ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – The debate surrounding fluoride continues, following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy calling for it to be removed from the national water supply.
News 8’s Natalie Kucko caught up with the Monroe County Water Authority to learn how the mineral, harmful or helpful, is regulated locally.
“We’ve been fluorinating our water ever since we started this plant in the early 60s. I know the city of Rochester also fluorinates. Many systems throughout New York State fluorinate. So, it’s just something you don’t think about,” said Chris LaManna, who serves as director of production and transmission for the Monroe County Water Authority’s Shoremont Treatment Plant.
The CDC currently recommends a certain amount of flouride in the water we drink. Kennedy is calling on the agency to reverse that, which is a promise he made alongside the Trump administration. Kennedy has connected the mineral with various diseases with no evidence to support it. Meantime, many public health officials have maintained flouride is safe.
“For example, our target level is to maintain .7 milligrams per liter. Every day, we measure and monitor it, and that is all reported to the state Department of Health. The state also has a maximum concentration for fluoride in the water of 2.2 milligrams per liter. So, we’re always well below that,” said LaManna.
Kennedy has previously called for all U.S. water systems to remove the mineral, despite the researched benefits such as preventing tooth decay.
For now, Monroe County officials say they will continue to monitor their plants and regulate levels as normal.
“Logistically, it wouldn’t necessarily be some major problem for us to stop feeding fluoride. We would have to get approval from the state Department of Health any time we do any maintenance on our system. We stop feeding fluoride for a certain amount of time to do the maintenance, and we have to notify the health department that we’ve stopped and they would then approve that,” he said.
Last month, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water following these concerns.
Original article online at: https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/monroe-county-water-authority-discusses-fluoridation-during-national-debate/