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Fluoride In Drinking Water? ECUA Board Members Want Public Input
February 16, 2025
The debate on the addition of fluoride to drinking water is coming to the forefront once again, and at least two ECUA board members are looking for public input.
The ECUA board vote in 1998 to add fluoride to drinking water after 58% of Escambia County voters supported the addition in a referendum.
Now, ECUA District 5 board member Kevin Stevens wants to know what ECUA customers think about fluoride in the water as the board discusses the issue once again. He said Saturday that he’s spent a lot of time researching the issue and has heard from the pros and cons from both sides of the issue. He said he wants to know what the residents of the county, particularly District 5, think.
“I do agree that it is time,” Stephens said at the January ECUA board meeting about asking for public input. “It’s been 27 years ago since they had that input…I personally would like to see the public weigh in on this. Then, based on that, we make a determination.”
District 4 board member Dale Perkins, who was on the ECUA board when the fluoridation decision was made in 1998, said he agrees it would be good to have public input again. He suggested that those for, or against, try to get another referendum on an upcoming general election ballot.
“See what the general public think, and if there’s a strong desire to take it out, the look at that,” Perkins said, adding that he believes fluoride is beneficial based upon both personal experience and science.
“If the citizens of the county voted again in a referendum that they really want it out of the water, I’d really take that seriously. That would probably change my position on it,” Perkins added. “I would encourage and certainly not oppose a referendum.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been confirmed as President Donald Trump’s head of the Department of Health and Human Services, sparked debate after referencing a study that found an association between I.Q. levels and fluoridated drinking water.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has advised local governments to stop adding fluoride to water supplies across the state. He even called it “public health malpractice.” He said fluoride “increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children and reduces their IQ.”
ECUA Executive Director Bruce Woody said late last year that the while the EPA regulates the maximum level in drinking water, the agency does not require any minimum level.
“We depend strongly on recommendations that comes from the scientific community, the EPA, CDC and other bodies,” Woody said at a recent ECUA board meeting. ” So we will be very curious and watching very closely as they provide further guidance as this gets studied.”
The American Dental Association and the CDC still recommend fluoride in public drinking water to prevent tooth decay.
“Studies continue to show that widespread community water fluoridation prevents cavities and saves money, both for families and the health care system,” the CDC said. “Drinking fluoridated water keeps teeth strong and reduces cavities by about 25% in children and adults.”
NorthEscambia.com graphic.
Comments
41 Responses to “Fluoride In Drinking Water? ECUA Board Members Want Public Input”
Remove fluoride. Please. I am 79,grew up without it. And still have excellent teeth. I drank plenty of milk and ate real food as a child.
REGARDING:
“Sodium fluoride (aka HYDROFLUOSILICIC ACID) is what is being put in the drinking water.”
Sodium fluoride (NaF) is a colorless or white, odorless, crystalline solid or powder that’s highly soluble in water. Notice that there is one sodium ion per fluorine ion.
Hexafluorosilicic acid is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula H ₂SiF ₆. Notice there is no sodium in the formula. There IS silicon.
David for chemical competence
Good grief. The nonsense spouted from social media scientists. If you don’t want fluoride in your water, vote against it. But keep the nut out of any health decisions for me! What a wack burger! Just vote against it and stop blathering nonsense about it. My dad voted against this in the 70’s. Made his water taste bad. Of course he had no teeth. Go figure.
I sm for removing the fluoride from our water. I am concerned about the reseach showing the dangers and health risks. Remove it.
Thank you.
Get it out, we have the worst tasting water for a reason! Water should be water none of the added chemicals. But the ones who want to keep it also stand in line for the fifty seven eleventh covid booster.
The fact that people buy enormous amounts of water in plastic bottles in order to avoid drinking the water from the tap is reason enough to improve the quality of the drinking water. Removing flouride and other contaminants like trace elements from prescription drugs should be a priority.
FYI for the ppl wondering. We buy “Hello” non-flouride toothpaste available at most grocery stores. There’s also “Tom’s” but we don’t care for that brand. There must be quite a few ppl who buy it because it sure sells fast and whitens great!
Fortunate that I have People’s Water
I’m going on 70, never have known a person or buried a single soul over Flouride or now Red Dye poisoning, never!
No Flouride/acid! Little do people realize, you need to research what you put in your body. There’s plenty of flouride/acid in some bottled water, as well. We don’t need ACID in our drinking water period.
