Spokane Opponents Not Biting Debate On Fluoride Remains Heated Here

More than 50 years of fluoride research isn’t good enough for Don Caron.

“This is based on politics and not science,” the Spokane resident said during a debate Thursday night on Proposition 1. The initiative, if approved by voters this November, would allow Spokane to fluoridate its water system.

Fluoride is already added to the water of most large cities including Seattle. It’s also in the water in Cheney, Pullman and Fairchild Air Force Base.

But it’s still a controversial topic in Spokane. Caron and other citizens have been opposed to the idea long before the Spokane City Council placed it on the November ballot.

Fluoride is “safe, efficient and socially equitable,” said Mary Krempasky Smith, a local dentist and president of the Washington State Dental Association. It’s an effective way to prevent cavities, she told the audience during the debate.

The brief, 15-minute forum on fluoridation was the first public debate on the subject, and one of a series of debates Thursday night sponsored by the Spokane Area League of Women Voters. The event attracted about 50 people and included debates on state and local issues, as well as one between the mayoral candidates.

Smith and Caron, who represented each side of the issue, were given a minute each for opening statements, asked to answer a few questions and then another minute each to close.

The issue of fluoride also received some international attention this week after a study published by the British Medical Journal. The review, considered to be the most comprehensive examination of fluoride in the past 50 years, stated that adding fluoride to drinking water is safe and does not cause cancer or other harmful diseases.

But such studies don’t mean much to Caron, who insisted that scientists haven’t looked into the possible side effects of fluoridated water.

Proposition 1 is “somewhat flawed,” he said. It’s like “a blank check voters are handing to the City Council.”

It will cost $1 million to install fluoridation equipment, he said. Instead of using it to put fluoride in the water, the money can be used for road repair and other needs of the city, he said.

Pam Behring, the debate moderator and a League member, asked if fluoride could cause fluorosis, a disorder characterized by mottled or stained teeth.

Smith said that was “absolutely false.” Caron, on the other hand, cited a study in which two out of three children who lived in cities with fluoridated water developed fluorosis.

Behring asked the two for statistics on fluoride, and also about their sources - specifics about their studies, when and where they were done, and also if they were peer-reviewed.

Smith guaranteed that her position on the safety and effectiveness of fluoride is backed by more than 50 years of studies done by scientists at various labs and universities, all of them peer-reviewed. People who drink fluoridated water have a significantly lower rate of tooth decay, she said. The evidence was so convincing that the scientific community could not “hold these benefits back from the general public,” she said.

Caron, however, criticized the studies as being incomplete because they did not study the effects of fluoride on human health in general. Fluoride “can be extremely toxic to the human system,” he said. He also said he knows of people in Spokane who are allergic to fluoride.

Smith countered that research has shown no evidence of side effects and that fluoride is safe.