Don’t be fooled by people asking you to sign a petition for “clean water.” They’re really trying to ban fluoride, but they talk about lead and arsenic. I’m a big believer in the benefits of fluoride and I have the teeth to prove it.
Fluoride was discovered by a Colorado dentist in the 1930s, when most Americans lost their teeth by the time they were 40. He noticed that children living in mining towns with it in their water were less prone to cavities. Today, even though fluoride in drinking water reduces cavities by 20 percent to 25 percent, many health experts are worried about a silent epidemic of tooth decay among children and the elderly. Imagine how much worse it would be if the so-called “clean water” people got their way.
Focus groups must have said they wouldn’t sign a petition that puts their dental health at risk. By citing other minerals, these “clean water” people are using the Republicans’ strategy of deception that gave us the “Clear Skies Initiative” and more mercury in the air we breathe.
The city of Boulder 2006 Water Report says there’s no reason to worry about lead or arsenic in our drinking water. The National Institutes of Health and Centers of Disease Control say there”s no reason to worry about fluoride. Instead, you need to worry about deceptive petition drives.
Annette Osterlund lives in Boulder
The preceding was originally published as a letter to the editor of the Boulder Daily Camera on July 8, 2006.
This message is from the Vote No on 2B Committee,
supported by the many very concerned health professionals serving the people of Boulder.
