News Archive

Excerpt: … Team 5 Investigates found the Amesbury Water Department pulled fluoride from its system amid concerns about its supply from China. Department of Public Works Director Rob Desmarais said after he mixes the white powder with water, 40 percent of it will not dissolve… The New York company that supplies the fluoride said it […]

AMESBURY — Communities across the nation have found the same mysterious residue in their fluoride systems that caused Amesbury to shut down its water fluoridation program, but a federal health agency said the residue is safe. Kip Duchon, national fluoridation engineer for the federal Centers for Disease Control, said residents shouldn’t worry about the safety […]

Title of editorial:Flouride [sic] concerns are worth probing It’s clearly a controversial thing to do, but Amesbury’s Robert Desmarais deserves credit for taking the path of caution when it comes to public health. Desmarais, the director of the town’s Department of Public Works, has been concerned about residue left over in the town’s water system […]

AMESBURY — Citing problems with the quality of sodium fluoride flooding the American market, Department of Public Works director Rob Desmarais said Amesbury has no current plans to resume its practice of adding fluoride to the town’s water supply. Though the health benefits to children in adding it to the water supply are well documented, […]

Excerpts: This forum was made possible by special grants from the DentaQuest Foundation and the Massachusetts Dental Society. PAGE iii The Office of Oral Health at the Department of Public Health aims to improve oral health through education about preventing dental disease, community water fluoridation, and school-based fluoride and sealant programs… Community water fluoridation is […]

Myron “Mike” Coplan will be honored with the title “Senior Man of the Year” on Monday, but the long-time town resident said he has not done much lately to earn that title. Perhaps those selecting the Senior Man of the Year from the Natick Council on Aging looked back at his contributions to Natick through […]

ATHOL — Fluoride has been in the town’s water for more than 50 years, and it will continue to be added after a vote last night rejecting a call to end the practice. The call for ending fluoridation was defeated after residents heard from Health Agent Philip D. Leger, who said the Board of Health […]

ATHOL — While there are budgets to pass, zoning regulations to be changed and land to be preserved, the thorniest issue on this year’s annual town meeting warrant may be efforts to stop the town from putting fluoride in its drinking water. The town meeting will be held tomorrow beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Memorial […]

Norwood, Mass.—In 1999, the Neponset Valley Community Health Coalition was established with a goal to advocate and help provide access to medial care for underserved residents in the region. The coalition invited local dentists Dr. Stephen Stone, a periodontist, and Dr. Mark Stone, a pediatric dentist (who are not related), to help assess and address […]

Director of Public Works Rob Desmarais requested the discontinuance due to the variability and unreliability of the sodium fluoride supply. Changes in the sodium fluoride market have caused significant difficulty in procuring a consistent high quality product for public water application. The Amesbury Board of Health voted at its April 16 meeting to discontinue the […]