Alaska Dentists Want Fluoride Back in Water

Some doctors and dentists in Juneau, Alaska, want fluoride, a compound used to prevent tooth decay, to be put back into public drinking water.

The city's Public Works Department (PWD) removed the fluoride from the water mix on June 26, 2003, after reviewing research that suggested the compound may be causing the leaching of copper in residential pipes, PWD Director Joe Buck said.

But the medical community was not informed of this change until last Friday after a medical provider noticed the levels were low.

Buck said he was not required to notify the medical community but said, in retrospect, that he should have.

Public Works has been out of compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency copper standards at the Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant for some time. The fluoride was removed in an attempt to restore the plant to compliance.

However, the drop in copper levels so far is not enough to recommend the removal of fluoride from the system, and it may be restored July 1 after the trial period is complete, Buck said.

Source: Associated Press