While waiting for the city to come plow his neighborhood, city Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is taking up another crusade: the fluoridation of water! Vallone is attempting to stop the decades-old practice of putting fluoride in the drinking water, something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. Vallone told the Daily News, “This amounts to forced medication by the government. What’s next? They decide we’re depressed and add Prozac to our drinking water?” That depends, is it good for our teeth?

Vallone plans to introduce legislation on fluoridation at the next Council meeting, and has a slew of data to back up his claims. New studies suggest that too much fluoride can weaken your teeth, and one even says that fluoride can lead to diminished intelligence in children. Professor John Doull, the University of Kansas says that it’s an outdated project now that more people have access to fluoride toothpaste to keep their teeth healthy. On top of that, it costs the city $7 million a year to add fluoride to the water, money that could be spent on buying more effective plows.

But the 1 milligram per liter in New York’s water is not that much, and Linda Orgain, a CDC specialist, said, “The bottom line is that we don’t have any concern [about fluoride’s safety].” We’re fine either way as long as it doesn’t change the taste of our bagels. But for an-in depth look as to why we really shouldn’t be drinking fluoridated water, here is General Ripper:

Print PDF