It’s in all toothpastes now. How much do we need?
If fluoride is removed, the cost saved should be passed on to the consumer. That definitely should be included in any future referendum to insure the customer is not paying for something they are no longer receiving…a hidden rate increase!
I grew up on fluoride in the late 60s and all thru my life. My last dentist appointment in December was a 100 % vote for fluoride.,DENTIST SAID i HAD VERY STRONG
TEETH FOR 75. Maybe an outside exam of who is against fluoride should fall in place…
I say remove the fluoride from our water.
There was a referendum on this a number of years ago. Fluoride was voted “for”. There was no real opposition group at that time, and the dentists were all for fluoridation.
If this came to a referendum again, I would like to know how non-ECUA water customers would be excluded from that vote since they are on some other service provider’s water? Non -ECUA water customers should have no say in the issue.
I would urge ECUA’s board to consider the preponderance of evidence with regard to water fluoridation. For instance: A past study by the National Cancer institute revealed that the incidence of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in fluoridated western and northwestern regions of the US had a “ 70% increase” due to water fluoridation (Yiamouyiannis, Hoover, & Cohn). In addition it is now known that water fluoridation in children populations has been observed to exert the following detrimental effects to include the following: damaged brain enzymes and lowered IQs (Zhao and Foulkes). Ultimately, our water should not have added fluoride beyond that which is naturally occurring in elemental form. Please remove fluoride from the ECUA water supply for the sake of the health of our friends and families.
Sources:
Yiamouyiannis J, Burk D, Fluoridation and cancer, age-dependence of cancer mortality related to artificial fluoridation, Fluoride, 10; 3:102-1 23, 1977
Hoover RN, Devesa S, Cantor K, et al, Time trends for bone and joint cancers and osteosarcoma, appendix “F” in the United States Health Service’s Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks, Feb 1991
Cohn PD, Brief report on the association of drinking water fluoridation and the incidence of osteosarcoma among young males, Environmental Health Service New Jersey Department of Health , Nov. 8, 1992
Zhao LB, Lian GH, et al, Effect of a high fluoride water supply on children’s intelligence, Fluoride, 29:190-2. 1996
Foulkes RG, Fluoride brain damage: A secret revealed. Alive, Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition, 191: 67-68, 1998
Fluoride was a potent roach poison before it was put in the drinking supply it also is stored in the thyroid and is a neurotoxin. I have been fluoride free, teeth are fine you dont need that poison in your body to have a healthy mouth. You can remove some of the stored fluoride and heal the thyroid through an iodine protocol.
I am a SENIOR senior citizen. I was in grade school when floride was first introduced into drinking water. Prior to that most young children had some kind of cavity problem and other dental issues. After floride the cavities and dental issues declined.
Of course floride is in most toothpaste now days (if not all) but how many brush their teeth each day? Everybody drinks water!!! Think about it.
Floride though bad in high continuous concentration isn’t as the other contaminate not spoken about. If your only testing at the well head its a controlled environment. All the old plumbing in the ECUA system is holding an arsenal of known chemicals of far worse longterm effects on public health.
Molino itself in their 2021 EWG report was in violation of several but it doesn’t make the news.
103x above allowable arsenic
9x above allowance Radium
3.6x above allowable Trialomethanes
This is just more smoke and mirror effects. Flouride is just a small issue compared to the other toxins out there. But where’s the concern by our leaders who only drink from a bottle or reverse osmosis system. It’s all about the bucks that it would take to properly deal with it. Build build build is far more lucrative. Sad so many will fall for these false flag approach.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216443/. Sodium fluoride (aka HYDROFLUOSILICIC ACID) is what is being put in the drinking water. It is a neurotoxin and a by-product of aluminum manufacturing as a way of disposing of it. CALCIUM FLUORIDE is what strengthens teeth. Also not to be swallowed.
Fluoride has been found to be one of the worst poisons we put in our body. It needs to go.
There is no evidence that fluoride in water has any benefit. Remember Gen Jack D. Ripper in Dr Strangelove, he blamed the Cold War on Fluoride in the water controlling our minds!!
I believe there is no safe reason to add a chemical to our water. If people want flouride they can add it themselves to their own body.
Pleas, remove the fluoride.
Please stop adding it to the water. I buy spring water to drink and cook with, so that leaves me just showering in fluoride
Long overdue get it out of the water.
