An El Paso Inc. reader asks: El Paso Water Utilities does not add fluoride to its water supply; the fluoride present in El Paso’s water is naturally occurring. Is that still “good enough” and what do local dental professionals have to say about it?
Fluoride is a topic of conversations across U.S. communities. In recent years, efforts have ramped up to remove fluoride from drinking water because of long-term health concerns. Some states, including Florida and Utah, have banned adding fluoride to drinking water.
But those efforts have also drawn pushback from supporters who say fluoride in drinking water is critical for dental health.
When it comes to fluoride in El Paso’s drinking water, it’s always been there, and it won’t be going away anytime soon. It’s also way below national limits.
Dr. Salma Elwazeer, assistant professor of dental public health at Texas Tech’s Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine, said the addition or natural occurrence of fluoride in drinking water have positive effects on oral health.
But excess fluoride can be damaging or dangerous. Too much long-term fluoride during enamel development can lead to fluorosis, a cosmetic condition where the teeth can become stained or pitted.
Studies cited in the debate show high-dose side effects like neurological issues, but Elwazeer said those usually come from places outside the United States.
Elwazeer said some communities with zero fluoride in drinking water show higher levels of tooth decay, but there’s no data about what that looks like in El Paso.
“Now that we’ve established our dental school, we are looking into that,” Elwazeer said. “For example, we have started a study to try to measure levels of decay in children we see in our oral health clinic and at our pediatric clinic events.”
She said parents and families do need to be mindful of high doses of fluoride, especially in young children.
“We advise to new moms that if they are using water-mixable baby formula that already has fluoride in it, then there’s no need to mix it with tap water with fluoride; they should mix it with bottled water without fluoride,” Elwazeer said.
According to a 2024 El Paso Water drinking report, samples taken at different sites across the utility’s treatment plants had between 0.112 and 0.514 parts per million of fluoride, with the average reading at .29. The maximum contaminant level set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency is four.
John Balliew, president and CEO of El Paso Water, said there’s never been discussions about adding fluoride to the city’s drinking water. Removing it, he said, is a whole other ballgame.
“In water chemistry, there’s a lot of unintended consequences. If you remove one thing, one comes back in, or you remove one and you’re actually removing 10,” Balliew said.
The sample level variance comes from testing sites at El Paso Water’s treatment plants, desalination center and well sites across the Mesilla and Hueco bolsons, the region’s aquifers.
“Each one of those has a different amount of fluoride. It’s just the way the aquifer was naturally put tougher,” Balliew said.
The bolsons
The fluoride in El Paso’s groundwater comes from the erosion of natural deposits, often from ancient volcanic activity.
“The way water gets its composition, including things like lithium and fluoride, is by very slowly dissolving all the minerals in the aquifer or the rocks it interacts with,” said Mark Engle, professor and chair of the department of earth, environmental and resource sciences at UTEP. “The rate at which it happens is variable.”
Engle said volcanic activity leaves behind deposits of lithium and fluoride and can lead to variation in how much is found across different spots in the bolsons. The Hueco bolson is about 10,000 feet deep.
There are also other deposits in the bolsons, including barium and arsenic. El Paso Water has treatment and detection for arsenic, but Engle said it’s a naturally occurring deposit from decaying plants and animals that can be tricky to manage.
“I think the whole thing about fluoride is an unusual conversation,” Engle said. “It’s not all wonderful. Not everything in the groundwater is good for us.”
Original article online at: https://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/ep-water-fluoride-levels/article_efc4a39e-16f9-417b-978e-4c6e3e87ad1c.html