of concern by the authorities. Instead and outrageously so, the response to my airing concerns about arsenic is to downplay the problem. Read this to see what we are up against: Arsenic in Geothermal Waters
Please listen to this audio:
Finally! We have a person in a position of authority who is acknowledging the health issues. This is probably because there are now too many people in the Queenstown region drinking contaminated bore water to ignore, and many are up in arms about this.
These people have done two things:
Tested their water for arsenic and not relied on the agency supplying the water.
Tested their bodies by a hair tissue mineral analysis (a blood and urine test may mislead).
What these two tests show is
High levels of arsenic in some bore water exceeding maximum levels for drinking water.
High levels of tissue arsenic in all or most of the people drinking that water.
A multitude of health issues that may be linked to chronic exposure to arsenic.
Bore water that has passed through arsenic-bearing rock is suspect. As a general rule of thumb, anywhere in NZ where there is, or has been gold prospecting, or geothermal activity is suspect (Geology with metals like gold and silver may contain arsenic). The rock to be aware of is Schist and volcanic rock.
I'm offering a special deal to any families who want hair tissue testing for arsenic. The more cases we have, the more likely we will get action and not just tokenism.
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