The fact is that fluoride is a naturally occurring element essential during childhood for forming strong tooth enamel. Nine out of ten local dentists and pediatric physicians strongly support water fluoridation. The benefits of fluoride hardening tooth enamel was discovered 80 years ago by an American dentist from Colorado Springs realizing that patients from areas where wells contained fluoride had fewer cavities compared to those not containing it.
Fluoride is present in water in many places in the world, like in the Animas River. Private wells often have fluoride, like most in La Plata County. When I lived near Bayfield, our wells contain between 1ppm and 4ppm, which were blended to 1.4 ppm (double that of Durango’s).
Fluoride has been studied extensively for over 80 years and there is no study that has shown that at a concentration of .7ppm in drinking water causes any health problems – none. If fluoride would be the cause of all the illnesses described by the Clean Water Coalition, areas with high fluoride concentrations, like La Plata County, should have had a true health emergency for the past 100 years.
Because extensive health studies have been carried out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical School, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dental Association and others, it is a scientifically proven fact that Durango’s fluoridated water is safe and beneficial and saves our community $50 per person per year in dental cavities.
Because kids from low-income families get the least care, they need strong enamel to minimize tooth decay. Although everyone benefits from strong enamel, for me this is ultimately a social justice issue of taking care of kids teeth. Vote against 1A.
Werner Heiber
Durango
