USA - Bolivar, Missouri - Aldermen hear public opinion on fluoridation
Aldermen hear public opinion on fluoridation
By Sarah West
sarahw@bolivarmonews.com
Published:
Friday, May 7, 2010 9:55 AM CDT
At the public hearing about putting fluoride into the city of Bolivar’s water system May 4, the Bolivar Board of Aldermen heard voices of the community speak against fluoridation and for fluoridation and also heard suggestions to consider the issue carefully.
About 20 people responded to the Board of Alderman’s request to share their opinions May 4 about possible discontinuation of fluoridation of the city’s public water system due to rising costs.
Herman Englram gave boxes of toothpaste to each of the alderman, encouraging them to read the fluoride poison warning on the boxes.
“We have all kinds of scientific evidence that fluoride is not good for the human body,” Englram said. “You have a grave responsibility here for all of us and yourself. You don’t have to be a scientist to figure that you have a grave responsibility. We have prayed about each and every one of you people. Scripture says that to whom much is given, much is required. I’ve always said vote your conscience.”
Dana Hacker read a letter from her husband, David Hacker, who was a dentist in Bolivar for about 30 years. In the letter, Hacker said he believed those against fluoridation were honorable people, sincere in their concerns, but that they had chosen to disregard or had not been exposed to current scientific data.
Removing fluoride from the water would be a step backward, Hacker’s letter said, and only acceptable if the alderman found it would not be financially feasible.
“That is an understandable, though unfortunate, decision,” Hacker wrote. “No one outside this group is qualified to make this decision.”
Gayla Prewitt said that the fluoride being added to the city’s water is not naturally occurring. Arsenic on lumber had caused her children to become sick and .
“This wouldn’t be the first time we would have been told something was safe, only to find out later that wasn’t the case,” Prewitt said.
Janet Arnold said fluoride is a medicine and it should be up to the individual to decide whether or not to ingest it.
“I go to great lengths to be in control of my own health,” Arnold said. “I don’t like the idea of somebody telling me to take a medicine if I don’t want it.”
Jerry Martin had no opinion one way or the other when he began researching fluoridation, he said.
“I started researching this issue several weeks ago,” Martin said. “I wanted to give it a fair shake. It seems I had to come down on no fluoride. We all have enough toxic chemicals in our life, between the pesticides and the various chemicals we have to use. We could certainly reduce the use of these toxic chemicals.”
Martin also gave the aldermen each a photograph of the warning label on a bag of sodium fluoride.
Dr. Daniel Goodman, DDS, said though children under the age of 2 are extremely sensitive to fluoride in the water, fluoride is beneficial for those ages 2-6, while teeth are forming.
“Fluoride can become part of the structure, which makes it more likely to prevent decay in the future,” Goodman said.
If the aldermen choose to discontinue fluoridation, it will cost the community eventually, Goodman said — dental services funded by taxpayers for low-income families will increase.
Moderation of the chemical is the key element, he said.
“It’s such a low concentration, it’s not harmful,” Goodman said. “The cost if we don’t do it is much more. Eventually, we’re going to pay for decay. Every citizen in Bolivar is going to pay for it one way or another.”
Dr. Don Jump, DDS, asked the aldermen if they trusted the Centers for Disease Control, the Polk County Health Department, local physicans and dentists and the American Dental Association — all of which recommend fluoridation of water, he said.
“I hope you would trust us,” Jump said. “If we have lost that trust, we are truly disappointed.”
Rebecca Still echoed Arnold’s statement that fluoride is a medicine and the individual cannot control the dosage he receives.
“I feel like if a person wants fluoride, it might cost less to provide fluoride rinses to the children,” Still said.
High school environmental science teacher Susan Carter said the community should have a choice about fluoridation.
“There’s lots of pseudoscience out there, but we’re talking about something that’s been a doubt for years,” Carter said. “We’re not talking about the naturally occurring fluoride.”
Dentists in attendance had said one child with considerable dental problems could be overwhelming. Chiropractor Carl Blomenkamp said if fluoridation was useful, he was surprised to find dentists overwhelmed.
“It just seems to me that if Bolivar has had fluoride in the water for 10 years, [dentists] should have more time to go fishing,” he said.
Discontinuing fluoridation could save the city about $40,000 this year and $17,000 in subsequent years, according to City Administrator Ron Mersch.
A Report of Sanitary Survey from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources sent to the city March 1 includes a mandatory recommendation to monitor chlorine residual and fluoride at the point of entry into the distribution system daily for each of the city’s five wells.
The city’s practice has been to check fluoride levels twice a month. Daily monitoring will require the city to pay someone to take samples manually every day, even on weekends and holidays, or to purchase an upgrade to the city’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.
