Some Newton County officials are protesting a state law that requires regional water systems to add fluoride to their water supply.
The Quorum Court this month unanimously adopted a resolution opposing Act 197 of 2011, which requires water systems to fluoridate water. The county supports repeal of the act, the resolution states.
"Instead of them forcing it on all the water systems, [the Quorum Court] wanted each water system to make up their own mind about whether they wanted the fluoride or not," Newton County's County Judge Warren Campbell said. "I'm hoping they don't put it in our water system."
Act 197 mandates that water systems supplying populations of 5,000 or more participate in a statewide fluoridation program. The program requires the water systems to maintain a fluoride concentration of between 0.6 milligrams per liter and 1.2 milligrams per liter.
The Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority supplies water to 18 water utilities in Boone, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties that, combined, serve about 22,000 people.
State regulations do not require fluoridation until water systems have enough money from grants to pay for the startup costs and fluoridation equipment, said Jeff Stone, director of the engineering section of the Arkansas Department of Health. All water systems subject to the requirements of Act 197 are obtaining grant money from Delta Dental, except for the Ozark Mountain authority.
The Health Department has given Ozark Mountain more time to comply while the water authority resolves a contract dispute with the city of Marshall, Stone said. Of the 35 water systems that were subject to the new law, 13 are fluoridating their water. The department has approved construction plans for another 14 systems, three systems have construction plans under review and five have yet to submit plans.
If some water systems do not make progress toward compliance, the department has the authority to conduct hearings to enforce the law, Stone said.
Critic sees risks
The Newton County Quorum Court has discussed water fluoridation for the past couple of months after Jasper resident Ed Manor raised the issue.
"There's just too much that has come out about it that is just bad," Manor said.
Manor acknowledges that many people support adding fluoride to water because they think it's good for their teeth, but he thinks fluoridation should be voluntary.
Manor began researching water fluoridation after Act 197 passed. He serves on two water boards, Mockingbird Hill Water Association and Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority. After two years of reading studies on fluoride from universities and national organizations, Manor concluded that fluoride is harmful to the body, including the kidneys, heart and liver. He's concerned about harmful effects on pregnant women and children.
The process for adding fluoride to water also concerns Manor, he said. A fluoride system must be housed in a structure that is separate from the main water system because fluoride is corrosive, he said. Operators must wear hazardous-materials suits.
Manor doesn't know if the resolution will influence legislators.
"If you see something you disagree with, you speak up and do what you can," Manor said.
Support for fluoridation
Sen. David Johnson, D-Little Rock, sponsored the fluoridation law because was concerned about the dental health of children after a 2010 report released by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Center on the States gave Arkansas a grade of "F" for children's dental health.
The law was challenged in 2013, and Johnson said Tuesday that he anticipates another attempt when the Legislature convenes in January. Johnson said he thinks it's unlikely that the law will be overturned because of support for fluoridation among public health officials and the Arkansas State Dental Association.
"While I support the authority of local officials to make decisions on unique local issues, I believe the Arkansas Legislature is the appropriate body to decide issues of common interest to all the people of our state," Johnson said.
Many large water systems across the state have fluoridated water for decades, including Central Arkansas Water, which has added fluoride to water for about 60 years, Stone said.
Before passage of Act 197, about 65 percent of Arkansans on public water systems, or 1.7 million people, received fluoridated water, Stone said. Since the law passed, the percentage of the state's population receiving fluoridated water from public systems has risen to 71 percent, or 2 million people.
Nationwide, about 210 million people, or 75 percent of people who receive water from public water systems, receive "optimally" fluoridated water, said Dr. Barbara Gooch, associate director for science in the Division of Oral Health, part of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 1962 has recommended an optimal fluoridation range of 0.7 milligrams per liter to 1.2 milligrams per liter, but has proposed a level of 0.7 milligrams per liter because of increased access to sources of fluoride, she said.
Recommendations for community water fluoridation are based on extensive independent reviews over decades by nongovernmental scientific and health experts who consistently have found that drinking optimally fluoridated water results in a 25 percent reduction in tooth decay even when other sources of fluoride are available, including in toothpaste, Gooch said.
Fluoride risks are mostly limited to mild forms of dental fluorosis, a condition affecting the enamel of permanent teeth in children that is caused by the consumption of too much fluoride, Gooch said.
If people drink optimally fluoridated water and follow recommendations of dental health practitioners, they will not consume too much fluoride, Gooch said.
Will comply
The Newton County resolution states that the county opposes any efforts by the Ozark Mountain authority to pursue constructing fluoride facilities for any public water system serving communities that have "opposed such poisoning of their water supply."
Manor was not speaking for Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority, authority Chairman Andy Anderson said. Anderson personally opposes water fluoridation but said the authority will comply with the law if required by state health officials.
Anderson said he often tells Newton County residents opposed to fluoridation to contact their legislators.
The water authority has not yet taken steps to fluoridate the water it delivers from Bull Shoals Lake to its members, Anderson said.
NW News on 12/22/2014