In May, Portlanders will be voting on Ballot Measure 26-151, whether or not to add fluoride to the city’s drinking water. According to the Surgeon’s general Statement in 2004, fluoridinated water is enormously beneficial to communities, giving people an automatic source of fluoride that they do not need to seek out on their own.
The statement claims that for every $1 million dollars invested in floridinated water, $38 million or more is saved on dental treatment.
Studies have also determined that people living in flouridinated cities suffer fewer cavities than people who don’t, however, opposing results have also been found.
On Monday, KBOO reporter Joe Meyer spoke to former Environmental Protection Agency senior scientist William Hirzy, who claims that according to the National Institute for Dental Research, there is no significant difference in dental health between people living in floridinated communities and people who don’t.
Prominent local environmental groups like the Columbia Riverkeepers and the Oregon Sierra Club are against floridinating Portland’s water for both health and environmental reasons. For more on the story, KBOO’s Jennifer Kemp spoke with Oregon Sierra Club spokeswoman Antonia Giedwoyn
- KBOO