Evening star., 1951-02-22

The elderly lady in Newburgh,
N. Y, had a most serious COM
plant against the city fathers.
She said her false teeth had
dissolved overnight after she had
left them in a glass of the new
tangled water the city was fore
ing it's residents to drink. She
demanded restitution.
Dozens of Newburgh residents
called the water department to
complain that the water was dis
coloring their saucepans, hurting
the flavor of carbonated beverages
and causing digestive upsets.
All of them had been reading
in the newspapers that the city
was adding sodium f1uoride to
the water. And, as they well
knew, one use of the chemical is
for roach poison.
But the United States Public
Health Service recommends that
it be put in city water supplies be-
cause studies have shown it will
cut tooth decay in children by
about IS per cent.
Strangely enough, Newburgh
authorities reported that all the
complaints came in before the
sodium fluoride actually was
added to the water. By the time
the compound was put in. in May,
1945. complaints had ceased.
Same Story in Charlotte.
The same thing happened in
Charlotte, N. c., in April, 1949. A
number of people reported they
were made i'll by drinking the
newly f1uorinated city water.
Again the strange sickness came
before the water actually was
treated.
Now, the District Health De-
partment is pushing to have the
water system here fuorinated.
Dr. A. Harry Ostrow, director of
the Health Departments Bureau
of Dental Services, said no oppo-
sition is expected to develop and
that he hoped for early approval
by the Commissioners so that the
money question could attacked.
Both the United States Public
Health Service and the dental
profession are backing the move
to fuorinate water supplies over
the Nation. So far, more than 60
communities have undertaken it.
DR.. Ostrow estimates the pro-
gram will cost about IL cents a
year per person in Washington
if one type of huoride is used, and
only about 5la cents if another is
selected.
Youth Principal Beneficiaries.
The results, USPHS says,
would be:
Dental decay in children will be
reduced about IS per cent and the
appearance of their teeth i'm
proved.
Fluoridating the city's water
supply will reduce sharply the
dental bills of the younger gen.
GRAFTON, the USPHS says.
Adults may benefit some, but
to what extent has not been de-
termined by research as yet.
To gain the full benefit of
fuoridated water, children must
drink it when their teeth are form
ing, or from birth to about18 years
of age, USPHS says. The pro-
lection gained will last through
out their lives.
Normally, one part of fuoride
to a million parts of water is the
concentration that should be used
in a city water supply. 1t does
not add taste, color or hardness
to water. No i'll effects are known
to result from drinking such treat
ed water, any more than you will
be made i'll from drinking water
treated with the deadly chlorine,
a poison gas used in World War
and now used in all city water
systems.
No Chance for Illness.
DR.. Ostrow declared:
There's no chance of any one
being made ill. You would have
to drink 400 gallons of water at
one time to get sick"
At present, 10 controlled studies
are under way in the United
States. Fluorides have been added