The public health benefits of adding fluoride to the town water supply were explained and debated at a forum in Edgartown Thursday night attended by dentists, medical professionals, elected officials and town residents.
The decision about whether to add fluoride to Edgartown’s public water supply will now go before voters, following a successful petition effort by residents.
The Edgartown board of health’s decision to pursue adding fluoride to the town water supply has sparked outrage among some town residents and officials..
The decision about whether to continue to add fluoride to the Oak Bluffs water supply will be put to town voters this spring. The board of health voted unanimously to poll residents in a nonbinding question on the spring town election ballot.
The question of whether Oak Bluffs should continue to fluoridate its water supply drew strong opinions on both sides of the issue at a public hearing before the board of health last Thursday.
The board of health will continue a public hearing on whether to remove fluoride from town water. Board member John Campbell said he would make strong recommendations against fluoridation. