Mountain View resident, Billie Barewald, a nurse, today commenced a signature drive to qualify for the city ballot an initiative ordinance that would prevent the city from adding fluoride or any fluoride compound to the drinking water. Fluoridation began in Mountain View in March 2001.

Ten percent of the city’s 33,000 voters must sign the petition to qualify the measure for the next regular election ballot in November 2002. Before starting the signature drive, Ms. Barewald had to present the proposed ordinance to the city for the assignment of a title of summary, publish a legal notice of intent to circulate the petition and provide proof of such publication to the city. The last step was taken today. Ms. Barewald has six months to gather the signatures.

Ms. Barewald said that among her reasons for undertaking the petition drive are that:

1. STUDIES SHOW THAT FLUORIDE IS HARMFUL: The “Natick Report” from Massachusetts, the “York Review” from England and the “Benefits and Risks of Water Fluoridation” from the Canadian government, all cite the harmful effects of fluoride.

2. TOO MUCH FLUORIDE DAMAGES AND DISCOLORS TEETH: According to the federal government, 2 of 3 children in fluoridated communities show visible signs of excess fluoride. The first signs are discolored teeth and later, weakened and brittle bones.

3. The fluoride compounds added are not pharmaceutical grade but rather a waste byproduct of the fertilizer industry. Unfortunately, this waste byproduct also contains lead, arsenic and other heavy metals.

4. There are clear alternatives for those who want fluoride. Fluoride drops can be given, fluoride toothpaste and California law provides for the free topical application of fluoride in both public and private schools. (California Health and Safety Code Section 104830-104856)

In March, Mountain View became only the second city in Santa Clara County to fluoridate its water. Palo Alto began fluoridating in the 1950s.

Said Ms. Barewald, “ The science of the 1950s gave us DDT as a pesticide, it put lead in our gas and in our paint and gave no thought to environmental issues. EPA Scientists at the Washington, D.C. Headquarters are now calling for a “National Moratorium on Fluoridation” in testimony before a Senate Subcommittee June 2000. Let’s hope that this signals the end of one of the last holdouts of the 1950s science.”

Documentation of all the facts listed above can be found at www.nofluoride.com

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