By Benjamin Jolley
A health department watchdog group is concerned that existing laws will not prevent Salt Lake County from placing certain forms of fluoride in drinking water - and their example may trickle down to the rest of the state.
House Bill 158 would have given the FDA power to regulate fluoridation of community water in Utah.
'Ninety percent of the communities in the United States that are using fluoridation use fluorosilicic acid, which contain contaminants such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium and radon,' said Rosemary Minervini, president of Citizens for Safe Drinking Water - Utah.
Minervini said she would prefer pure fluoride to the less expensive, contaminated form that the state is proposing to use.
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said fluoridation is proven to help prevent tooth decay.
But Minervini, who has been in the dental care industry since the 1970s, said studies show that applying fluoridated toothpaste directly to teeth more effectively prevents cavities than drinking fluoridated water.
Minervini said fluoridated toothpastes have labels warning people not to swallow it.
'Will we see warning labels on our water spouts?'
Under current law, counties have the right to vote for or against fluoridation. House Bill 158 would have made the FDA the regulating body over fluoride in water, said Steven Steed, state dental director.
If the bill had passed, fluoridation would have stopped because the FDA does not have regulatory power over fluoridation in water.
Steed supports statewide fluoridation.
'Community fluoridation has proven to be the most cost-effective and most effective in preventing tooth decay,' Steed said.
He does not object to the fluorosilicic acid Salt Lake County will be using to fluoridate the water.
'This form of fluoride may contain traces of dangerous elements when the fluoride is in condensed form,' Steed said. 'When this form of fluoridation is used in water, there is no trace of these elements.'
The Utah Department of Health would like to see more counties use fluoridation, Steed said. But it is not forcing the issue.
'We would be a resource to those city or county officials who would be interested in fluoridation their water,' he said.
Utah County officials have not presented the option to fluoridate water to voters yet, said Ralph Clegg, Utah County Health Department deputy director.
It would cost 50 cents per person per year to fluoridate the water in Utah County, Clegg said.
'Certainly, as health officials, we''d love to see fluoride in the water to improve the dental health of all Utah county residents,' Clegg said. 'For every $1 spent on fluoridation, $80 in dental treatments would be saved.'