Water fluoridation is the process of adding fluoride to a public water supply in order to help prevent tooth decay. It started in the U.S. in the 1940s after scientists noticed populations living in areas with naturally occurring fluoride in the water were developing fewer cavities.
Recently, with many newer dental products containing fluoride, some newer studies have suggested that too much fluoride could pose potential health hazards, leading to some communities around the country discontinuing water fluoridation.
These studies — specifically a Harvard-published article titled “Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe?” by Nicole Davis — along with the fact Chehalis’ water fluoridation equipment is aging and needs to be replaced, are the reasons city staff are preparing to ask the Chehalis City Council to decide whether or not to continue fluoridation.
Chehalis Water Superintendent Todd Turner gave the council a rundown of what the next steps are for the city along with why he supported discontinuing water fluoridation.
According to state law, any municipality considering starting or discontinuing water fluoridation must give at least 90 days notice to both their customers and the Washington state Department of Health Office of Drinking Water before holding a vote on the issue.
Chehalis city staff are working on scheduling events to gather public input on the matter and will announce event dates, times and locations soon.
According to Turner, it costs around $20,000 annually to purchase the fluoride the city puts into the water. Turner also told the Chehalis City Council that the cost of a new water fluoridation machine starts at $75,500, not including engineering and taxes.
So if water fluoridation is discontinued, Chehalis could utilize that money elsewhere in its budget. Chehalis began water fluoridation in 1966 to help dental health.
“And it did, supposedly. It helped fight cavities and whatnot,” Turner said. “But over the years, they discovered it gets into the bones and teeth and it’s just something a lot of cities are discontinuing.”
He stated since 2000, 15 municipalities across Washington state have discontinued water fluoridation, including East Wenatchee, Spokane, Goldendale, White Salmon, Kennewick, Sequim, Sumner, Milton, Snohomish, Bellingham, Parkland, Woodland, Port Angeles, Forks and Skagit County.
“There are a couple more right now in the process,” Turner added.
While fluoride does have dental health benefits, too much is known to cause dental fluorosis, where yellow and brown spots develop on the teeth of children overexposed to fluoride during their first eight years of life.
A more serious condition, skeletal fluorosis, can also occur and lead to other bone diseases. Both types of fluorosis are prevalent in many South and Central Asian countries where natural fluoride is found in high levels. Due to the hotter climates, residents there consume more water with fluoride levels sometimes as high as 15 milligrams per liter, according to a 2018 U.S. National Library of Medicine study.
Currently, Chehalis’ water supply has a fluoride content of 0.7 milligrams per liter, the maximum allowed by state law, Turner said.
He also told the council that even if the city stops adding fluoride to the water, it will still remain in the system as one of Chehalis’ water sources, the Newaukum River, has a naturally occurring fluoride level of around 0.25 milligrams per liter.
While Chehalis city staff are still planning to collect public comments on this issue, some on the city council voiced their opinions on whether or not fluoride should be in the city’s drinking water during Monday’s meeting.
“I don’t have (an opinion) either way, whether it stays in or goes out. I don’t care,” Chehalis Mayor Tony Ketchum said. “But I’d like to see the process start so you can get the community involved so if they’re concerned we can actually hear from them.”
In a meeting earlier this year, Councilor Daryl Lund originally brought up the idea of discontinuing water fluoridation during his councilor report, which prompted fellow Councilor John Six to contact local dentists in the area to get their opinion on the issue.
“For young kids with developing teeth, talking to their pediatric doctor and their dentist and stuff, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I see a lot of kids that don’t have fluoride, either they’re on well water or parents are providing them bottled water. They come in with a lot of problems,’” Six said.
Six also questioned Davis’ study and asked if city staff had researched any other studies. Councilor Kate McDougall was concerned about the potential health effects caused by discontinuing water fluoridation.
“We study our demographics here. We have low providers. We do not have adequate dental service right now, and this can lead to heart problems and brain problems if it goes up there,” McDougall said. “… It’s kind of, do the risks outweigh the benefits on this. Obviously I want to make it as safe as possible for our staff and cost effective for the city, but we also have to look at our constituents as a whole and is this the best way to go to keep them as safe as possible.”
Despite this, she also felt arguments for allowing people to choose what they put in their bodies needed to be considered.
Lund maintained his support for discontinuing water fluoridation.
“I don’t think it’s good to put it in our system at all. Wasn’t there some lady here talking about a study with birth defects, and people with Alzheimer’s, is that something that if affects?” Lund said. “I’m just not one to put crap in my body.”
To read the 2018 National Library of Medicine’s fluoride study, visit https://bit.ly/4elJSSW.
Davis is a science writer with a doctorate in genetics from Harvard University who writes for Harvard Public Health magazine. To read Davis’ article, visit https://bit.ly/4gnaO6B.
