If it’s so good for you, why did the New Hanover County Health Department decide to send out a release noting the health benefits of it? And why does the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority have information from the Centers for Disease Control on its Web site promoting its virtues?
So goes the country’s complicated dance with fluoride, a chemical that water systems have been adding to drinking water for 65 years to help prevent tooth decay, especially in children.
The authority this week began adding fluoride to water pumped from its new nano-filtration water treatment plant, a move that has generated some calls to the utility, said spokeswoman Carey Ricks.
That Wilmington residents have been drinking fluoridated water isn’t new. The city has been adding fluoride to water pumped from the Sweeney Water Treatment Plant for decades.
But for the 15,000 customers formerly on New Hanover County’s well water system, adding fluoride – along with other chemicals to treat the groundwater’s sometimes rotten-egg smell and hardness – wasn’t an option. …
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