Fluoride

A chemist called it "criminally intolerant chemical warfare to enslave the American people." A self-described inventor and "secret investigator" said the government was trying to "kill you slowly." Another man put it bluntly: "Communism is one of the factors behind it." In the summer of 1966, a year after the Watts riots, Los Angeles City Council members took up what The Times called "one of the most controversial proposals ever." The hearings drew hundreds of agitated citizens.

Los Angeles County health officials Monday called for additional fluoride in water throughout the county and state, in response to a new study that identified oral disease as the No. 1 health problem among California's elementary-school children. Though adding more fluoride is just one step that officials said is needed, "fluoridation is a cornerstone of the responses that we need to have," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health for the county Department of Health Services.

A national panel of scientists reported Wednesday that high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water are leaving children in some communities at risk of tooth enamel damage and adults prone to weakened bones that could lead to fractures. The scientists unanimously recommended that the federal limit on fluoride in drinking water be lowered to protect people in communities where high levels leach into the water from natural sources, such as rocks or soil.

On Wednesday, a panel of experts recommended the Environmental Protection Agency lower the maximum safety limit of fluoride in water from its current 4 milligrams per liter. An estimated 200,000 people across the U.S. have drinking water that naturally contains this amount or higher. The National Research Council panel cited damage to children's teeth and a possible heightened risk of bone fractures in the elderly.

Fluoride in water: An article in Section A on Dec. 22 about fluoride in drinking water described the reasons the Environmental Protection Agency allows minute amounts of certain chemicals in public drinking water systems. The article said sodium chloride softens hard water. Although sodium chloride is used in the water-softening process, zeolite is the substance that softens water by removing magnesium and calcium.

Fluoride will be added to the drinking water used by millions of people across Southern California under a plan approved Tuesday by the Metropolitan Water District. Within three years, the water agency plans to mix the cavity-fighting substance into all water it imports into the region. Although some cities such as Los Angeles and Long Beach already add fluoride to their water supply, many other communities do not -- including wide portions of Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties.

Opponents of water fluoridation filed a petition with election officials to stop the city from altering tap water. The Santa Barbara County Clerk's office certified that there are enough valid signatures on petitions turned in by Citizens for Safe Drinking Water to require an election on the issue. The group submitted 4,545 signatures to Santa Maria City Hall on Feb. 24. The ballot measure will probably appear in the November 2004 election.

Once it was like a root canal. Even now, it's a lot like pulling teeth. But on Tuesday, Councilwoman Ruth Galanter presided over a painless end to the legendary fluoride controversy, which once ranked with gun control as a maker and un-maker of political careers.

In the two years since California mandated that water districts fluoridate tap water if they can afford it, no city in Orange County or the rest of the state has added the tooth decay-preventing substance to the water supply. California continues to lag far behind the rest of the country in fluoridating its water. Sixty-two percent of people nationwide consume fluoridated tap water, compared with 17% of Californians, according to the California Department of Health Services.

It's considered the most thoroughly studied public health issue in the country and one of the most cost-effective ever. Now, 50 years after the benefits of fluoridated water were discovered, nearly all Californians will soon--finally--benefit from it. A bill signed by Gov. Pete Wilson in October requires water districts serving 10,000 or more residents to fluoridate tap water.