Councilors Ray Kopczynski and Matilda Novak listen to Water Superintendent Scott LaRoque during Wednesday’s fluoride discussion.
Albany City Council members have heard and read a lot about fluoride lately, but nothing to persuade them to order the city to stop adding a tiny amount of the mineral to the city’s water supply.
Councilwoman Matilda Novak raised the issue in March after someone made her aware that the city water system supplements the natural fluoride in the water it takes from the Santiam River system. This has been done since 1968.
(The dose is 0.7 milligrams per liter as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)
On Wednesday the council reviewed Water Superintendent Scott LaRoque’s two-page summary of Albany’s use of fluoride, which also affects Millersburg as both cities share the water system.
The council heard from three people who argued that fluoridation is harmful and should be stopped, and from three others, including a dentist and a pediatrician, who countered those arguments and said fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay and should be continued.
Novak argued that the council should get more information from experts on an issue that affects the health of Albany and Millersburg residents. “Science doesn’t stand still and neither should we,” she said.
She made no motion for council action, though, and none was taken.
Councilor Dick Olsen repeated the story of his family’s good experience with fluoridation in Albany and said he would oppose stopping fluoridation.
Other members also spoke briefly, but Novak is the only councilor who wants fluoridation to stop.
This, as you can tell, is the short version of what transpired. If you want everything that was said, watch the YouTube recording here. (hh)
This story has been edited to fix a mistake. Those advising the council to continue fluoridation included a dentist and a medical doctor, a pediatrician.
Well, if the goal is to use the city’s water system to improve a person’s health then add lemon.
Ask any Gastroenterologist. Lemon water improves digestive health. It benefits both body & mind.
It’s for the public good.
Debates such as this one are a large part of why Albany is unable to move ahead in a progressive manner. For some reason, locals feel compelled to haggle over issues long since put to rest. When the “leadership” is “just asking questions,” the community stagnates in a Tucker Carlson-esque fugue. Please move away from fluoridation issue. It does not exist. The Communists are NOT behind any plot.
Absolutely.
The ADA, the ADA Foundation, the American Fluoridation Society and Fluoride-selling pharmaceutical giants like Johnson & Johnson thank you for your support.
Fluoride – transformed from industrial waste to public health miracle. A truly progressive story. Just follow the money.
Hasso, It’s not a “mineral” the FDA calls fluoride a Drug they are adding a drug to the water
Fluoride is a mineral that is used as a drug to treat a medical condition by the City of Albany without the free and informed consent of the consumer.
Zinc and iron are also minerals with health benefits, but aren’t added to Albany’s water. Why?
So an Albany resident has to ask – shouldn’t the city get my free and informed consent before forcing me to ingest ANY city preferred mineral as a treatment for a medical condition?
Should Chlorine not be used in the water either since it’s added without explicit consent of the consumer?
Is the chlorine intended to be a medicinal treatment? For what ailment exactly?
If your answer is yes, then free and informed consent of the consumer should be required. Government should not force me or you into any treatment.
But let’s set aside the drug issue and informed consent for a moment.
The Netherlands does not use disinfectant residuals like chlorine. And they have shown that their water and delivery system are safe.
So why does Albany force water consumers to ingest chlorine? “Safety” is clearly not a rational answer.
For what ailment? How wacko are you? Ever heard of typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, salmonella, campylobacter, and norovirus?
Your comment is disgusting, misleading and could lead people into unnecessary death.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_disinfection.html
GS
Balderdash
Thy memory is too short. Bob Woods has a pertinent answer. The diseases he mentions were once rampant in the US, but are now scarce.
How dare the gummint protect public health without uninformed approval….
From the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: The Impact of Fluoride on Health
F LUORIDE IS A NATURAL element that is considered a beneficial nutrient at optimal levels and is important to the integrity of bone and teeth. About 99% of the fluoride in the body is in the hard tissues. When consumed in optimal amounts in water and food and used topically in fluoridated dentifrices, oral rinses, gels, foams, and professionally applied office treatments, fluoride increases tooth mineralization, helps reduce dental enamel demineralization and promote dental enamel remineralization, and helps reduce dentin hypersensitivity
https://www.andeal.org/vault/2440/web/The_Impact_of_Fluoride_9-12.pdf
The most obvious reason to end fluoridation is that it is now known that fluoride’s main benefit comes from topical contact with the teeth, not from ingestion. Even the CDC’s Oral Health Division now acknowledges this. There is simply no need, therefore, to swallow fluoride, whether in the water, toothpaste, or any other form. Further, despite early claims that fluoridated water would reduce cavities by 65%, modern large-scale studies show no consistent or meaningful difference in the cavity rates of fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas.
“[T]he political profluoridation stance has evolved into a dogmatic, authoritarian, essentially antiscientific posture, one that discourages open debate of scientific issues.” – Dr. Edward Groth, Senior Scientist, Consumers Union, 1991
“We are left with compelling evidence that powerful interests with high financial stakes have colluded to prematurely close honest discussion and investigation into fluoride toxicity.” – Dr. Sheldon Krimsky, Tufts University, August 16, 2004.