WELLS — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday set a public hearing for Sept. 6, during which residents will be able to weigh in on a November ballot question that will ask them if they want to continue adding fluoride to their drinking water.
Town Manager Jonathan Carter said the hearing was set in accordance with state statute now that a petition to remove fluoride from Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District’s drinking water supply has gained enough signatures to be placed on the Nov. 8 referendum ballot.
“We don’t really have a choice to hold the hearing because of the petition that was sufficient numbers to get it on the ballot,” Carter said. “We’re just the pipeline to get this on the ballot.”
A group of advocates against fluoridation in KKW’s water supply began collecting signatures in June, Carter said.
The group needed 3,063 signatures in order to get their petition on the ballot but ultimately collected 3,249 signatures from citizens, it was announced at the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen’s meeting last week.
The question will ask voters in the KKW water district: “Shall fluoride be added to the public water supply for the intended purpose of reducing tooth decay?”
The water district includes Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Arundel, Ogunquit, and parts of York and Biddeford.
“The water district has taken a position they are in favor of removing (fluoride), so they are lending their support to it,” Carter said.
Norm Labbe, superintendent of the KKW water district, echoed his company’s stance Wednesday, saying that the fluoridation of drinking water is no longer necessary as people ingest more fluoride through their diet than they did in the past, and that excess fluoride consumption may be a health hazard.
“It’s been shown scientifically and it’s known that people are ingesting much more fluoride in their diet than when fluoridation was first proposed,” Labbe said .
Labbe said KKW’s water supply already contains a natural 0.2 to 0.3 parts per million of calcium fluoride. The federal government has set an optimal minimum requirement of 0.7 ppm of fluoride, and Maine has a minimum fluoridation requirement of 0.5 ppm, also with an optimal guideline of 0.7 ppm.
Coupled with fluoride in toothpastes and other dietary sources, people are often ingesting more fluoride than they need, Labbe said, because fluoride acts on the surface of the teeth only.
“For adults, there is no benefit to ingesting fluoride,” Labbe said, stating that the chemical reactions involving fluoride and tooth enamel take place only on the surface of the teeth and while the fluoride remains in the mouth.
“It’s a topical thing,” Labbe said. “The best improvement for peoples’ health is brushing teeth with fluoridated toothpaste.”
Labbe also said excess fluoride in the body could lead to weakening of the bones because fluoride is highly reactive and bonds strongly with calcium, a major component of bone.
Carter said he isn’t sure if people in the towns know about the fluoridation problem, or if they see it as a problem at all. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that drinking fluoridated water reduces tooth decay by 25 percent in children and adults. The American Dental Association says the same.
“I don’t even think people are aware of this (issue) quite honestly,” Carter said. “I think the only people showing up at this thing is probably the dentists and the advocates to remove the fluoride.”
A dental health professional from the University of New England could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Regardless of what residents say at the public hearing, the question will still appear on the November ballot, Carter said. The hearing is just an opportunity for residents to ask questions and voice their opinions about the referendum.
The public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6, in Littlefield Meeting Room, 208 Sanford Road.
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.
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