FARMINGTON — The optimal recommended fluoride level in drinking water to prevent tooth decay is at 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A Waterwatch of Utah official recommended on Tuesday that the Davis County Commission have the Davis Board of Health adopt that standard.
“The new recommendation is for a single level of 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. It updates and replaces the previous recommended range of 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per liter issued in 1962,” Waterwatch of Utah founder Lorna B. Rosenstein told the commission at a Tuesday meeting.
A continued review and amending of section 5.4.1 of the Davis Board of Health policy reveals that as of November 2010, officials had determined the control range of fluoride in the county’s drinking water would be between 0.6 to 0.8 milligrams per liter with an annual average of 0.7 milligrams per liter.
Rosenstein said she wants the commission to adopt the 2015 review of Section 5.4.1 to state there is a single level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of fluoride allowed, with “no control range.”
Davis County Commissioner Bret Millburn agreed the county would look at the federal recommendation level. ”We’ll take it under consideration,“ Millburn said when Rosenstein pressed the commissioner for a response.
Rosenstein has also provided the Davis County Attorney’s Office with a copy of her formal request.
“The control ranges of the artificial fluorides have been reduced by federal government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control because of the possible risk of over-exposure to the vulnerable and sensitive subset, the babies, young children and the elderly,” Rosenstein said.
For years Rosenstein has battled with the commission and county health department regarding the county’s decision to add fluoride to the drinking water system. Over those years, based on new federal recommendations, the county has lowered the level of fluoride it puts into the county water system.
Initially, the county’s control range on its fluoridation levels was 0.8 to 1.4 milligrams per liter, with an annual average of 0.9 milligrams per liter.
On two different occasions Davis voters have supported adding fluoride to the county’s drinking water to prevent tooth decay. In November of 2000, by a 52 to 48 percent margin, voters initially implemented the practice. In November of 2002 a revote was held based on a referendum, with voters by a 51 to 49 percent margin restating their support to add fluoride to the county’s drinking water.
Print 
PDF