This is the second in a four-part editorial series
OUR VIEW: Fluoride 101: What do other countries do?
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part editorial series that looks at the issues surrounding fluoride and its effectiveness at fighting tooth decay. New Bedford is poised to begin fluoridating public water. The mayor has asked for a community conversation on the issue.
Why is there such controversy over adding fluoride to drinking water, a practice established more than 50 years ago? And how do other countries view fluoride?
Last week, the North Attleboro Board of Health filed a lawsuit against the town's Public Works Department to end fluoridation. North Attleboro voters approved fluoridation in 2000. In the intervening years, two of the three members of the elected board of health came out strongly against fluoride.
Board of Health member Diane Battistello can answer the question of why fluoridation is so controversial. She is among a growing number of people, some in public policy positions, who question the overall benefits of fluoride in drinking water. She is concerned that some people might be hurt by the addition of this chemical and that it is not right to medicate an entire community to address a problem that is better addressed with proper dental care and teeth brushing.
Fluoride opponents received some ammunition recently when the National Research Council issued a report that found that the Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standard of no more than
4 parts per million of fluoride is not stringent enough.
Click title to continue
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part editorial series that looks at the issues surrounding fluoride and its effectiveness at fighting tooth decay. New Bedford is poised to begin fluoridating public water. The mayor has asked for a community conversation on the issue.
Why is there such controversy over adding fluoride to drinking water, a practice established more than 50 years ago? And how do other countries view fluoride?
Last week, the North Attleboro Board of Health filed a lawsuit against the town's Public Works Department to end fluoridation. North Attleboro voters approved fluoridation in 2000. In the intervening years, two of the three members of the elected board of health came out strongly against fluoride.
Board of Health member Diane Battistello can answer the question of why fluoridation is so controversial. She is among a growing number of people, some in public policy positions, who question the overall benefits of fluoride in drinking water. She is concerned that some people might be hurt by the addition of this chemical and that it is not right to medicate an entire community to address a problem that is better addressed with proper dental care and teeth brushing.
Fluoride opponents received some ammunition recently when the National Research Council issued a report that found that the Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standard of no more than
4 parts per million of fluoride is not stringent enough.
Click title to continue
posted by Bill at
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