Voters in Stuart to have final say on fluoride

STUART — The Stuart City Commission voted 4-1 Monday to give residents the last word on whether the city should add fluoride to its water supply. The commission had already decided in January to ask voters their preference in a Nov. 6 ballot question, but hadn’t decided whether voters or commissioners would have the final […]

Hail to fluoride: new sculpture will commemorate the fact that Grand Rapids was the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply.

GRAND RAPIDS — Downtown’s newest sculpture is up, but it will be several months before it will become public. Workers on Sunday erected a 33-foot-high sculpture commemorating Grand Rapids’s historic decision to fluoridate its water supply. It’s in a small plaza near the Grand River, next to the new J.W. Marriott Hotel. The West Michigan […]

Bolivar Peninsula officials will decide next week whether or not to add fluoride to the public water supply.

BOLIVAR PENINSULA — Bolivar Peninsula officials will decide next week whether or not to add fluoride to the public water supply. The Bolivar Peninsula Special Utilities District will have a public meeting and presentation on water fluoridation before making the decision. Fluoride is a substance that strengthens tooth enamel. Out of the 20 water suppliers […]

Longmeadow: Anti-fluoride move on ballot

LONGMEADOW – When residents head to the polls on Tuesday, they will vote on an issue that has beset the town since 1989 – whether to stop fluoridating the drinking water. Resident Eleanor M. Stolar, a fluoridation opponent, has used a clause in the town charter to place a nonbinding question on the ballot asking […]

Corning Fluoride Update

Six hundred thousand dollars in federal funds needed to upgrade Corning’s water disinfection system have been delayed. Corning city leaders say Senator Hillary Clinton had the funds earmarked for Corning in the federal budget, but the democratic-controlled congress has put a stop to earmarking. Corning has to upgrade the disinfection system before the fluoride project […]

Binghamton water filtration plant evacuated

Binghamton — The Binghamton Water Filtration Plant was evacuated Monday afternoon after an employee of the Rochester based Thatcher Chemical Company, entered hydrofluorosilicic acid into an incorrect containment unit. The water supply was not affected by this error and the plant continued to function during the evacuation. The roadways surrounding the plant remained closed until […]

SECOND OPINION: Toothpaste trouble

A written warning on most tubes of toothpaste states, “Keep out of the reach of children under 6 years of age.” The reason for the warning relates to the presence of fluoride in toothpaste that is used to prevent tooth decay. There is not enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to cause a fatality, […]

Fluoride, a longtime blessing, now a curse?

Few noticed in November when the American Dental Association alerted its members via e-mail of a possible problem with giving babies fluoridated water: The ADA, long among fluoride‘s biggest advocates, wrote that parents of infants younger than a year old “should consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride” when mixing baby […]