An opponent of putting fluoride in water plans to air his concerns in Oneida.

The Common Council will hear a presentation April 11 by a St. Lawrence University chemistry professor who has studied fluoride and the fluoridation debate for six years.

Paul Connett, who teaches general chemistry, environmental chemistry and toxicology, and has a doctorate in chemistry, is a founder of the Fluoride Action Network, an international coalition of citizens and scientists.

He has given presentations in various states and countries on what his group considers to be the dangers of fluoridation.

“We are just trying to give a little information to the public,” council member Donald Moore said. “We want people to do their own research, talk to dentists, go to the library.”

The issue of fluoridation in Oneida has been simmering since the late 1970s, when the city first proposed fluoridating the public water supply.

The issue resurfaced in January during a council work session with local dental health professional and Madison County Health Department public educator James Kinsella. “The mission of the health department is to provide good, public health information to the public,” Kinsella said. “That’s what I’ve been doing on this issue.”

Kinsella, who has a doctorate in biological science and has worked at the National Institutes of Health, said he doesn’t believe there are two sides to the fluoridation issue because “it’s a settled question.” He said information provided by fluoridation opponents is often misquoted or taken out of context.

“You’ll have the story of the century if Dr. Connett has uncovered something, this biblical plague of cancers and heart disease and mental illness, that all the country’s experts have missed,” Kinsella said.

Kinsella said he will be at the work session to hear the discussion.

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