USA - DuBois Council Confronted Over Water Fluoridation

DUBOIS – Representatives from the Coalition for Drug Free Water confronted DuBois City Council again seeking an end for water fluoridation. Gary Guerndt and Terry Cook had approached council three years ago over the same topic.

Water fluoridation is the process of adding fluoride to the water in order to help prevent cavities.  According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fluoridation reduces tooth decay by 25 percent and began in the 1945.  

Currently, three out of every four U.S. water systems fluoridate their water.  DuBois began its fluoridation program after a referendum vote in 1964.

Guerndt and Cook stated that fluoride does not help teeth, and is actually dangerous to one’s health. They cited an article from the July 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, “Fluoride incorporated during tooth development is insufficient to play a significant role in caries protection.”

Both Guerndt and Cook stated that fluoride’s benefits are that of a topical, and fluoridated water does not remain in the mouth long enough to provide a benefit. Its other side effects include that:

• it’s as poisonous as arsenic and more poisonous than lead.
• fluoride consumption can lead to cancer.
• it increases bone fractures, learning abilities, dementia risk and infertility.
• it induces thyroid and glandular disease.

“People want to make a change, and you can’t make a change if you are poisoning yourself daily,” stated Guerndt.

Guerndt and Cook asked for the opportunity to have another vote on whether DuBois City should fluoridate its water system.  Guerndt stated that the youngest person who had a say in the last vote would today be 64.

The city’s initial response was the same as in 2012 – it can’t end fluoridation on their own.  It was started with a referendum and would need one to end it.