Fluoride has long been the go-to ingredient for preventing tooth decay and promoting healthy smiles, but increasingly is being frowned upon — including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week calling for states to ban fluoridated drinking water.
Among the concerns of Kennedy, the U.S. health and human services secretary, is that “higher levels” of fluoride have been linked to lowered IQ rates in children. This is based on a review by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program, although that review’s conclusions were based upon more than twice the level present in water systems, and has been questioned by other scientific agencies.
But while fluoride bans already have occurred in many communities nationwide and the state of Utah, it will continue to be added to the public water supply in Mount Airy, officials say.
“The fluoride in general, I don’t have any problem with,” city Water Treatment Supervisor Andy Utt said Tuesday.
“I don’t know how much it helps,’ added Utt, who is considered an expert in his field. “I don’t think it hurts anyone.”
Utt went on to say that he is “not really for it or against it” regarding fluoride use.
Mount Airy Public Works Director Mitch Williams similarly weighed in on the matter Wednesday.
“I don’t see how it’s a bad thing,” Williams said of fluoride in the water supply.
He pointed out that it is highly embraced across North Carolina, where recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control show that 88%of residents served by community water systems were receiving fluoride.
Utt says despite RFK Jr.’s concerns, it is not presenting a health threat in Mount Airy.
“The quantity of fluoride we add to the water is safe,” he said.
This is closely monitored on a parts-by-million basis, according to Utt, with its content in city water “well below the maximum contamination level.”
Fluoride use outdated?
The city water treatment supervisor, said fluoride was heavily depended on in earlier times when other cavity-prevention measures didn’t exist.
“Back then most people used baking soda and things like that,” Utt said of the days before companies such as Colgate and Crest entered the picture.
“Now all toothpastes have fluoride.”
The changing times also have brought different habits by consumers in terms of water usage.
“A lot of people drink bottled water,” Utt said.
Concerns raised earlier
Before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined the fluoride fray, its use was on the minds of local residents exploring possible elimination — notably a former city manager who served from early 2022 to July 2023.
“Back when Stan Farmer was here, he had brought that up at that time,” recalled Williams, the public works director.
“But it never went anywhere.”
Utt, the water treatment supervisor, said a woman called him one day upset about fluoride’s presence in the water.
Regulatory factors
Mount Airy treatment personnel are just keeping on keeping on at this time with fluoride. Utt explained that its use is prescribed by both municipal and state officials.
“We basically just do whatever we’re told,” he said.
Phasing out fluoride would involve more than just flipping a lever, according to Williams.
It requires local officials undoing a long-ago action.
The public works director advised Wednesday that it is unclear when this municipality started fluoridating its water, but staff members have found fluoride tests dating to the late 1950s.
Ending that practice would require a resolution from the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Oral Health Section stating that a formal application many years ago to add fluoride has been rescinded.
The Surry County Board of Health also must be notified, Williams mentioned.
Original article online at: https://www.newsbreak.com/the-mount-airy-news-1593750/3957085800373-no-plans-on-tap-to-remove-fluoride-here