Hartland Township Mulling Whether to Stop Adding Fluoride to Drinking Water

The Hartland Township Board of Trustees set a Nov. 15 public hearing Tuesday to elicit feedback on whether it should stop adding fluoride to its drinking water amid health concerns.

Trustee Glenn Harper has been championing the move, saying there's growing amount of evidence to show that adding fluoride does more harm than good.

"The information is growing about the bad affects of this," said Harper, citing medical research in recent years about fluoride's toxicity and how its cumulative effects could cause brittle bones later in life.

Other board members are willing to consider the issue but want to continue to collect more research and allow the public to weigh in before taking any action.

"You're the only one that pushing this," said Trustee Joe Colaianne. "I've never heard from anyone else in the community who's indicated that fluoridation is wrong. I appreciate all the work and I understand the studies. I'd like to spend some time figuring out those who on the other side of the fence on this.

"At the very least the public has the right to come in before we make a unilateral decision."

The American Dental Association supports community fluoridation, saying it "is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay."

Harper said his proposal would leave the decision up to the consumer rather than the government, noting people can purchase products that have fluoride or get it from their dentists.

"It shouldn't be a government decision, it should be an individual decision," he said. "Nobody has an option of not getting it in their water."

Current use of fluoride

There is already a naturally occurring amount of fluoride in the township's well-based system between 0.3 and 0.4 parts per million, according to township officials. Currently, the federal maximum is 4 parts per million with a recommendation of 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million, although federal officials are considering changing its recommendation to 0.7.

Under the township's current program to add fluoride, the range has varied between zero and two parts per million, according to tests.

The board discussed three options township officials have formulated during its meeting Tuesday. They were: analyze and wait for the federal government's decision, stop adding fluoride to the water or better regulate the amount of fluoride in the water. The township would save money if it stopped fluoridation and it could cost more to better regulate the amount.

In addition to public notices, the township also will send out a letter to residents on the system. That number is in the hundreds as the well-based system serves mostly commercial businesses and only a fraction of the township's more than 14,000 residents, who mostly have their own private wells.

Concerns detailed

Harper, who first raised the issue a month ago, gave a brief presentation Tuesday that included showing a video from YouTube of congressional testimony in 2000 that raised concerns about the additive.

He also questioned the motives behind flouride's original introduction into water systems more than 50 years ago and cited evidence that showed the improved dental health was because of factors other than adding fluoride to drinking water.

In addition, Harper said other countries don't fluoridate and that there's no federal or state mandate to do it. In addition, he said the government's own backpedaling on the issue as well as warning labels show people should decide on their own about fluoridation.

"If you have too much toothpaste, you have to call poison control, so government is aware of the bad effects of all of this," he said.

Editor's note: The township's 45-page report is available with this article under PDFs as well as the YouTube video the board watched.