Goldsboro’s public utilities director says a decision to stop putting fluoride in city water is a temporary measure pending testing by state authorities.

The injection of fluoride into the city’s water was halted June 30, said Karen Brashear, who cited a recent study released by a doctor at the University of North Carolina-Asheville that prompted the decision.

The study indicated potential problems for lead contamination when fluoridated water interacted with chloramines. Ms. Brashear emphasized that no evidence of a problem has been found in the city’s water system but that city officials wanted to take the precautionary measure until more information can be obtained.

“Even though we haven’t seen evidence, we’re in compliance with all lead sampling that we have done, just to be on the safe side we have discontinued the fluoride feed pending oversight by other scientists,” she said. “We thought we would be more conservative and discontinue use until we’re more informed.”

Mrs. Brashear said she recommended the temporary measure and spoke with both City Manager Joe Huffman and Mayor Al King. Letters regarding the change of policy were sent out to area pediatricians since fluoride use is widely recommended to youngsters.

Ms. Brashear said she is uncertain how long the investigation will take but said she expects the fluoride feed to resume as soon as state officials and health authorities reach a consensus on the issue.

“The state will do some additional testing and we will go with the recommendation from their consultants,” she said. “We will be looking into it more next week to see how far we are.”

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Wayne County Board of Health, several board members raised questions about the change in city policy. Most said they were unaware of any decision being made to discontinue the fluoride feed.

Board member Dr. Michael Gooden proposed the Board of Health go on record as being concerned about the policy and asked Health Director Jim Roosen to look further into the issue.

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