Fluoridation weighed at Calgary public meeting

Members of the public lined up on Wednesday to have their say in the city fluoridation debate.

A city committee held the hearing to get feedback before making a recommendation to council on whether or not the city should continue adding the chemical to the water supply.

Ald. Druh Farrell has been calling for an end to the program for years, and this year she had the support of at least five other members of council.

Dozens of people signed up to speak in council chambers Wednesday morning, from concerned parents to medical professionals.

"I was angry with myself because it could have been prevented, had I been educated," said Calgarian Colleen Cran.

Cran said that when she became a dental assistant in the 1970s, she gave her son fluoride supplements because she thought it was good for him.

She said his adult teeth began to fall out at the age of six, a sign of dental fluorosis while she and the rest of the family who weren't on the supplements had no such problems.

That's why she was asking council to remove the additive from the water.

"It's an industrial waste byproduct, and we've been sold on the story it reduces tooth decay in children," she said.

Dr. Richard Musto, Alberta Health Services medical officer of health for the Calgary region, said the research shows fluoridation to be beneficial and that its removal would not be in the best interests of public health.

"I think the consequences will be, as has been seen elsewhere, there will be more children and adults who suffer from dental decay," Musto said.

Dr. David Keegan, a family physician in downtown Calgary, told members of the committee that fluoride should stay in the water.

He said the issue often comes up in his practice, and said he trusts that the city regularly reviews the research and has determined the benefits far outweigh any negative factors.

"Fluoridation helps everybody ... it helps little kids and helps older people," said Keegan. "The people it helps most, though, are people who are not able to get as great access to ... other ways to get fluoride, who aren't able to pay for fluoride enamel [from] the dentists or so on."

The city has a responsibility to concern itself with public health, Keegan said, and that includes the use of fluoride.

Fluoridation costs $750K a year

Musto said that if the public couldn't accept council's judgment on the matter, then a plebiscite should be considered.

Farrell has said she doesn't support taking the matter to another plebiscite, as was done in 1989 when 53 per cent voted in favour of adding fluoride, and again in 1998 when 55 per cent voted to keep the chemical in the water.

She wants to bring forward a motion to council requesting the province change the city's water licence. That would initiate a lengthy approval process that would include further consultation.

The cost of adding fluoride to Calgary's water is about $750,000 per year. The city is also facing pricey upgrades to the Bearspaw and Glenmore water treatment plants needed for the fluoridation process in the near future.