The proposal to fluoride our wonderful Edgartown water supply is worrisome. Fluoride is highly toxic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a statement calling for a moratorium on the use of fluoride in the nations drinking water. It can cause an arthritic bone disease called skeletal fluorosis, and can cause disruption of the nervous and endocrine systems, including the brain. “Low levels of fluoride in drinking water may have serious adverse health effects,” says Dr. Paul Connett, professor of chemistry at St. Lawrence University. The corporations which sell fluorides, formerly waste products, traditionally have had great difficulty in disposing of them. Several of these companies have been involved in costly litigation for poisoning animals or humans due to pollution of air and streams with fluorides emanating from the smokestacks of their factories. Many firms are now aiming sales campaigns at municipal water authorities.

It should be the consumer’s decision, not the government’s how to manage our health needs.

Hope A. Whipple
New York city and Edgartown