What’s the point of fluoride in water when most people drink bottled/filtered water that has little or no fluoride? Just an extra expense for little impact.
Don’t bother saying it will be for the “poor” because I doubt they drink unfiltered tap water from what I have seen of bottled water purchases by people on SNAP.
Anyone who brushes with fluorinated toothpaste (as most are), already gets the per day fluoride. BTW, They place a warning on the toothpaste to spit it out and not swallow because of Fluoride toxicity. If that needs a warning maybe putting it in our water should get more review.
Fluoride is Hydrofluorosilisic Acid (HFS) which is a corrosive, fuming liquid used in metal finishing and other industrial processes; Most California municipalities have removed Fluoride from their water treatment due to many medical peer reviewed studies proving several toxic effects to infants and children in addition to lowering IQ. Read your toothpaste warning. Fluoride should NOT be ingested. Please do your own research and request the ECUA board not be pressured into adding Fluoride into our water.
@Rob
Most dental clinics these days have plenty of business now. But it would be interesting to see what the American Dental Association has to say about it. My opinion is your IQ comes more from your genes than your drinking water.
Please remove the fluoride.
Never stopped us from having cavities and we went to the dentist 2x a year.
Also, most folks drink bottled water rather than tap water now.
We need these ADDITIVES removed that are causing functional issues in children like lower IQ, A.D.D., autism.
Just because “It’s always been this way,” doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try a new way to live.
Just try it for 27 years without this OLD science.
Please remove from water. Offer supplement for those that want but i do not authorize fluoride in my drinking water.
I spend more money on bottled water, bc I do not drink tap. The fluoride for one is a reason, but 2 our water system in jay always smells chemically- strong. And our water report is nothing to brag about. Take out fluoride, not made to be ingested.
Why not stop adding fluoride now and then start it back after you get the results of the referendum?
If the public had a full understanding of where the fluoride comes from then the public definitely would not want it.
To say that microscopic doses of fluoride is beneficial to dental health is technically true. But if the Standard American Diet contained a whole lot less sugar and children were vigorously encouraged to brush their teeth with greater frequency, then adding fluoride to the toothpaste and the water would prove unnecessary.
The hydrofluorosilicic acid that ECUA uses is primarily a byproduct of the fertilizer industry. That byproduct is essentially hazardous and toxic waste being diluted and disposed of via water utilities.
That said, I was there when ECUA installed the first fluoride dosing and monitoring equipment. They bought very expensive and extremely sensitive Thermo-Orion fluoride monitors. The technicians and operators at ECUA took great care setting up and testing that equipment. They designed and built safeguard panels that would definitely turn off the dosing pump if the fluoride levels exceeded the prescribed level.
That was many years ago and I’ve long since moved on. I would think that equipment has surely been replaced by now, but I feel certain that, if the technicians and operators were allowed the same input we had in my day, then Escambia County is safe from a fluoride overdose.
Keep in mind, “THE SOLUTION TO POLUTION IS DILUTION”
Many children will be in pain and toothless. I had to endure cavities until pain then my parents took me to the dentist and had a permanent molar removed. Since many are on a program that is being reduced aka Medicaid the children endure more suffering.
Fluoride is not the problem it’s not having dental care in early childhood to prevent dental decay.
Looks like most people have already decided not to drink fluoride as evidence in how many use bottle water. I use fluoride tooth pastr,my choice I’m tired of people using their positions to mandate what medicines I take, be it Covid shots or fluoride.
We have enough fluoride in our toothpaste. Brush your teeth, you’ll have plenty of it. Cut out the waste, fluoride is not free.
Dale “Poison” Perkins claims it’s beneficial based on “science” yet ignored ALL of the data that shows it dangerous for children. It’s not fluoride, it’s hexafluorosilicic acid and it also contains lots of other toxins. These people are incompetent. Other cities are removing this toxic waste while they cancel meetings and try to pass the buck. Politicians like this are why this county is always wasting time and money. These people should be fired.i can’t wait until they try to run for reelection
Fluorosilicic Acid is the name. Why don’t we call it what it is instead of fluoride? Perception would change if you called it the actual name Fluorosilicic Acid.
I would rather not have fluoride in the drinking water. I use a toothpaste that has all the fluoride I need.
Area dentists are salivating at the huge increase in business headed their way if fluoride is taken out of water.