- Another citizens petition to remove fluoride from Somerset’s drinking water was before Special Town Meeting on Saturday.
- The measure was defeated, 192-154 votes.
- The same or similar petitions have been before voters three other times in less than two years, and all have failed.
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
For the fourth time in less than two years, Somerset voters have defeated a controversial citizens petition that would have removed fluoride from the town’s water supply.
At a Special Town Meeting held Saturday morning at Somerset Berkley Regional High School, voters were asked whether they favored having the town seek an exemption from state law governing the fluoridation of drinking water.
The item failed, 192 votes to 154.
The article, originally second-to-last on the meeting warrant, was second to be discussed after Selectman Jamison Souza successfully moved to have it heard much earlier in the lineup, with more citizens present — bringing the matter before voters about 20 minutes into what wound up a 4-hour, 30-minute event.
“This article has been in front of us many times, and it’s always been at the end of the meeting,” Souza said. “I feel it should be heard with the majority of the public here at the meeting.”
The fluoride fight:Data shows more US cities, towns remove fluoride from drinking water
Discussion of fluoride in Somerset water was limited
Only a handful of citizens were able to speak either for or against fluoridation before discussion was closed, among them Sandra Cronauer Mitra, a retired biology teacher, who said it was imperative that the town continue adding fluoride to its water supply.
“It benefits the general public, as it helps to prevent … tooth decay in the general population,” she said. “As I have said previously, people of my generation are going to be the first generation in history to die with all our teeth.”
Other speakers spoke in opposition, including Amy Rigtrup, who said she feels she has seen an increase of neurological disorders like dementia, Parkinson’s Disease and multiple sclerosis — “I can’t directly say it’s from fluoride,” she said, but said environmental toxins could be to blame and suggested the town remove fluoride to “protect our health.”
Town Moderator Lucia Casey made it clear that, per the language of the article, “We’re not banning anything at this point. We’re sending it to the Legislature, and having the Legislature ban it. That’s the way it works.”
When one speaker asked to hear from the town Water Department, Casey also noted that that was not within the purview of the article.
With a voice vote too close to call, a standing vote count was taken. As those opposed to the article stood, the crowd became audibly agitated and Casey had one person ejected from the auditorium.
Somerset fluoride ban has failed four times
Somerset voters have heard the same, or nearly the same, article three times before.
Previous petitions, all by Elizabeth Paskowski, made their way onto the annual Town Meeting agenda in May 2023, the Special Town Meeting agenda in November 2023, and the annual Town Meeting in May 2024.
The previous three votes failed by 54-80 votes (May 2023), 20-53 votes (November 2023), and 20-37 votes (May 2024).
Saturday’s vote represents the largest vote Somerset voters have taken on the fluoridation issue in recent years.
The issue arises as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has claimed, without scientifically valid evidence, that fluoride in U.S. water systems has been linked to a host of medical conditions — is being nominated for secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump. Kennedy has promised to remove fluoride from water supplies nationwide.
Fluoride has been added to Somerset’s water supply since 1968.
What does the Mass. state law actually say about fluoridation?
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 111, Section 8C, governs fluoridation of public water by the Department of Public Health.
The law does not mandate a specific level of fluoridation — it says that if the state public health commissioner finds that the fluoride content of a city’s or town’s water supply “is not at optimum level for sound dental health, he shall so notify the local board of health of his findings.”
The local board of health, “shall, if it considers doing so in the best interest of the inhabitants of the city, town or district within its jurisdiction, order the upward adjustment of the fluoride content of the water supply available for domestic use in that city, town or district.”
Questions about fluoride:Is there too much fluoride in drinking water? New report raises questions
How much fluoride is safe in drinking water?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral, appearing in varying levels in groundwater worldwide, shown to prevent cavities and tooth decay.
A 2023 report from the Somerset Water Department shows that the town’s water supply had a fluoride range, tested monthly, from 0.0 to 0.929 parts per million, with the highest at 1 ppm.
The U.S. Public Health Service recommends a level of 0.7 ppm for public water systems. The most recent water quality reports available for Fall River and New Bedford show both cities maintain fluoride levels at 0.7 ppm.
A recent review by the National Toxicology Program from 2024, and a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, suggested that high amounts of fluoride in excess of 1.5 ppm was associated with — but did not necessarily cause — slightly lower IQ scores in children.
The review looked at studies primarily from China and India, along with a few other studies from Canada, Iran, Mexico, and other countries.
“An association indicates a connection between fluoride and lower IQ; it does not prove a cause and effect,” the NTP monograph reads.
Original article online at: https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/2025/02/10/somerset-voters-stop-anti-fluoride-advocates-for-4th-time-in-2-years/78376289007/