Lakeland officials are being urged to follow medical data as pressure mounts for them to reconsider fluoridation of the city’s public drinking water.
Lakeland is the largest municipality in Polk County that continues to add supplemental fluoride to water in an effort to reduce dental decay since 1981. It is one of five cities in Polk that does, with the majority electing not to.
On Monday, Lakeland resident Keith Power became first resident to publicly address city officials on the issue since neighboring Winter Haven voted to discontinue fluoridation in November.
“I think this is an incredibly important decision that can seriously affect the health of our community, not just today but for years down the road,” Power said. “I’m interested to know what constitutes getting additional information and what constitutes additional research.”
Mayor Bill Mutz, who has encouraged deeper discussion of the controversial practice, was absent from Monday’s meeting.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo came to Winter Haven in November, shortly after that city voted to stop fluoridation, and issued new state guidelines calling for municipalities to halt the practice, stating it’s tantamount to “public health malpractice.”
Power, a nurse who has worked with medical clinical trials, said he read the state’s guidelines on fluoridation.
“I’ve read the governor’s publication with respect to why he feels fluoride should be removed,” he said. “It’s one source of information; it should not be your only source.”
Power encouraged commissioners to consider the data and statements put out by the American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others.
In reading several of the state’s cited clinical trials on fluoride, Power said they appear to indicate the need for more research on the impacts of fluoridation.
“They are not definitive as to this all being causal with relation to consideration around neurological issues as an example,” he said. “It’s important to distinguish between association and actual causality.”
Commissioner Stephanie Madden, acting as mayor pro tem, said she personally needs more information on the topic as she has seen the benefits of fluoridation.
“We need to hear more about ancillary side effects, how prolific that would be and how citizens in our area have been potentially harmed by that action,” she said.
Commissioner Chad McLeod said he would love to hear from more members of Lakeland’s community, specifically referencing local dentists and physicians.
“I feel like we are at times like the patient caught between conflicting opinions of two doctors, and here we are to make a decision,” McLeod said. “I would invite more people in our community to weight in and get as much input as we can.” Power cautioned elected officials against simply going based on public opinion.
“I think the research needs to be beyond community members like myself who have limited capacity to understand properly peer-reviewed medical data. It’s complex,” he said.
City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said the city’s water utilities do not have any plans to change current operations, unless given specific policy direction from the City Commission.
Lakeland began adding fluoride to its water in 1981. The city’s water supply has a naturally occurring fluoride level that averages about 0.25 milligrams per liter, according to Joe Costine, assistant director of the city’s water utilities. The city adds fluoride to reach the recommended level of 0.7 mgL by adding hydrofluosilicic acid, Costine said.
The Ledger requested copies of all correspondence Lakeland commissioners have received to their city emails since last November on the issue of water fluoridation. There are four emails received to date, evenly split between those for and against water fluoridation.
Original article online at: https://www.newschief.com/story/news/local/2025/01/06/lakeland-officials-urged-to-make-fact-based-decision-on-fluoride/77484507007/