The Board of Aldermen will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13, for its regular monthly meeting.
By Sarah West
sarahw@bolivarmonews.com
Published:
Friday, May 7, 2010 9:55 AM CDT
At the public hearing about putting fluoride into the city of Bolivar’s water system May 4, the Bolivar Board of Aldermen heard voices of the community speak against fluoridation and for fluoridation and also heard suggestions to consider the issue carefully.
About 20 people responded to the Board of Alderman’s request to share their opinions May 4 about possible discontinuation of fluoridation of the city’s public water system due to rising costs.
Herman Englram gave boxes of toothpaste to each of the alderman, encouraging them to read the fluoride poison warning on the boxes.
“We have all kinds of scientific evidence that fluoride is not good for the human body,” Englram said. “You have a grave responsibility here for all of us and yourself. You don’t have to be a scientist to figure that you have a grave responsibility. We have prayed about each and every one of you people. Scripture says that to whom much is given, much is required. I’ve always said vote your conscience.”
Dana Hacker read a letter from her husband, David Hacker, who was a dentist in Bolivar for about 30 years. In the letter, Hacker said he believed those against fluoridation were honorable people, sincere in their concerns, but that they had chosen to disregard or had not been exposed to current scientific data.
Removing fluoride from the water would be a step backward, Hacker’s letter said, and only acceptable if the alderman found it would not be financially feasible.
“That is an understandable, though unfortunate, decision,” Hacker wrote. “No one outside this group is qualified to make this decision.”
Gayla Prewitt said that the fluoride being added to the city’s water is not naturally occurring. Arsenic on lumber had caused her children to become sick and .
“This wouldn’t be the first time we would have been told something was safe, only to find out later that wasn’t the case,” Prewitt said.
Janet Arnold said fluoride is a medicine and it should be up to the individual to decide whether or not to ingest it.
“I go to great lengths to be in control of my own health,” Arnold said. “I don’t like the idea of somebody telling me to take a medicine if I don’t want it.”
Jerry Martin had no opinion one way or the other when he began researching fluoridation, he said.
“I started researching this issue several weeks ago,” Martin said. “I wanted to give it a fair shake. It seems I had to come down on no fluoride. We all have enough toxic chemicals in our life, between the pesticides and the various chemicals we have to use. We could certainly reduce the use of these toxic chemicals.”
Martin also gave the aldermen each a photograph of the warning label on a bag of sodium fluoride.
Dr. Daniel Goodman, DDS, said though children under the age of 2 are extremely sensitive to fluoride in the water, fluoride is beneficial for those ages 2-6, while teeth are forming.
“Fluoride can become part of the structure, which makes it more likely to prevent decay in the future,” Goodman said.
If the aldermen choose to discontinue fluoridation, it will cost the community eventually, Goodman said — dental services funded by taxpayers for low-income families will increase.
Moderation of the chemical is the key element, he said.
“It’s such a low concentration, it’s not harmful,” Goodman said. “The cost if we don’t do it is much more. Eventually, we’re going to pay for decay. Every citizen in Bolivar is going to pay for it one way or another.”
Dr. Don Jump, DDS, asked the aldermen if they trusted the Centers for Disease Control, the Polk County Health Department, local physicans and dentists and the American Dental Association — all of which recommend fluoridation of water, he said.
“I hope you would trust us,” Jump said. “If we have lost that trust, we are truly disappointed.”
Rebecca Still echoed Arnold’s statement that fluoride is a medicine and the individual cannot control the dosage he receives.
“I feel like if a person wants fluoride, it might cost less to provide fluoride rinses to the children,” Still said.
High school environmental science teacher Susan Carter said the community should have a choice about fluoridation.
“There’s lots of pseudoscience out there, but we’re talking about something that’s been a doubt for years,” Carter said. “We’re not talking about the naturally occurring fluoride.”
Dentists in attendance had said one child with considerable dental problems could be overwhelming. Chiropractor Carl Blomenkamp said if fluoridation was useful, he was surprised to find dentists overwhelmed.
“It just seems to me that if Bolivar has had fluoride in the water for 10 years, [dentists] should have more time to go fishing,” he said.
Discontinuing fluoridation could save the city about $40,000 this year and $17,000 in subsequent years, according to City Administrator Ron Mersch.
A Report of Sanitary Survey from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources sent to the city March 1 includes a mandatory recommendation to monitor chlorine residual and fluoride at the point of entry into the distribution system daily for each of the city’s five wells.
The city’s practice has been to check fluoride levels twice a month. Daily monitoring will require the city to pay someone to take samples manually every day, even on weekends and holidays, or to purchase an upgrade to the city’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.
The Board of Aldermen will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13, for its regular monthly meeting.
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