OWENSVILLE – Fluoride will no longer be added to Owensville’s drinking water after members of the town council voted 2-1 Wednesday to discontinue to decades-old public health practice.
Corey Taylor voted in favor of keeping fluoride in the water while the other two members, Dwayne Matsel and Isaac Cox voted against providing fluoride in the town’s drinking water.
The decision followed a lengthy discussion over fluoride’s potential benefits and risks. The subject was brought to the council’s attention a couple of months ago by Pedro Ferreira, a resident of Owensville and a local business owner.
The council’s decision came after Ferreira’s presentation developed from spending about 15 hours researching community water fluoridation. He said several people had approached him with concerns about fluoride exposure.
“I’m not a doctor,” he said. “I’m not a nurse. I’m not an expert in the matter either, and I’m not a lawyer.”
He said he attempted to research arguments on both sides but ultimately found more information that concerned him than information supporting continued fluoridation.
The presentation, titled, “Rethinking Fluoride in Our Town’s Drinking Water,” focused on fluoride exposure, federal standards and recommendations, recent research and arguments for allowing individuals to determine their own fluoride intake.
Owensville had been adding sodium fluoride to its water to maintain a fluoride concentration of about 0.7 milligrams per liter, the level currently recommended by federal health officials for community water fluoridation.
Ferreira argued that fluoride exposure should be considered cumulatively because people can receive fluoride from drinking water, toothpaste, dental treatments, beverages and other sources. He also contended that individual exposure varies depending on how much water a person drinks, along with factors such as age, weight and nutrition. He cited studies and other materials raising concerns about possible health effects associated with fluoride exposure. Some of those claims were challenged during the council discussion, with council members noting that an association found in a study does not necessarily establish that fluoride caused a particular health outcome.
Taylor described the presentation as informative, but said it was clearly weighted toward removing fluoride.
“There are arguments on both sides of it,” he said, adding that the issue had been brought to his attention about two years ago and had been discussed periodically since then.
He also questioned several assertions made during Ferreira’s presentation after reviewing some of the research himself.
“Some of those statements, man, when I got into them and I looked at what you founded them on, I just went a little further and found that fluoride is associated with an issue, but is not necessarily the cause,” he added.
Taylor also argued that one of the strongest reasons for community water fluoridation is its ability to reach children and families who may not regularly get dental care.
Cox said his primary reason for supporting removal was not the disputed health effects but whether fluoridation remains necessary.
Matsel added that circumstances have changed since fluoridation was widely adopted, including access to dental care for children. Programs are available to, he said, to provide dental services to children whose families otherwise may struggle to obtain care.
After the vote was taken, it was announced that fluoride would immediately be removed from Owensville’s water system.
Original article online at: https://www.pdclarion.com/news/owensville-council-votes-to-remove-fluoride-from-drinking-water/article_75b1a880-35ff-5be1-bd8d-71d762524a72.html