i agree there should have been public discussion of this and some consensus before taking action. Or at the very least notification it was being done. Tho i have to admit i'm more concerned with the actual safety/cleanliness for drinking of water supplies. My little village kept us informed when a break in a main caused some contamination--we had to boil our water for 3 days till the lines were cleared and proper standards were met. However, one reason i'd want discussion is to get expert input on how much fluoride is 'enough' without becoming a risk itself and to make the public aware that 'too much fluoride' can actually contribute to various ailments we've seen more of since Boomer generation. But i say again---this should not have been a decision made by one official and without informing the citizens.
When i was a kid Florida was one of the first and few states fluoridating their water. As i moved into adulthood more and more states were doing it. And don't forget all mainstream brands of toothpaste contain fluoride as well, tho in my early childhood we brushed our teeth with baking soda. Sure i didn't have any cavities needing treatment till i was 17 or so--but a few decades down the road i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in which is one of the things 'too much' fluoride is implicated as a contributing factor. Apparently fluoride can inhibit iodide transport to the thyroid. You know, as in why they have iodized salt? Because it contributes to thyroid health? No matter what a dentist tells me it seems counterproductive for me to take levothyroxine daily then brush teeth twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste, when there is fluoride in our water. From what i read the main impact of too little fluoride is on the teeth alone. Having gone thru a couple of years suffering with low thyroid function (which created a lovely downward spiral mentally since i have chronic depression issues) i think i'd take being totally toothless over that total lack of energy any day.
Unfortunately in the US we have a tendency to go overboard with a lot of things. This happens in part because product manufacturers and advertisers tend to see health concerns as a great way to manipulate people to buy more of their 'supplemented' products. Remember when Osteoporosis became a big deal in the news and not long after calcium was being added to all sorts of things, plus doctors were recommending that if you were of a certain age you should take extra calcium? i actually had a health scare due to that--but after discussing things with my doc at the time i told him give me a couple of weeks...all i had to do is stop taking the stand alone calcium supplement. Between what is in my multi-vitamin/mineral pill and in foods i get enough without getting too much and my symptoms cleared up.
Sorry for going on a tangent. But i think it does relate to the topic. Public discussions are necessary for various input to be made public. Officials have no business making such decisions based on their own concerns alone.
