The Cabool City Council voted Monday evening to discontinue the use of fluoride in its drinking water.
Several individuals filled the council chamber for Monday’s public hearing on the topic, with some in favor of fluoride but most against.
Ron Scheets, city administrator, said the public hearing had been three months in the making. The city notified all residents of the hearing by mail and filed necessary paperwork with the state.
Resident Frank Stringer spoke in favor of keeping fluoride in the city water supply.
“Studies show it reduces cavities in kids up to 80 percent,” he said, adding it’s sometimes difficult for children in the area to receive proper dental care.
Another person at the hearing said they didn’t like the taste of the water, with another saying the water tastes like drinking from a swimming pool.
“That’s the chlorine,” said Stringer. He said fluoride doesn’t impact water taste and that the amount used is like three drops in a 55-gallon barrel.
Scheets asked Tyler Shehorn, water supervisor, to speak on his concerns.
“It’s kind of a liability on the city’s end,” he said. “It’s a real bad chemical.”
He added that fluoride coats and corrodes controls and other water equipment, and that Cabool is the only city water supply in the area still using it. For the expense of several thousand per year, he doesn’t believe it’s beneficial, especially since many in the city won’t drink unfiltered tap water.
Alderman Brad Roberts asked how long the city had been using fluoride in the water, and several indicated the practice probably started in the 1960s.
Scheets said that as part of the process for the hearing, the city was visited by a representative of the state Department of Health and Senior Services. “I really expected for her to say not to move forward (with removal),” he said. “But she didn’t really have an opinion.”
A few individuals spoke to health studies on fluoride, saying it can impact thyroid health, brain health and can lower IQ.
Roberts said he would go with whatever constituents want, adding that opinion seemed to be split. Comments received in advance of the meeting indicated more were in favor of keeping it, while those present wanted it removed, he said.
“There’s more fluoride in your toothpaste that you use every day than what we put in the water,” he said.
Alderwoman Kate Ellison said her studies on the topic pointed mostly to issues with an underactive thyroid.
“We were told that it would reduce cavities,” said resident Katrina Baker, “but I don’t see that’s what’s happening.”
On a motion by Alderman John Williams, the board voted unanimously to remove the chemical from city drinking water.
Original article online at: https://houstonherald.com/2025/10/cabool-to-remove-fluoride-from-drinking-water/