60 years ago we didn’t have the facts. Back then, few were concerned about risks to children from lead or second-hand smoke. In the same way, most people in 1952 thought drinking fluoridated water would reduce tooth decay with no risk beyond a few children with discolored teeth. It’s now known that water fluoridation is a much riskier practice than once believed and it does NOT prevent cavities.

“Common sense should tell us that if a poison circulating in a child’s body can damage the tooth-forming cells, then other harm also is likely.” — Dr. John Colquhoun (1997).

1. Healdsburg has fluoridated municipal water for over 60 years. Two generations of residents have had no choice. It’s time for a vote.
2. Fluoride is not a nutrient. Since there is no function of the human body requiring fluoride, the optimal amount of fluoride in the human body is zero. Also, fluoridated toothpaste sold in the United States carries an FDA-mandated poison-warning label against swallowing it.
3. Fluoridation does not prevent tooth decay. World Health Organization (WHO) data shows that most Western countries do not have fluoridated water, yet their tooth decay rates have declined at the same rates as the U.S. and other fluoridated countries.
4. The CDC reports that 41% of American adolescents have visible dental fluorosis (marks on teeth caused by drinking fluoridated water while teeth are forming), compared with the 10% that Public Health authorities in 1950 considered an acceptable side effect when determining fluoride concentration for fluoridated water. The rising rate of dental fluorosis is evidence that U.S. children are overfluoridated from all sources, including from fluoridated water and foods prepared with fluoridated water, like soups, juice drinks and sodas, fluoride fertilizers on food crops, and fluoridated dental care products.
5. Even though Healdsburg’s improved tertiary treatment plant is probably the best in the county, it does not remove fluoride. A recent Healdsburg City Council proposal to use reclaimed wastewater for agricultural purposes will increase the amount of fluoride in locally produced food and wine.
6. In 2008, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) withdrew its former support of fluoridation because of overwhelming evidence of increased susceptibility, in diabetics and others with impaired kidney function, to kidney damage from fluoridated water.
7. Among many other serious, scientifically documented health risks to vulnerable populations, ingested fluoride is an endocrine disruptor, affecting metabolism, including lowering thyroid production, and lowering IQ.
8. Water fluoridation chemicals, including sodium fluoride, are not food-quality, and not approved for human ingestion by the U.S. FDA. Since the FDA classifies fluoride as a drug, water fluoridation is essentially forced medication, violating medical ethics and our civil rights, since it is administered without regard to individual dose toleration, and without informed individual consent.
9. Those of African-American and Latin-American descent are vulnerable to side-effects of fluoride at a much higher rate than Caucasians. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) issued a statement opposing forced medication through water fluoridation (2011).
10. Since Healdsburg’s municipal water district has fewer than 10,000 connections, it does not fall under California’s AB733 (1995) fluoridation mandate.
11. We are at a time of uncertain water supply. It makes sense to insure that our scarce water resources are as clean as possible.