USA - CabinWindow: Fluoride
CabinWindow: Fluoride
Public should have been notified
Another shocker came to us this week. Our town's water supply is no longer fluoridated, and possibly hasn't been since October.
There are different schools of thinking on this. Some want fluoridated water; some don't. We do.
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first U.S. city to manually fluoridate its water supply. Today, more 60 percent of the U.S. population has access to fluoridated water.
Some say certain health problems could be related to fluoridated water. Others say public water shouldn't be fluoridated, and instead individuals should do their own fluoride treatment or have it done by a dentist. The thing is, most dentists have quit fluoride treatments with patients because these patients had convenient access to fluoridated water.
Some say there are links between fluoride and cancer; others say the acid used to fluoridate public water systems can be linked to increased blood lead levels in children.
The National Cancer Institute has done extensive studies, and in released reports found no link between water fluoridation and cancer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers fluoridation of water one of the greatest achievements in public health in the 20th century.
Our concern isn't necessarily that the water system in Conway is no longer fluoridated. Our concern isn't that there are different ways of thinking as to whether public water systems should be fluoridated.
Our concern is that no one informed the public that our city's water supply isn't fluoridated.
Some background. Monday we received an e-mail from a state official with an attachment of a Conway Corp. memo dated July 2. According to the memo, on Oct. 4 a 42-inch water line at Conway Corp.'s Gleason Water Treatment Plan failed due to corrosion. The problem was determined to be the pH level of the water at that point in the pipe. Apparently the fluoride and chlorine were being injected into the water supply at the same point. The concentration was too acidic, and eventually caused the pipe to fail.
According to the memo, sent by Brett McDaniel, water systems senior engineer for Conway Corp., "After several weeks of review by Conway Corporation staff and Garver Engineers, we developed plans for a permanent fix of the effluent pipe, hired a contractor and completed the repair work, but without the fluoride injection port. We also evaluated alternate locations to feed fluoride and have determined it would be in our best interest to stop injecting fluoride indefinitely." But is it in your best interest?
Conway Corp.'s tone has changed since the memo was sent out, and according to Conway Corp. CEO Richie Arnold, restoring the fluoridation process is now a priority.
As we mentioned earlier, our biggest concern is the fact that the public wasn't notified. Conway Corp. is bound by no law to notify the public that its water supply is no longer fluoridated. Conway Corp. isn't even required to fluoridate its water. But as good stewards of the public's safety and interest, we should have received notification.
We receive a newsletter from Conway Corp. on a frequent basis. We received a MEMS Alert document with our utility bills recently. We often get the coupon for the free On Demand movie rental. Why not a notification that our water supply isn't fluoridated anymore? It wouldn't have come at great expense if it was included with our monthly utility bill, and it would have made the process transparent and open to public input.
User Comments:
Reader Comments
Posted by: nyscof at Jul. 9, 2008 at 11:59:19 am
Yes people have a right to know. However, the mayor has been derelict in his duty to inform Conway residents that the American Dental Association and Centers for Disease Control, as of 2006, now advise that fluoridated water should not be mixed into infant formula.
As of April of this year, the National Kidney Foundation withdrew its support of water fluoridation because all kidney patients, not just those on kidney dialysis, may develop fluoride-damaging bone disease because their kidneys cannot filter out toxic fluoride levels from their blood as normally functioning kidneys can do.
And for those who choose to give their children fluoride supplements while their water isn't fluoridated. Fluoride supplements put children six and under at significant risk of permanently discolored teeth, according to a review of studies recently posted on the American Dental Association’s (ADA) web site in their new section, “evidence-based dentistry,” for dentists and their patients
Why aren't people up in arms because they haven't been notified about the above information?
The water department is actually the only entity that's acting responsibly in this situation.
Public should have been notified
Another shocker came to us this week. Our town's water supply is no longer fluoridated, and possibly hasn't been since October.
There are different schools of thinking on this. Some want fluoridated water; some don't. We do.
