Fluoride Update

Fluoride Update

Massachusetts -

ROCKPORT OFFICIALS TO EYE FLUORIDE VOTE

Source: Gloucester Times |     September 11th, 2014 | By Taylor Rapalyea, Staff Writer

ROCKPORT — Selectmen are set to discuss and vote Tuesday on whether a fluoride question will go on the ballot at the next state or local election.

At Monday night’s fall Town Meeting, residents voted on the question “Are you in favor of discontinuing the fluoride supplementation of the Rockport Water Supply?” After a heated debate between an anti-fluoride group and pro-fluoride locals, 116 residents voted for sending the question to a referendum, with 97 residents voting against.

Voting is “definitively on the schedule” for the next board meeting, Town Administrator Linda Sanders said Wednesday, adding that she doubted that selectmen would postpone any such decision. The only way the board would postpone a vote is if it needed more information, and Town Meeting made it clear that there has been a wealth of facts available to the board.

In front of Town Meeting, Selectman Eliza Lucas spoke on behalf of her own research, and not for the board.

“This topic is not black or white to me at all,” Lucas said. “We all have similar goals here. Our health is our top priority, so I have complete respect from this healthy debate.”

In a phone interview Wednesday, Lucas noted that she didn’t want to speculate as to the board’s decision before they had a chance to meet and discuss the issues. She also noted that while she did feel compelled to speak as a citizen, she was not speaking for the board.

Selectman Paul Murphy said he did not vote to put the fluoride question on the ballot at Town Meeting, but he said he expects to represent the wishes of Town Meeting voters and move the question to a referendum ballot.

“It was clear to me that the people in support of removing fluoride had the proper votes,” he said in a phone interview.

Murphy, however, also emphasized that he could not speak for the rest of the board.

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OAK BLUFFS: SEPTEMBER 25 PUBLIC HEARING ON ENDING FLUORIDATION

Source: The Martha |     September 8th, 2014 | Legal Notices

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Oak Bluffs Board of Health will hold a Public Hearing on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 7:00 pm in the first floor meeting room of the Oak Bluffs Library, on the removal of fluoride from the Oak Bluffs drinking water.

Written correspondence can be addressed to the

Board of Health
Attn: Shirley L. Fauteux, Health Agent,
PO Box 1327,
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557
FAX – (508) 693 – 6280 or
email: sfauteux@oakbluffsma.gov

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National News-

San Francisco, California—Approximately 7.4 million more people will now be warned not to reconstitute infant formula with fluoridated tap water or else risk overexposing their children to fluoride and giving them dental fluorosis. Clean Water California has reported that their members successfully convinced the East Bay and San Francisco municipal officials to add the warnings to annual water quality reports. Click here to learn how you can start your own infant warning campaign.    

 

Multnomah County, Oregon—County officials have decided to phase out a long-standing fluoride supplement program at local schools in favor of a “scientifically proven” and “more effective” sealant program. According to the county’s new Dental Director, “ Fluoride tablets are just not an effective way to deliver fluoride to children.” Multnomah County is home to the city of Portland, and the decision will impact about 28,000 children in 108 schools who will no longer be ingesting the neurotoxin on a daily basis.    

 

Oliver Springs, Tennessee–Water Board members in the community of 3,500 voted to stop adding fluoride to the town’s water at their September 4 meeting after more then two years of discussion and debate. The town’s fluoride stockpile is expected to run out this week. A water department employee initially raised concerns over the safety of the additive, and a majority of citizens polled on the issue opposed the practice. See short video report on the vote.