Quieting fears about fluoridation of the island’s public water system, the Kaua’i County Water Board told more than 50 anti-fluoride supporters Wednesday that it is not planning action on any such proposal. At a meeting at the Water Department building
Quieting fears about fluoridation of the island’s public water system, the Kaua’i County Water Board told more than 50 anti-fluoride supporters Wednesday that it is not planning action on any such proposal.
At a meeting at the Water Department building in Lihu’e, board chairman Thomas Tokioka said the briefing by fluoride experts was informational and was aimed at allowing the public to voice concern about the issue.
The board held a similar meeting last November at which dentists testified, although the majority of people attending both meetings called for a ban on fluoridation, according to Ed Tschupp, deputy manager of the Water Department.
Yesterday’s meeting came after a bill requiring counties to fluoridate public water supplies was introduced but failed in the Legislature earlier this year.
The Water Department is not considering fluoridating its water system, and the issue will remained muddled until the Legislature takes a stand, Tschupp said.
None of the public water systems in Hawai’i are fluoridated. But water systems at military installments, including the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range on Kaua’i and possibly some private water systems, are fluoridated, Tschupp said.
Opponents of fluoridation say the treatment would poison Kauai’s drinking water, resulting in long-term health problems that include bone disease, neurological problems and infant mortality.
One method of treatment calls for the use of sodium fluoride, which critics contend is used to make rat poison and pesticides. Opponents say the chemical is diluted for water fluoridation purposes.
But supporters of fluoride maintain the treatment is safe, is used throughout the United States and prevents tooth decay.
Adrian Chang, a retired nuclear engineer from Honolulu who opposes fluoridation, said the chemical used for the treatment poses a mortal danger to people.
The chemicals have been attributed to deaths reported by the national Center for Disease Control, Chang said. In Kekaha, nine of 16 people exposed to the chemical had to be hospitalized, he claimed.
The chemical is a byproduct of fertilizer and should be disposed of as a hazardous waste, said Greg Norby, a member of the Kaua’i branch of the Citizens for Safer Drinking Water.
Norby said children and adults living in areas with water fluoridation are “getting overdosed.”
“Overconsumption of fluoride is rampant in our country,” he said. A person has been saturated with the chemicals once their teeth begin to deteriorate, he said.
The goal of counties of delivering one milligram of fluoride to a child per day already has been reached and exceeded, even in non-fluoridated communities, said Ann West, a counselor of spiritual psychology from Kilauea.
Others said Wednesday that fluoridation should not be forced on Kauaians and that it should be an option, whether it be in the form of fluoride toothpaste, bottled fluoride water or fluoride tablets.
One of the few supporters of fluoridation at yesterday’s meeting was David B. Lehn of the Kaua’i Dental Health Task Force, an organization whose aim is to improve oral health on the island. He said volumes of studies cite the problems allegedly caused by fluoridation. Yet, the American Dental Association, American Medical Association, U.S. Public Health Service, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Practice and the American Cancer Society support community fluoridation, he said.
Fluoridated water is used at world-renowned medical institutions, such as the Stanford Medical Center, the UCLA Medical Center and Johns-Hopkins University Medical Center, Lehn said.
“These entities would not allow a toxic substance” to be used if they thought fluoridation was harmful, he said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
