- The Wisconsin Rapids City Council voted to continue adding fluoride to the city’s water supply.
- The council voted 6-2 to reject a proposed ordinance to ban fluoride.
- Council member Justin Pluess argued that residents want the council to focus on issues like jobs and infrastructure.
WISCONSIN RAPIDS ? Residents will continue to have fluoride added to their drinking water after the City Council rejected an effort to ban its addition to the municipal water supply during its meeting Tuesday evening.
Jake Cattanach, chairman of the Wisconsin Rapids Legislative Committee, asked to have the issue pulled from Tuesday’s packet for a separate vote. The Legislative Committee approved banning the addition of fluoride to the city’s water supply at its Feb. 4 meeting.
“As we continue the discussion on fluoride, there are two critical things we need to keep in mind,” Cattanach said.
Cattanach first referred to a study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He said the study showed that as fluoride consumption increases, the IQ of the child decreases.
City Council member Justin Pluess said that experts in the field of dentistry and medicine have said the study Cattanach referred to is weak and flawed. The study looks at testing done in other countries but not in the United States. The fluoride levels in the countries used is higher than the amount added to the water in the United States.
The second critical point Cattanach said he wanted to make was a September court ruling in California. Cattanach said the court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must reconsider its stance on fluoride at current levels. The court ruling was that the EPA must regulate fluoride in drinking water.
The National Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still support putting fluoride in water.
Pluess said Wisconsin Rapids residents want their City Council to focus on things like bringing jobs to the city, infrastructure and public safety.
“They’re angry we’re debating this instead of improving roads in Wisconsin Rapids,” Pluess said.
Madalyn Palmquist, council president, said the decision to stop putting fluoride in the city’s water was one made out of fear and skepticism caused by controversial studies, which state they have no conclusive evidence.
Palmquist made a motion to reject the proposed ordinance to ban the addition of fluoride to Wisconsin Rapids’ water supply. Her motion included instructing the Water Works and Lighting Commission to keep the fluoride level in the city’s water at the level recommended by national and state authorities.
The council approved Palmquist’s motion by a vote of 6-2, with Cattanach and Patrick Delaney voting no.
Original article online at: https://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/story/news/local/2025/02/19/wisconsin-rapids-will-continue-to-have-fluoride-added-to-water-supply-after-city-council-vote/79188766007/