Fluoride debated anew in Senate

Bill stalls as doctor, nurse in Legislature cite health concerns

By Nick Budnick

The Portland Tribune, Jan 19, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (48 Reader comments)

In Salem, there’s a new landscape for an old fight, over whether Portland and other cities around Oregon should be forced to add fluoride to drinking water.

Although the 2007 Legislature is less than three weeks old, a bill requiring fluoridation of municipal water supplies supported by the Oregon Dental Association already appears to have foundered in a state Senate committee, where the only medical doctor and the only nurse in the Legislature’s upper house are openly citing concerns about the measure’s safety.

“I’ve asked for four years now, ‘Show me good, credible studies that say fluoride is safe to add to drinking water, and I’ll vote for it,’ ” said Dr. Alan Bates, the Democratic senator from Ashland. “And there aren’t any.”

He was echoed by Laurie Monnes Anderson, a Democrat and registered nurse who represents Gresham in the Senate.

“I have concerns about the scientific studies … that say there are real health threats from water fluoridation,” she said.

Fluoridation supporters, including retired Newberg dentist April Love, say Bates and Monnes Anderson are misguided, and that health fears about adding fluoride to drinking water are misplaced.

Still, the statements by the Senate’s only members of the medical profession illustrate the biggest problem that fluoridation supporters face: that the antifluoridation movement is not just for right-wing kooks anymore.

It’s a question that has special significance for Portland, the largest city in the United States to not add fluoride to its water supply, and a high-priority target for both sides of the fight.

The bill that foundered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee last week would have required cities and water suppliers serving a population of 10,000 or more to add fluoride to drinking water supplies.

Supporters of water fluoridation and most critics do agree on one thing; brushing your teeth with fluoridated toothpaste has been proven to be safe and beneficial. Where they differ is on whether the substance should be put in water.

Supporters say water fluoridation is the best way to protect poor kids who are not raised with good dental care habits. “I can see the difference,” said Love, who conducts oral health screenings of Head Start kids, adding that as a result of what dentists see, “you end up with a strong belief in your soul” on the topic.

Already, five past efforts to make fluoridation mandatory statewide have failed, but never resoundingly. Today, however, the balance of power may be changing.

Although the American Dental Association and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control continue to say fluoridation is safe, opponents cite a variety of new studies of fluoride that have been published in the past year after being reviewed by scientific peers, including:

• A study published in Harvard University’s cancer research journal that found a strong link to a rare, often fatal form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma, which strikes about 250 boys each year.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit