The chairman of a legislative environmental panel has bottled up a bill that would establish minimum fluoridation levels for Pennsylvania's public drinking water because he says it would be harmful. Of the 2,265 systems in Pennsylvania, only 190 are fluoridated. It has become sort of a tradition in the General Assembly to reject proposals that would mandate water fluoridation statewide.
People come out of the woodwork complaining about government intervention.
Opponents include the state chapter of the Health Alliance International, a global group of citizens, physicians and scientists who dispute fluoride's dental benefits, said Ellie Rudolph, the chapter's director. The alliance cites studies linking fluoride with cancer, genetic damage, brain damage and bone disease. Proponents say most water supplies already contain natural fluoride and, according to the American Dental Association, the amount of fluoride added to community water is one part per million parts of water. The debate goes back to 1945, when Grand Rapids, Mich. was the first community in the United States to fluoridate its public water. In April, Erie's city council adopted a resolution officially opposing the latest proposal.