Delray Beach Votes on Fluoride in Water, Gets Visit From Surgeon General

The Delray Beach water tank and treatment center. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Delray Beach commissioners this week split on whether to continue adding fluoride to its water supply after about an hour of debate that included an address from Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

The commission ultimately decided to maintain its practice of fluoridating the water following a 3-2 vote, but not before some officials shared concerns that – regardless of the health benefits or detriments – residents are denied a choice when the city injects the fluoride at the plant level. The debate over fluoridated water comes after a number of studies found potential links between fluoride in water supplies and heightened instances of ADHD and neurological challenges in children whose mothers drank fluoridated water while pregnant.

While Florida has advised caution and a pause on fluoridation, it is still favored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association and a number of non-governmental organizations. Studies have also shown that children who grow up in communities that fluoridate water have fewer dental complications and surgeries later in life. For years, adding fluoride to water was a practice accepted with little to no controversy, but international studies and judicial action in the United States have called the practice into question.

“It can make a lot of people uncomfortable because we get used to certain things, and a change in direction can be uncomfortable when things challenge our beliefs,” said Ladapo. “A judge ruled that the EPA needed to do more to regulate fluoride in water. It was a clearly-written ruling, and the ruling was informed by a mountain of evidence.”

Ladapo said it would be “public health malpractice” to continue to recommend fluoride be added to public water supplies.

“The studies are very consistent – what they find is that when there is more fluoride in the urine or the blood of pregnant women, the children tend to have lower IQs, lower intelligence, and occasionally behavioral changes,” he told commissioners. “To me, it seems pretty straightforward based on the available evidence at this time, what the best decision for health is.”

Ladapo’s view was opposed by several dentists who came to the meeting to lobby for the continuation of fluoridation.

“One of the most concerning issues I see on a daily basis is a domino effect in dentistry – it starts with a single cavity,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ganeles, a dentist in Boca Raton. “I can usually tell within minutes if a patient grew up in a community with fluoridated water. People with a mouth full of fillings, crowns and missing teeth almost certainly did not.”

Ganeles said Delray Beach’s level of fluoride in the water – 0.5 parts per million (ppm) – is well below even the federal government’s recommended safe level of 0.7 ppm. He said a study from Calgary, Canada, saw an increase of cavities by 25 percent after fluoride was removed from its water supply.

The Delray Beach water tank and treatment center. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Jean-Marie Nacer, a nurse from Boca Raton, opposed adding fluoridation in the water due to the concerns Ladapo raised. But she said the deeper issue was one of choice.

“This is a choice of the city, but it’s not a choice of the residents,” she said. “Whether residents like it or not, they cannot turn that fluoride off in their water. It’s really about giving the patient a choice. I think it is a hallmark of our country to choose which care we want to seek and to choose what we want in our bodies. When you leave the fluoride in the water, people don’t have a choice to take it out.”

That view was shared by Commissioner Angela Burns.

“We should give the people the right to choose for themselves and their families,” Burns said. “There are many ways we can get fluoride to students in the schools and in their homes, and I do not believe it should be forced upon them in their water.”

Palm Beach County provides free fluoride tablets, allaying concerns about children from low-income families who might not see the dentist as often as their wealthier counterparts.

“There’s also an argument to say that, if we took fluoride out of the water, the people who are the most underserved in the community would be the ones who suffer the most,” said Deputy Mayor Rob Long.

Burns said she surveyed about 90 residents and only one favored continuing fluoridation.

Mayor Tom Carney said he was torn on the issue. On one hand, he grew up in a community that fluoridated his water and he has only experienced two cavities in his lifetime. He called himself a “fluoride baby,” but ultimately voted against fluoridation due to concerns over giving residents a choice.

“I’m finding that it is 50-50, up and down both ways,” he said. “But I don’t feel right imposing a chemical on people who don’t want to have a chemical in their system.”

Carney and Burns both voted against keeping fluoride in the system. Long, Vice-Mayor Juli Casale and Commissioner Tom Markert supported fluoridation.

The issue is becoming a more common debate in communities in Florida and nationwide. Just this week, Lee County in southwest Florida voted to remove fluoride from its water supply. Locally, neither of Delray Beach’s neighbors – Boca Raton and Boynton Beach – fluoridate. Palm Beach County, however, does add fluoride to much of its own system, as does West Palm Beach and Wellington.