Editorial: Fluoride vote acknowledges passion, yields to science

Wellington officials have decided to add fluoride back into the village’s public water system.

It’s about time. The vote thankfully removes an unnecessary albatross from around the neck of an otherwise forward-thinking municipality. And more importantly, the council’s decision was unanimous; a signal to taxpaying residents that this faux issue would no longer divide their community.

After having it in the water for more than a decade, a previous Wellington Village Council voted 3-2 in January 2014 to remove fluoride — with no evidence that there had been any ill effects. The negative reactions were swift, including a scornful mention in The Washington Post’s Wonkblog as one of the “11 worst policy ideas of 2014” nationwide.

Village residents have openly questioned the wisdom of the decision ever since. In late May, the council decided to bring it back up for a vote.

Mayor Anne Gerwig, who voted against stopping fluoridation in 2014, voted this time to bring it back. “As a mayor, I want to do everything right, and I’m doing my best to do that,” she said during last week’s vote.

Yes, as with many science-based issues these days — climate change, child vaccinations, for example — there is a passionate, vocal opposition to adding fluoride to public water systems.

And as opponents did nearly two years ago, they made themselves heard last Tuesday. “Fluoride is a drug regulated by the FDA, but the FDA never approved it for ingestion,” Carol Kopf, spokeswoman for the Fluoride Action Network, making the oft-repeated objection that a public water supply shouldn’t be used to administer drugs.

To be sure, Wellington is not alone in its reluctance to fluoridate. Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter do not fluoridate their water, and Boynton Beach has temporarily halted fluoridation for construction and routine maintenance.

Critics are correct that fluoride, like any other drug or chemical, can be dangerous at certain levels. But that is not what village and local public health officials are proposing.

“If the dosage is way high, you can get discolored tooth enamel, or dental fluorosis,” Douglas Woersching, of the Palm Beach County Health Department, said. “Nobody is talking about putting in five parts per million. If their point is we can’t trust the water people to do it right, that’s another issue.”

Fluoride occurs naturally in the county’s water supply at 0.2 milligrams per liter. The county’s fluoridation system is considered optimal by the Florida Department of Health at 0.7 milligrams per liter; and is likely Wellington’s target.

For more than  four decades , public health officials have argued that adding small amounts of fluoride to the water supply is a safe and effective deterrent to tooth decay, especially among poor children. Moreover, there is still no credible evidence linking public water fluoridation with long-term health problems.  None.

Public health officials. Dentists. Pediatricians. All spoke up for the benefits of safely fluoridating water systems. The Village Council listened and proved that it could move forward in agreement on what’s best for residents.

Others can take note.

Taxonomy

• water treatment
• Water Treatment & Control
• Fluoride