USA - Carl Junction Considers Halting Flouridation to Water Supply

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. -- 10 years ago, local voters supported a question to add fluoride to the public water system. Now, Carl Junction is considering reversing course.

"I think that's great. I don't think we need it still." Carl Junction voter, Eden Ward, hopes the city council will make the call to drop fluoride.

"To me, you're just flushing, you know, part of that. I mean, water your lawn with the fluoride. I don't know, I just didn't think it was necessary," said Ward.

City council members may agree. They've been discussing the additive for a couple of months, whether it may do more harm than good.

"We've had a lot of discussion recently about the naturally occurring fluoride in our water, how much we add to it. And in doing some research, we found that there's no real agreed upon standard that everybody agrees on," said Steve Lawver, Carl Junction City Administrator.

City leaders point to a CDC estimate that 40% of teenagers have fluoride toxicity of the bones.

"The biggest health issue is with kids, babies are not supposed to have any added fluoride," said Lawver.

And there's also a financial impact. Voters approved adding the mineral in 2005. Since then, the city has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars to lease fluoridation equipment, plus the price of buying the mineral itself.

"It will save us a little bit of money because we don't have to buy it anymore, it's just an expense we don't have to have," said Lawver.

Even if Carl Junction decides to drop the mineral additive, there is still some naturally occurring fluoride in the water. The city council will take a look at the switch at Tuesday night's meeting.