Friday afternoon, Central Alabama Water announced that it will no longer add fluoride to its drinking water. The change will impact over 770,000 people in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Walker counties.
Citing aging equipment and the “ongoing public and scientific discussion about potential health impacts from ingesting fluoride over a lifetime,” the utility assured customers that the drinking water would remain safe.
The announcement was met with a swift and strong response from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who has been a constant opponent of the new board and the legislation that put them in place, suing the state for the change.
“Central Alabama Water just took fluoride out of your drinking water because they decided public health was optional,” he said. “But once again, the people now running Central Alabama Water are choosing politics, cost-cutting, and culture war nonsense over the actual well-being of the people they serve.”
The utility recognized, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has, that most people now receive significant fluoride exposure from toothpaste and other topical products such as mouthwash.
Kennedy has been warning of the dangers of fluoride since 2024 and has praised states that have passed legislation banning it in drinking water.
In April, EPA released a statement saying that it “is committing to conduct a thorough review of these findings and additional peer-reviewed studies to prepare an updated health effects assessment for fluoride that will inform any potential revisions to EPA’s fluoride drinking water standard.”
“While we acknowledge there are strong opinions about fluoride in drinking water, this decision is based on our operational, safety and financial needs,” CEO Jeffrey F. Thompson said. “This change reduces chemical handling risks for our employees, eliminates the use of aging equipment and allows us to focus resources on delivering safe, reliable and exceptionally high-quality drinking water.”
The company listed 4 key considerations:
- CAW is committed to producing high-quality drinking water for our customers; our state-certified chemists and licensed operators continually test water to ensure that it meets or exceeds all U.S. EPA and Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) regulatory standards.
- Fluoridation involves the handling, storage and metering of hydrofluorosilicic acid, a hazardous, highly corrosive industrial?grade chemical that requires specialized safety controls, extensive personal protective equipment and emergency response planning. Ending the addition of fluoride reduces potential chemical exposure for employees and lowers the likelihood of accidental spills.
- The fluoridation systems at CAW’s water treatment plants are near the end of their useful life cycle and require increasing maintenance and component replacement. Ending fluoridation avoids the need for immediate capital investments (exceeding $3.7 million) as well as recurring maintenance and chemical costs exceeding $250,000 per year.
- Some customers, health professionals and officials have raised questions about the long?term health effects of ingesting fluoride via drinking water and the necessity of ingestion?based exposure since topical administration of fluoride via toothpastes and mouthwash has been widely available for decades. While CAW does not take a position on these claims, ending drinking water fluoridation allows customers and their health care providers to make more individualized decisions about fluoride use.
Woodfin also took issue with the cost savings aspect of the change, disregarding the current financial crisis the new board is facing.
“This system is losing 53% of the water it treats to leaks and unbilled customers. More than half. But the $4 million for fluoride equipment is where they draw the line?” Woodfin asked, seemingly ignoring the significant cuts the utility has already made in order to avoid across-the-board rate increases.
Central Alabama Water has created a website with additional information for customers who have questions. That can be found here.
Original article online at: https://1819news.com/news/item/central-alabama-water-moves-to-stop-adding-fluoride-to-drinking-water-woodfin-irate-about-change