Sides Sink Teeth Into Fluoridation Bill Hearing Animated Over Legislation That Would Put Fluoride In State Drinking Water

Advocates and opponents hissed back and forth, groaned in disapproval and threw hands up in disgust for each other’s arguments Monday during a Senate committee hearing on a bill to mandate fluoride in state drinking water.

After repeated gavel rapping in an effort to quiet the crowd, Sen. Pat Thibaudeau, D-Seattle, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Long-Term Care, proceeded to moderate a tense discussion about Senate Bill 6665, which she sponsored.

Thibaudeau’s bill would require fluoride be added to water in all Washington communities with 1,000 or more water hook-ups. Currently, state law allows each town or city to decide whether it will fluoridate its drinking water.

She said she was confident her bill would make it out of the committee and into consideration by the entire Senate before a Friday deadline.

She is working on an amendment to her bill that would allow cities to hold a vote to reject mandatory fluoridation if people don’t want it.

The bill came about in response to the need several communities expressed for fluoridating water, Thibaudeau said. Yakima and Pasco recently voted to start fluoridating their water supplies. Seattle and Vancouver already do so.

“When communities like Pasco and Yakima vote for this, it seems to me that even the more conservative communities are concerned about oral health,” Thibaudeau said.

Eleven other states have mandatory fluoridation laws.

Spokane voters turned down fluoridation in 1984.

Rep. Lynn Schindler, R-Spokane Valley, takes that vote as an indication that Thibaudeau’s bill is a bad idea.

“If Spokane puts it out to the vote of the people and a majority of the people vote against it … it’s taking away some of their rights,” Schindler said.

Schindler and Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, have proposed identical bills that would stop new fluoridation efforts in the state altogether until more research can be conducted about the effects of fluoride on citizens and the environment.

Due to time constraints, neither bill will be heard by a committee, but Schindler and Swecker may have a chance to bring their arguments before the Legislature if Thibaudeau’s bill makes it to the floor.

Schindler said she is uncomfortable with the whole idea of fluoridated water.

“You can get scientists on both sides of the issue,” Schindler said. “To me it’s not a health issue; it’s more an issue of personal choice.”

But for a majority of 10 witnesses who spoke against Thibaudeau’s bill Monday, mandatory fluoridation does present health risks.

Tom Gillick of Olympia said he has a chemical-related health problem that he feared would be escalated by fluoridated drinking water. He admitted he has no specific medical evidence that fluoride would harm him, but urged legislators to leave fluoride a personal choice.

“Don’t impose this upon me,” he said.

Dr. Richard Foulks, from Abbotsford, British Columbia, has studied fluoride for about a decade, and said it has not been researched enough to determine the possible health effects it may have on humans.

He said many types of fluoride exist, none of which should be used in drinking water.

“These are toxic waste … and they have never been tested for adverse effects,” Foulks said.

Sen. Rosa Franklin, D-Tacoma, asked Foulks why no surges of deaths have occurred since the introduction of fluoride in many areas throughout the country, including Seattle.

Foulks admitted few deaths, if any, have come directly from fluoridated water, but he pointed to court cases that he said indicated fluoride contributed to cancer.

Schindler worries about health risks to humans as well.

Though the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology reported no known cases of allergic reactions to fluoridated water in a 1996 study, Schindler said she knows someone who gets mouth sores from fluoride in toothpaste.

Tom Reeves, a national fluoridation engineer at the Centers for Disease Control, said that in 55 years of fluoridation very few accidents have occurred from overfeeding a water supply with fluoride. One person did die from too much fluoride, but Reeves explained that it was a result of a series of other health problems that were escalated by drinking too much fluoridated water.

“CDC believes water fluoridation is very safe,” he said.

Mary Krempasky Smith, a Spokane dentist and president of the Washington Dental Association, called the arguments against Thibaudeau’s bill “misinformed.”

“I have a hard time with the people against fluoridation,” Smith said. “They’re using junk science.”

Smith, along with scientists and health advocates, testified Monday in favor of the bill her organization worked on with Thibaudeau.

According to fluoridation advocates, teeth are rotting at an alarming rate in Washington State.

Last year, the state spent every dollar allocated to dental care for children assisted by the Department of Social and Health Services. Despite these efforts, less than 35 percent of those children actually saw dentists.

The process of fluoridation involves dumping small amounts of liquid or powdered fluoride into the water before it is distributed to homes. Over time, proponents say, fluoride strengthens tooth enamel, making teeth more resistant to cavity-causing bacteria.

Schindler worries that fluoridated water will run off into streams and agricultural land, potentially harming wildlife, especially salmon.

Reeves said research indicates most water naturally has some fluoride in it. Whether it is higher or lower than the amount added to drinking water depends on the area.

“That’s a very false issue,” Reeves said about Schindler’s concern. “It’s not going to hurt the salmon.”

Thibaudeau does not know how much her bill would cost, but she hopes to get an estimate from the state Health Department soon.

Fluoridation system start-up costs can be fairly inexpensive for cities with surface water supplies, but they can cost as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per well for cities that have well-water systems, according to Reeves.

“Spokane will be expensive,” he said.

Spokane gets its water from 80 separate wells. And with the added costs of tanks, scales and installation, it could be a hefty sum that Schindler said is just too much.

“We don’t have the money to be paying for that,” Schindler said.

Once a system is in place, Reeves said, upkeep costs could be relatively low.

Smith said fluoridated water would actually save the state money in the long run.

She predicted that after about five years, fewer children would have tooth decay. In Spokane, where about 37,000 children are eligible for assistance through the Department of Social and Health Services, the state could save up to $4 million in dental bills, she said.