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Web posted August 2, 2006

Fluoride back in water
City halted addition of substance due to mechanical problems

Fluoride will be added back into the city water system today after a six-week hiatus due to mechanical problems, officials said.

"It will happen starting (Wednesday), and as the week progresses we will bring the levels up to where they are supposed to be," said water utility superintendent Grant Ritter.

The normal levels are between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter, he said.

The water system uses analyzers with probes to monitor the amount of fluoride added to the water supply. Ritter said three probes failed at the same time, which caused the water utility to suspend the addition of fluoride to most of the community until new probes could be ordered and installed.

"To err on the side of safety we shut the fluoride off in those areas to not have to figure out if we were overdosing the community or not," he said. "Pretty much everything except downtown Juneau and Douglas were off."

Ritter said the city adds about 100 pounds of fluoride each day to the citywide water system, or about 36,000 pounds a year.

Some critics of fluoride believe the city should not be adding the substance to the water because of potential health risks. Dr. Emily Kane, a naturopathic physician on the Fluoride Study Commission, said there are better ways to address public dental health that don't involve subjecting the entire community to a potentially dangerous chemical.

"We're medicating the whole community without informed consent," she said.

The issue will be brought before the Committee of the Whole at 5 p.m. on Monday in the Assembly Chambers, where the commission will present its findings to the Assembly.

Ron Hansen, a water supply systems engineer and fluoride study commissioner, said the six-member commission is split down the middle on whether or not to continue adding fluoride to the city water system.

"It is a dental health issue and it is a very effective way of providing for community dental health," he said. "The benefits exceed the costs of doing it."

Hansen said it is an important municipal service that benefits those who do not have the means to visit dentists on a regular basis.

Kane disagrees and said fluoride is most effective as a topical application, not by requiring all residents to ingest fluoride- laced water.

"There are moral and medical problems with putting in a neurological and biological substance in the water system," she said.

Areawide Assembly member Bob Doll said fluoride has been a contentious issue in the community for a couple of years now.

"Since there are so many scientific aspects of it we have delayed the decision in order to get those scientific studies," he said. "Now that we have them I suppose it's time to come to a conclusion on the subject."

Doll said the Committee of the Whole meeting will probably not result in any action being taken. He said the issue will likely be brought before the community at a regular Assembly meeting where public comments are allowed.

"I think it will be a very rational discussion of the evidence that we have been given," Doll said. "I think the chances are the discussion will uncover every consideration that the Assembly would have to make on this subject and examine them."

Ritter said the water utility will continue adding fluoride to the city's water supply until directed otherwise.

"We're just taking our direction from the Assembly and right now with the report that came out as it did, who knows what's going to happen now," he said of the split report.

Eric Morrison can be reached at eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.