Fluoridated water opponent to speak at Potsdam town meeting July 26

POTSDAM — One of the leading opponents of municipal water fluoridation will speak at the Potsdam Town Hall Community Room at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 26.

Dr. Paul Connett, formerly on the faculty at St. Lawrence University and now acting director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), will present “Fifty Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation.”

His address comes as the Village of Potsdam approaches a decision on whether or not to continue adding fluoride to the village water supply. The equipment the village has to dispense the fluoride is aging and might need replacement or repair soon.

Potsdam, along with many municipalities across the country, have been adding fluoride in minute amounts on the advice of dental experts who believe it helps prevent dental cavities, especially in children.

That action is controversial because other experts like Dr. Connett say that minute quantities can leach into water supplies from natural geologic sources, and that in combination it can amount to enough to be detrimental to human health.

Release of fluoride compounds into the environment has also been a byproduct of aluminum smelting.

There has been widespread disagreement amounting to controversy for decades, more recently abetted by information of varying authority on the web.

Connet’s FAN site is at http://fluoridealert.org/.

The Potsdam Village Board of Trustees has been seeking help from the state Department of Health on the efficacy of fluoridation programs and on legal requirements if they wish to change the village’s policy.

*Original article online at http://northcountrynow.com/news/fluoridated-water-opponents-speak-potsdam-town-meeting-july-26-0239144

See past articles on the Potsdam fluoridation issue: