Seemingly a done deal, Albany's decades-long interest in fluoridating its water could get a second look.
Fluoridating the city's drinking water has been discussed many times over the years. Former Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen addressed the Common Council in February, branding Albany "an unfortunate outlier."
"The only major New York state city which does not have community water fluoridation," said Whalen.
Twelve Common Councilors later voted unanimously to fluoridate city water. In March, Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan signed Local Law K, the fluoridated water bill, into law.
But a local group of activists, bolstered by a federal judge's decision, would like to see the measure overturned. Rick North with Safe Water Albany criticized the council's decision to fluoridate water, alleging they did so based on incomplete information. He says it makes no sense to put what he claims is a neurotoxin in Albany's water, noting that many municipalities are currently stopping or reconsidering fluoridation.
"The National Toxicology Program in August came out and said that fluoride at levels 1.5 milligrams per liter, is consistently associated with loss of IQ," North said. "And this is not much more than what they fluoridate at, and a lot of people drinking fluoridated water will get the same dose, drinking fluoridated water as 0.7. When the Albany council voted back in February, the National Toxicology Report hadn't been issued yet."
North argues the decision to fluoridate flies in the face of the national effort to remove lead from drinking water, because fluoride is often contaminated with lead or arsenic, depending on the batch. He adds that The Cochrane Collaboration, an international, not-for-profit that reviews of the effects of health-care interventions, gives fluoridation low marks.
"They said the best estimate is a quarter of a tooth. A quarter of a tooth cavity by fluoridating the water. And there's not even proof of that. It could be no effect at all. So the effectiveness is virtually, you know, zero," North said.
In September, a U.S. District Judge in San Francisco sided with advocacy groups, saying adding fluoride to drinking water supplies presents unreasonable risks for children’s brains. Albany Water Commissioner Joe Coffey says it came after reviewing a study of places that had high natural fluoride concentrations in the water, none of them in the U.S. The EPA is reviewing the decision.
"It's a question of we'll just see where EPA sorts all this out in the future, we've actually proceeded with our project," said Coffey. "We've actually pretty much got it designed. We'll be submitting it to the health department for review. Along with that, we'll be submitting a grant application. It's a planning grant. The health department's had a long standing program of issuing grants for planning studies, planning and engineering reports, and also for construction. So we will, in our due diligence, apply for both of those grants as we move forward."
Councilor Tom Hoey of the 15th Ward, who chairs the public safety committee, says 200 million Americans have fluoride in their municipal water. "Unless we find, you know the determination is that it is dangerous, then we'll relook at it. But right now, even the judge himself said this should not interfere with anybody's fluoridation right now," Hoey said.
This week the New York State Dental Association announced it supports the American Dental Association's position that adding fluoride to community water supplies is a critically important measure in preventing tooth decay.
NYSDA president Dr. Prabha Krishnan says 75 years of research makes the case for fluoride in community water to prevent tooth decay in children and adults. She encourages the council to stand by its decision.
"They should continue the fluoridation, it should not be made in haste and just based on the ruling of one judge," said Krishnan.
Coffey is confident the fluoridation initiative will go out to bid before winter, followed by construction with the ultimate goal of having the system operational and fluoride in city water in 2025.
