ALBANY — Amid plans for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to halt recommending water fluoridation, city officials intend to go forward with adding fluoride to its drinking water by the end of the year.
Albany was the largest city in upstate New York without fluoridation before the Common Council voted in February 2024 to add the mineral to its water supply. The decision was met with opposition due to fears about adding substances to drinking water.
During the city’s vote, the only Common Council member to offer any public opposition to the law was Seventh Ward representative Sergio Adams. Despite attempting to make a motion to table the law, the motion failed.
While anti-fluoride groups, like the Fluoride Action Network, point to what they believe are the chemical’s harmful effects, dental groups have maintained that tap water fluoridation can be beneficial for oral health and avoiding tooth decay. The CDC has urged people to examine the evidence used in myriad studies opponents cite, and in 2013 reaffirmed and updated its recommendation for water fluoridation based on “strong evidence of effectiveness in reducing tooth decay (dental caries) across populations.”
The CDC reports that as of 2022, more than 72% of people on community water systems nationwide have fluoridated water — which is about the same percentage of New Yorkers who have fluoride added to their water.
Albany Water Department Commissioner Joe Coffey said a project bid to oversee the process of fluoridation should go out some time in May, and he intends for fluoride to be added by the end of this year.
These plans come at a time when federal changes are being considered about the urging of water fluoridation.
On Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the Associated Press that he planned to tell the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation. Before this, Kennedy has openly expressed criticism about adding the mineral to water, claiming it is related to IQ loss and bone cancer despite scientists saying there’s not enough evidence to prove that.
As of Thursday afternoon, the CDC’s recommendation for water fluoridation remains on its website.
On March 27, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill to prohibit adding fluoride to water systems, making it the first state to ban the mineral in public water.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin also announced Monday the agency would be reviewing research on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.
Despite recent news, Coffey said the department still intends to fluoridate its water as “we follow the science and not the politics.”
He added that the water department will notify residents as they progress through the process.
Original article online at: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/albany-continues-water-fluoridation-despite-20269329.php