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first U.S. city to manually fluoridate its water supply. Today, more 60 percent of the U.S. population has access to fluoridated water.
Some say certain health problems could be related to fluoridated water. Others say public water shouldn't be fluoridated, and instead individuals should do their own fluoride treatment or have it done by a dentist. The thing is, most dentists have quit fluoride treatments with patients because these patients had convenient access to fluoridated water.
Some say there are links between fluoride and cancer; others say the acid used to fluoridate public water systems can be linked to increased blood lead levels in children.
The National Cancer Institute has done extensive studies, and in released reports found no link between water fluoridation and cancer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers fluoridation of water one of the greatest achievements in public health in the 20th century.
Our concern isn't necessarily that the water system in Conway is no longer fluoridated. Our concern isn't that there are different ways of thinking as to whether public water systems should be fluoridated.
Our concern is that no one informed the public that our city's water supply isn't fluoridated.
Some background. Monday we received an e-mail from a state official with an attachment of a Conway Corp. memo dated July 2. According to the memo, on Oct. 4 a 42-inch water line at Conway Corp.'s Gleason Water Treatment Plan failed due to corrosion. The problem was determined to be the pH level of the water at that point in the pipe. Apparently the fluoride and chlorine were being injected into the water supply at the same point. The concentration was too acidic, and eventually caused the pipe to fail.
According to the memo, sent by Brett McDaniel, water systems senior engineer for Conway Corp., "After several weeks of review by Conway Corporation staff and Garver Engineers, we developed plans for a permanent fix of the effluent pipe, hired a contractor and completed the repair work, but without the fluoride injection port. We also evaluated alternate locations to feed fluoride and have determined it would be in our best interest to stop injecting fluoride indefinitely." But is it in your best interest?
Conway Corp.'s tone has changed since the memo was sent out, and according to Conway Corp. CEO Richie Arnold, restoring the fluoridation process is now a priority.
As we mentioned earlier, our biggest concern is the fact that the public wasn't notified. Conway Corp. is bound by no law to notify the public that its water supply is no longer fluoridated. Conway Corp. isn't even required to fluoridate its water. But as good stewards of the public's safety and interest, we should have received notification.
We receive a newsletter from Conway Corp. on a frequent basis. We received a MEMS Alert document with our utility bills recently. We often get the coupon for the free On Demand movie rental. Why not a notification that our water supply isn't fluoridated anymore? It wouldn't have come at great expense if it was included with our monthly utility bill, and it would have made the process transparent and open to public input.
User Comments:
Reader Comments
Posted by: nyscof at Jul. 9, 2008 at 11:59:19 am
Yes people have a right to know. However, the mayor has been derelict in his duty to inform Conway residents that the American Dental Association and Centers for Disease Control, as of 2006, now advise that fluoridated water should not be mixed into infant formula.
As of April of this year, the National Kidney Foundation withdrew its support of water fluoridation because all kidney patients, not just those on kidney dialysis, may develop fluoride-damaging bone disease because their kidneys cannot filter out toxic fluoride levels from their blood as normally functioning kidneys can do.
And for those who choose to give their children fluoride supplements while their water isn't fluoridated. Fluoride supplements put children six and under at significant risk of permanently discolored teeth, according to a review of studies recently posted on the American Dental Association’s (ADA) web site in their new section, “evidence-based dentistry,” for dentists and their patients
Why aren't people up in arms because they haven't been notified about the above information?
The water department is actually the only entity that's acting responsibly in this situation.
posted by Bill at
9:40 AM
1 Comments:
I've researched and learned that many people like myself are realizing the negative health effects of fluoride in their source water. I've been using the FluorideMaster whole house fluoride water filtration system and am impressed on how well it performs to completely remove or significantly reduce the floride in my water. For those that are interested, I know that the company Vitasalus at http://www.vitasalus.com or http://www.equinox-products.com sells the FlourideMaster Whole Home Fluoride Water Filter System.
By
Anonymous, at 16 July, 2008
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