Reporting of the Fort Collins Water Board’s vote to recommend doing away with fluoride in the city’s water supply (April 25) may have left the impression that some of us were recommending this to save money. The dollar cost to continue fluoridation was a very minor concern compared with a number of other considerations:
While there is evidence fluoride hardens bone and enamel, thus preventing cavities, putting it in the water supply is a Band-aid approach to poor eating habits and dental hygiene.
It is very possible most of us are receiving too much fluoride since it is added to almost all toothpaste and most canned and bottled soft drinks and beer.
What we don’t know about the long-term effects of fluoride far outweighs what we do know, and the risk of continuing to add hydrofluorosilicic acid, an agricultural waste product, even in small concentrations to our water may very well be increasing the cumulative load of lead and other toxic chemicals in our systems.This is not an acceptable long-term outcome.
Continued addition of fluoride to our water supply may also be contributing to hip fracture rates and other forms of osteoporosis, especially in the elderly. Fluoride is so dangerous to children under the age of 6 months that the federal government requires warnings on toothpaste containers.
Nine of 11 members of the Water Board feel that we should not be in the business of adding medications to the water supply.
We suggest that, in the event fluoride is in fact removed from the water supply, council consider working with Larimer County health department officials and commissioners to establish a dental clinic or program for at-risk families who might not have regular, long-term access to nutrition counseling and dental care.