Maryville, Mo. — Now that Citizens for a Smoke-free Nodaway County has succeeded in gaining City Council approval for a workplace smoking ban inside the Maryville City Limits, a second group of citizens is seeking similar action against what they see as yet another threat to public health — fluoride in the municipal water supply.

About eight people attended Monday’s City Council meeting to lobby the five-member board for an end to the fluoridating of drinking water, a practice endorsed by a long list of mainstream health organizations that have for decades declared fluoride both safe and beneficial.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring chemical compound that many experts believe dramatically decreases tooth decay. Various studies show that adding fluoride to drinking water can reduce the number of cavities in children by 40 to 70 percent. Maryville has added fluoride to its water supply since the 1960s…

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