A rumor floating around for the past week about the water department secretly fluoridating was dispelled at the Village Board of Trustee work session, Monday.
Water Department head Robert June said that he’d heard the rumors that his department had been adding fluoride to the water and wanted village residents to know that the rumors were false.
“We do not use fluoride at all. I’ve also checked past records and talked with the previous superintendent and he confirmed we’ve never used or added fluoride to our water,” said June. He added that the water department operates under strict guidelines set about by the New York state Health Department.
Water fluoridation is added to some water supplies to help prevent tooth decay, and while over exposure to fluoridated water can actually do the opposite, the federal government recommends the use of 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.
Conspiracy theories about fluoridation of water systems have been around almost since the practice began in the Unite States in the 1940s. During the 50’s and 60’s theories often involved communist plots to undermine public health by adding fluoride to the water supply.
Village Trustee Andrew Argenio drew some ire from other board member for comments he made about the fluoride rumors on his Facebook page. In the Facebook post he wrote that he had been accused of poisoning the village water supply and named David Defreest in his reply. Defreest sent a letter to the village concerning the rumor and said he had never discussed the rumors with Trustee Argenio and suggested Argenio remove the offending post.
Comments:
You're kidding, right? If you put it on Facebook, then it's not exactly private.
