For now, fluoride lacking
Charleston Water System works to fix leaky tanks
Previous story
Local water supply gets the treatment, published 07/14/08
Tap water in Charleston and some surrounding areas will be without cavity-fighting fluoride for most of this year, Charleston Water System officials said Friday.
The water system has not been fluoridated since November, when a leak was found in one of the tanks in Hanahan that holds the fluosilicic acid added as a water supplement.
Fluosilicic acid can be used to fluoridate water, but by itself the chemical can produce as a by-product toxic fluorine gas, so the leaking tank had to be taken off line.
While waiting for repairs to the leaking tank, water system officials found that a larger holding tank was also leaking.
As a result, there won't be any fluoride in the system's water until at least this fall.
The Charleston Water System serves the greater Charleston area, including the peninsula, West Ashley, Hollywood, Meggett, James Island, North Charleston, Daniel Island, Hanahan and Ladson.
In addition, St. Johns Water Co. buys water in bulk from the Charleston Water System, and Mount Pleasant Waterworks gets about half its water from the Charleston utility.
Three years ago, when the Charleston Water System also temporarily stopped adding fluoride to the water due to a tank leak, public health officials said not to worry.
"It's not the end of the world," Mark Barry, associate dean for clinical affairs at the MUSC College of Dental Medicine, said at the time. "What I would be concerned about is that people freak out and take too much fluoride."
Some foods and beverages already contain fluoride, which is naturally present in some water supplies. In coastal South Carolina, some well water contains so much fluoride that it must be removed through treatment.
The right amount of fluoride helps prevent cavities, but if children whose teeth are still developing get too much fluoride, perhaps by swallowing toothpaste or drinking high-fluoride well water, it can cause permanent stains or pitting of the teeth, officials said. In children and adults, long-term exposure to excessive amounts of fluoride can cause a bone disease called skeletal fluorosis.
Fluoride supplements and topical treatments are available from dentists.
"With my kids, I would just have them brush their teeth," Barry said during the previous fluoride outage.
In a typical year, the Charleston Water System spends about $150,000 adding fluoride to the water supply. Roughly two thirds of public water supplies in the United States are fluoridated.
Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@post andcourier.com.
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Comments
buff_o_rilla (anonymous) says...
Interesting that if you read the back of a tube of toothpaste that if you swallow any toothpaste to seek a Physician. But they feel the need to contaminate the water supply with fluoride.
May 23, 2009 at 12:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nyscof (anonymous) says...
Fluoridation: Ineffective & Harmful, studies show
Opposition: Scientific, Respectable & Growing
Over 2,400 professionals urge the US Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted, citing scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. See statement: http://www.fluorideaction.org/stateme....
Also, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals called for a moratorium on drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in people.
Last election day, 53 US cities rejected fluoridation joining a growing list of communities saying "No," to fluoridation.
-- The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada's leading voice on environmental health issues, released a statement opposing fluoridation.
-- The National Kidney Foundation dropped its fluoridation support replacing it with this caution: "Individuals with CKD [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk of fluoride exposure."
-- Researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical.
-- "A qualitative review of ...studies found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ," concluded Tang el al., in "Fluoride and Children's Intelligence: A Meta-analysis" in Biological Trace Element Research
-- Scientific American editors wrote in January 2008, "Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland"
-- A study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry reveals that cavity-free teeth have little to do with fluoride intake. Researchers report, "The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical:while fluorosis is clearly more dependent on fluoride intake."
A Tennessee State legislator who is also an MD is urging all Tennessee Water Districts to stop fluoridation, reported a Tennessee newspaper on 11/29/08. At least 30 Tennessee water districts have already complied with his request.(6)
Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, Dr. Arvid Carlsson, says, "Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete."
An Online Action Petition to Congress in support of the Professionals' Statement is available on FAN's web site, http://congress.fluorideaction.net
Adverse health effects of fluoride http://www.FluorideAction.net/health
May 23, 2009 at 6:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Sark (anonymous) says...
You know when fluoridation first began? Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
Damn commies trying to sap our precious bodily fluids!
May 23, 2009 at 9:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
3olivesmike (anonymous) says...
Great sarcasm Sark!
May 23, 2009 at 10:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
metallic (anonymous) says...
>>You know when fluoridation first began? Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh?<<
Look at how our society has declined since 1946 -- especially in the cities where fluoridation was first started.
Read up on how fluorine ions interfere with the firing of nerve synapses (the human brain is a massive network of nerve synapses).
Putting fluoride in water is STUPID -- if it's not some sort of "conspiracy" to "dumb down" the country.
If one insists on using fluoride for one's teeth, topical application (from toothpaste) works just fine. But make sure to follow the warning labels on the toothpaste and NOT swallow the poison!
There is NO need to introduce a dangerous substance into one's body with some hope that it will reach and strengthen one's teeth.
May 23, 2009 at 1:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Speedy (anonymous) says...
It would be nice if they stopped wasting money, to the tune of $150k a year, and just lowered our rates.
What a friggin waste of money this is.
I think pretty much everyone brushes their teeth, so no real need to poison everyone with fluoride.
And for heavens sake, don't get the treatment at the dentist. $30 to swish some mouthwash around for a minute.
If you are worried about it, use ACT mouthwash.
May 23, 2009 at 1:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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