USA - Austin will continue fluoridating city water
Amid yelps of “you’re murderers” and “you’re hurting the kids,” two Austin City Council committees decided they didn’t buy claims that fluoridating drinking water does little to prevent tooth decay and poses health risks.
The council’s Public Utilities Committee and Health and Human Services Committee took no action Wednesday on a resolution calling for the end of water fluoridation by December, which means the proposal dies before making it to the full City Council.
Council Member Don Zimmerman, who offered the resolution, made a motion to have the issue advance to the full council with no recommendation, but he couldn’t get a second. Zimmerman said during the meeting he was “looking for cost savings in our budget.”
Hearing on fluoridation of Austin water, 08.19.15 photo
Jay Janner
Laura Pressley, right, who is against fluoridation, gives information to Brandi Clark Burton, a senior policy advisor for Mayor Steve Adler, at a Public Utilities Committee hearing at City Hall on Wednesday August 19, 2015, about the fluoridation of Austin drinking water.
“The question of effectiveness and proof that we’re getting our money’s worth is very, very important to my decision,” Zimmerman said. He was looking for science to hang his hat on, Zimmerman said, but it’s tough to separate the effects of fluoride on tooth decay from other factors, such as lifestyle and toothpaste use.
But a panel of public health officials and dentists told Zimmerman and the other committee members that there’s a vast body of scientific research that says fluoridating drinking water is one of the best ways to combat tooth decay — the most common chronic disease among children and adolescents — and that it provides benefits on top of those that come with using fluoridated toothpaste.
Fluoridated drinking water can lead to mild fluorosis, which is spotting or lacy marks on teeth, but not severe forms of the condition, which in rare cases appears as rough surfaces on the teeth.
Austin will continue fluoridating city water photo
Jay Janner
Nancy Reed of Fluoride Free Austin holds a sign Wednesday while listening at a committee hearing at City Hall about the fluoridation of Austin’s drinking water.
Acknowledging that fluoride is effective in preventing tooth decay, Council Member Delia Garza posed this question to a local anti-fluoride dentist: “What’s the alternative if it’s not in the water?”
The dentist, Dr. Griffin Cole, said his two children don’t consume fluoridated water on his watch — his house has a “state of the art” filtration system — but they clean their teeth and they have a sound diet. They have no cavities, he said.
That made Council Member Ora Houston bristle. “When you try to compare how your life might be and how other children’s lives might be, I don’t think that’s a very fair comparison,” she said. “I don’t think we have a standard of living at this point in our city where we can make those assumptions for people.”
Houston had asked earlier in the meeting why fluoride detractors didn’t attempt to get an item about water fluoridation on the ballot. If a valid petition with 20,000 signatures was presented to the City Council, the council could either decide to end water fluoridation or call a referendum on the issue.
The council’s Public Utilities Committee and Health and Human Services Committee took no action Wednesday on a resolution calling for the end of water fluoridation by December, which means the proposal dies before making it to the full City Council.Council Member Don Zimmerman, who offered the resolution, made a motion to have the issue advance to the full council with no recommendation, but he couldn’t get a second. Zimmerman said during the meeting he was “looking for cost savings in our budget.”
Hearing on fluoridation of Austin water, 08.19.15 photo
Jay Janner
Laura Pressley, right, who is against fluoridation, gives information to Brandi Clark Burton, a senior policy advisor for Mayor Steve Adler, at a Public Utilities Committee hearing at City Hall on Wednesday August 19, 2015, about the fluoridation of Austin drinking water.
“The question of effectiveness and proof that we’re getting our money’s worth is very, very important to my decision,” Zimmerman said. He was looking for science to hang his hat on, Zimmerman said, but it’s tough to separate the effects of fluoride on tooth decay from other factors, such as lifestyle and toothpaste use.
But a panel of public health officials and dentists told Zimmerman and the other committee members that there’s a vast body of scientific research that says fluoridating drinking water is one of the best ways to combat tooth decay — the most common chronic disease among children and adolescents — and that it provides benefits on top of those that come with using fluoridated toothpaste.
Fluoridated drinking water can lead to mild fluorosis, which is spotting or lacy marks on teeth, but not severe forms of the condition, which in rare cases appears as rough surfaces on the teeth.
Austin will continue fluoridating city water photo
Jay Janner
Nancy Reed of Fluoride Free Austin holds a sign Wednesday while listening at a committee hearing at City Hall about the fluoridation of Austin’s drinking water.
Acknowledging that fluoride is effective in preventing tooth decay, Council Member Delia Garza posed this question to a local anti-fluoride dentist: “What’s the alternative if it’s not in the water?”
The dentist, Dr. Griffin Cole, said his two children don’t consume fluoridated water on his watch — his house has a “state of the art” filtration system — but they clean their teeth and they have a sound diet. They have no cavities, he said.
That made Council Member Ora Houston bristle. “When you try to compare how your life might be and how other children’s lives might be, I don’t think that’s a very fair comparison,” she said. “I don’t think we have a standard of living at this point in our city where we can make those assumptions for people.”
Houston had asked earlier in the meeting why fluoride detractors didn’t attempt to get an item about water fluoridation on the ballot. If a valid petition with 20,000 signatures was presented to the City Council, the council could either decide to end water fluoridation or call a referendum on the issue.
posted by Bill at
9:46 AM
1 Comments:
I watched the proceedings. The list of "systematic reviews" that proponents claimed proves fluoridation is safe and effective actually don't do that at all. It's clear that proponents are speaking from job-required talking points and never actually read anything on that list.
Particularly egregious was the science-deficient portrayal of a child with severe decay that was claimed to be caused by lack of fluoride which was described as a vitamin or a nutrient. I have no other way to define that but as a total lies.
Tooth decay crises are occurring in all fluoridated cities and states. See http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com
In Kentucky where fluoridation is state mandated, today's newspaper reports that 65 percent of kindergarten through second grade (K-2) students were in need of urgent dental care or showed early signs of tooth decay in one school
"You get tired of going to a restaurant to eat and seeing a young girl or boy working that just graduated a year or two ago and they won't even look up at you because they hardly have teeth"
By
FluorideNews, at 20 August, 2015
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