News Archive

It’s a health warning all parents should know about. Fluoride is added to the tap water in most water districts in Tennessee. The American Dental Association says this prevents tooth decay, but this month an advisory was added to their website. It warns parents not to mix fluoridated water with their baby’s formula. Fluoride is […]

Most cities in Tennessee add fluoride to their water systems. Experts have debated for and against the practice. A new recommendation has put fluoride back in the spotlight, with babies in the center of the debate. Julie Pusser prepares her 10-month-old’s formula only with bottled water. “It’s all ready, I don’t have to boil it, […]

As the saying goes, there are two sides to everything. At the Utility Committee meeting held at City Hall on Tuesday, July 18th, guest speakers presented two distinctly opposing views on the issue of city water fluoridation. “We wanted to explore both sides,” Lafayette Mayor Bill Wells said identifying the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting, as […]

More than 170 million Americans, or 67 percent of the United States population served by public water supplies, drink water with optimal fluoride levels for preventing tooth decay, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Customers of the City of Lafayette’s water system, however, are no longer among them. According to Mayor Bill […]

Proponents and opponents of fluoride in public drinking water debated before the House Conservation and Environment Committee Monday. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists water fluoridation as among the top 10 public health achievements of the last century, but in the past decade opposition to water fluoridation has increased nationwide. Water fluoridation […]

Of late, we’ve once again learned that health officials sometimes change their minds about what is considered healthy and safe. The recent warnings from the Food and Drug Administration about previously approved pain medications and over-the-counter diet aids and cough suppressants demonstrate this. Have you ever wondered what medications and health practices that we accept […]

Water fluoridation, which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists among the top 10 public health achievements of century, will become a topic of conversation in Tennessee. Proponents and opponents of water fluoridation are scheduled to face each other before the state House Conservation and Environment Committee Monday, Jan. 9. Rep. Gary Odom […]

Some Tennesseans are rethinking whether it’s such a good idea to add fluoride to public drinking water supplies, questioning whether the additive is as dangerous as it is helpful. City officials in Franklin are reconsidering their city’s long-standing practice of putting fluoride in the drinking water to help prevent tooth decay. Last year, a utility […]

A 60-year-old debate about whether to add cavity-fighting fluoride to cities’ water supplies is boiling over in Franklin. Weeks after the city’s water director resigned amid allegations of poor record-keeping and other infractions, town leaders are hearing from a local anti-fluoride activist who says they ought to focus on what’s in the water. And they’re […]

A letter explaining the South Blount Utility District’s decision not to fluoridate is not what the board asked for when it spent $2,400 on a study of the pros and cons of fluoridation earlier this year, one district customer complained Tuesday. “This board approved an educational outreach, and two sentences about the pros and cons […]