Shaler commissioners have decided to keep the township’s water supply free of fluoride.

By a 7-0 vote, commissioners decided to go along with a water committee’s recommendation last month to reject a proposal that would add fluoride to the water.

Shaler’s water supply, which comes from underground aquifers near the Allegheny River and supplies more than 30,000 people with drinking water in Shaler and Etna, as well as portions of O’Hara, Millvale and Hampton, has never been treated with fluoride.

Though dental groups such as the American Dental Association view fluoride as a safe and effective method of preventing tooth decay, some oppose the additive because they fear it is dangerous.

Last March, the township decided to review a plan to fluoridate the water.

After receiving little comment from Shaler residents, the commissioners concluded that fluoride is a medicine and should not be added to public drinking water.

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