Recommendations from a Government-ordered inquiry into the North Cornwall water poisoning are "too narrow", a former member of the committee has said.
Scientist Doug Cross, who was living in the Camelford area at the time of the 1988 incident, was appointed onto the Lowermoor Subgroup of the Committee on Toxicity in 2002 but resigned in frustration before its final report was published this week.
It suggested that long-term health effects from the poisoning – caused when a relief delivery driver dumped 20 tons of the highly acidic cleansing agent aluminium sulphate directly in the supply – were "unlikely".
However it concluded that further research was necessary, particularly into the possible effects on unborn babies and children under one.
Mr Cross said he refused to have his named associated with the report which he described as a "risk assessment" rather than a scientific investigation.
"It is not science and that is a travesty," Mr Cross said yesterday. "They have made a risk assessment on what they think may have happened instead of carrying out a robust investigation.
"The committee should have investigated the health complaints of those people who have been most affected. The report accepted anecdotal evidence from the public but did not check medical records.
"The recommended research is too narrow. We need a complete investigation into the health of all those who say they were badly affected or have concerns about their children or other family members."
In 2004, two years after the committee was formed, Mr Cross's wife Carole died at the age of 59 from a rare neurological disease usually associated with Alzheimer's.
The coroner concluded that there was a "very real possibility" that the ingestion of aluminium by Mrs Cross had contributed to her death.
Mr Cross said the committee had handled his wife's case "with asbestos gloves".
The then Environment Minister Michael Meacher ordered the committee to be established following a long running and vociferous local campaign.
The pollution affected the supply serving some 20,000 people across North Cornwall
The committee's report was published on Thursday. It said "no conclusive link was found between the incident and the chronic symptoms and diseases reported".
But it did recommend further research into the impact on neurological health, unborn babies and young children. Further analysis was also needed of cancer and mortality rates, it said.
A decision on whether to accept the recommendations now rests with the Department of Health.
