Fluoride in the water, needles on the sidewalk and shaky buildings on the streets are among issues facing a City Council committee at a busy meeting Wednesday (April 1).
The Public Safety Committee meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Here are some of the agenda items:
–Councilor James M. Leahy has asked David M. Conti, Holyoke Water Works manager, and the Water Commission to to discuss fluoride in municipal drinking water.
Leahy filed the order after city resident Kirstin Beatty questioned whether the use of fluoride is healthy or toxic in the public speak out period of the Feb. 17 council meeting.
The city has been fluoridating water since 1970 under Board of Health order.
It costs $30,000 a year to fluoridate public drinking water, Conti has said.
Supporters say adding fluoride – a form of the element fluorine, which occurs naturally in the environment – to the water supply has succeeded for decades in improving dental health.
But opponents say that chemicals used in fluoridation can be harmful and that having the government treat the public water infringes on an individual’s right to decide what to ingest.
Endorsements of the benefits of water fluoridation in helping to prevent tooth decay have been made by such credible organizations as the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins University.
But fluoridation remains disputed by others such as the Fluoride Action Network and NoFluoride.com Citizens for Safe Drinking Water.
Both sides in the fluoride debate cite medical opinions and studies while casting conspiracy-like doubts on each other…
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