The following are a few excerpts from an article entitled, "Amesbury: Feds note fluoride problems". The article may be read in its entirety at
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Massachusetts/Amesbury-Feds-note-fluoride-problems
"AMESBURY — Communities across the nation have found the same mysterious residue in their fluoride systems that caused Amesbury to shut down its water fluoridation program, but a federal health agency said the residue is safe.
Kip Duchon, national fluoridation engineer for the federal Centers for Disease Control, said residents shouldn't worry about the safety of a Chinese-made fluoride product used by many communities.
Though Duchon admitted he and officials from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) have received complaints from a number of those currently purchasing the powder form of the mineral, the fact that it won't dissolve or "handle" as well as the American-produced mineral once did does not mean the products are unsafe, he said.
LOCAL OPINIONS
"In the meantime, members of the public are voicing their own opinions on Amesbury's decision to discontinue fluoridation — with some residents arguing against the idea of adding fluoride, especially if there is concern over its composition, and others voicing disapproval that fluoridation isn't a priority for Amesbury.
"Our community is suffering because this is a very important thing," said John Rizza, an Amesbury resident and a practicing dentist of 30 years who said he's seen first-hand how fluoridation of the public water supply has kept cavities at bay. "I'm disappointed with the current Board of Health to take it out without any means of saying we're going to put it back."
Rizza is questioning the delivery system Amesbury depends on for fluoridation, which Duchon says is being used by 8 percent of the total number of communities that fluoridate. For the sake of a healthy populace, Rizza is urging the town to consider updating its process to allow residents to continue to reap the benefits of fluoridation.
"Amesbury is placing it in into the system in a very old-fashioned way," said Rizza. "They get a powder and they dissolve it into the water. One third of cities are still doing it this way, but the majority have switched over to liquid fluoride."
"Did you know that the chemicals used to fluoridate drinking water (fluorosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride and sodium fluoride) are industrial waste products from the phosphate fertilizer industry?" wrote Jacqueline Carroll, a nurse practitioner from Newburyport concerned about the toxic properties of the mineral on the human body.
"As a health care provider and a concerned citizen in our community, I am also advocating for the health of my own family. I want fluoride removed from the drinking water in Newburyport — I want the right to refuse fluoride."
By Lynne Hendricks
Staff writer
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