• Wisconsin Rapids city leaders will discuss creating an ordinance to ban added fluoride in its drinking water.
  • The proposal cites a recent study suggesting a possible link between fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children.
  • The American Dental Association maintains that fluoride in drinking water significantly reduces cavities throughout a person’s lifetime.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS ? City leaders are looking at whether to ban fluoride in Wisconsin Rapids’ drinking water.

Legislative Committee Chairman Jake Cattanach made a referral to the committee asking that it create an ordinance banning the addition of fluoride to the city water supply. The committee is expected to discuss the referral at its meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 444 W. Grand Ave.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program completed a multi-year study in August that shows fluoride exposure like added fluoride in drinking water can be associated with lower IQ in children, according to the report that Cattanach included in the committee’s packet for Tuesday. Fluoride continues to be studied to see if it impacts the nervous system.

Several Wisconsin municipalities have decided to discontinue or avoid fluoride include Rock Springs, Lake Delton, St. Croix Falls, Hayward, Saukville, Montello, Shell Lake, Balsam Lake and Grantsburg, according to Cattanach’s referral.

The introduction to the study states that about 67% of U.S. residents receive fluoride in their drinking water. The U.S. Public Health Service began recommending placing fluoride in drinking water to help strengthen teeth and bones in 1962. The agency currently recommends the fluoride concentration to be equal to 0.7 parts per million. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets the maximum amount of fluoride a person should ingest at 4 parts per million and requires public water systems to notify customers when the level in the public water supply is at 2 parts per million or more, according to the report.

The report also states that children in 10 countries, including Mexico and Canada had their IQs tested for the study, but no children in the United States had their IQs tested.

The American Dental Association issued a news release in October that stated placing fluoride in water reduces cavities in children and adults by about 25% during their lifetime.