USA - Ore. fluoride bill stalls
Ore. fluoride bill stalls
05/16/2007
Associated Press
Opponents appear to have successfully brushed aside the latest effort to require cities to add fluoride to their water supplies.
Sponsors of a bill that would mandate fluoride in cities with at least 10,000 people did not have enough votes to win House passage Tuesday. Rather than risk defeat, they sent the item to the joint Ways and Means Committee for possible retooling.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, the bill's co-sponsor, said the bill could be modified to allow to cities to "opt out" if its citizens don't want fluoridation. Such a move would make House Bill 3099 largely symbolic.
Two-thirds of the U.S. population drinks from fluoridated water supplies. Proponents cite the 60-year history of fluoridation and its track record of safety and effectiveness in strengthening teeth against decay. The Oregon Dental Association has pushed the state Legislature for years to mandate that Oregon's drinking water be fluoridated.
But fluoride opponents — a loose-knit coalition of environmentalists, local control advocates and small-government conservatives — say it doesn't make sense to add a chemical to clean water and argue that research is beginning to show the health benefits of fluoride have been overstated.
They also cite evidence that increasing the levels of fluoride in water can cause a white spotting of the tooth surface.
Water systems in cities such as Salem, Forest Grove, Coquille, Florence, Astoria and Corvallis do fluoridate, and advocates for local control say such decisions should remain on a community-by-community basis.
Oregon ranks 48th, trailed by Hawaii and New Jersey, in percentage of residents with fluoridated water.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
05/16/2007
Associated Press
Opponents appear to have successfully brushed aside the latest effort to require cities to add fluoride to their water supplies.
Sponsors of a bill that would mandate fluoride in cities with at least 10,000 people did not have enough votes to win House passage Tuesday. Rather than risk defeat, they sent the item to the joint Ways and Means Committee for possible retooling.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, the bill's co-sponsor, said the bill could be modified to allow to cities to "opt out" if its citizens don't want fluoridation. Such a move would make House Bill 3099 largely symbolic.
Two-thirds of the U.S. population drinks from fluoridated water supplies. Proponents cite the 60-year history of fluoridation and its track record of safety and effectiveness in strengthening teeth against decay. The Oregon Dental Association has pushed the state Legislature for years to mandate that Oregon's drinking water be fluoridated.
But fluoride opponents — a loose-knit coalition of environmentalists, local control advocates and small-government conservatives — say it doesn't make sense to add a chemical to clean water and argue that research is beginning to show the health benefits of fluoride have been overstated.
They also cite evidence that increasing the levels of fluoride in water can cause a white spotting of the tooth surface.
Water systems in cities such as Salem, Forest Grove, Coquille, Florence, Astoria and Corvallis do fluoridate, and advocates for local control say such decisions should remain on a community-by-community basis.
Oregon ranks 48th, trailed by Hawaii and New Jersey, in percentage of residents with fluoridated water.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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