Fluoridation still makes sense

Fluoridation of public water supplies has had its critics ever since Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first U.S. city to do so more than 60 years ago.

Now, a group of concerned advocates has asked Iowa City Council members to review the city's fluoridation policy for several reasons, including possible negative environmental and health effects, and the idea that municipalities shouldn't be able to compel people to ingest fluoride.

“I think using the public's water supply to deliver a drug - they don't have the right to do that,” Mark Amberg, spokesman for Iowans for an End to Water Fluoridation, told us this week.

We agree with public health experts who strongly urge the city continue to add fluoride to the water supply.

Most dentists and public health officials consider community water fluoridation a safe, cost-effective way to help prevent tooth decay.

In 2009, it cost Iowa City less than $23,000 to maintain recommended fluoride levels in the city's drinking water, according to Iowa City Water Superintendent Ed Moreno.

That's a bargain, considering the documented dental health benefits of fluoridation - especially on children's developing teeth.

Iowa City councilors expect to talk about fluoridation at a work session this month, after representatives from Iowans for an End to Water Fluoridation recently asked them to review the issue.

That group wants to know what the ecological impacts are of fluoridation, and whether it's even necessary.

They wonder if there are any cumulative negative health effects that could be caused by ingesting fluoride through drinking water, and question the city's right and qualifications to make that decision for all city residents.

Moreno said the city has added fluoride since 1953, and though he's worked for the city's water division for more than 20 years, he's never heard any report of people becoming ill because of fluoride in city water.

Opponents call fluoride a drug, but fluoride exists naturally in much of Iowa's ground water, Iowa Department of Public Health's dental health director, Dr. Bob Russell, told us.

He said 92 percent of Iowa's municipalities add fluoride to water supplies. Some Iowa towns remove some naturally occurring fluoride in order to maintain recommended levels.

There is some fluoride in Iowa City's water supply even before city staff add more to reach an average concentration of 1.0 mg/L - well below limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Act.

The federal Centers for Disease Control calls community water fluoridation one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. It continues to be important today - an effective means of getting fluoride protection to virtually everyone.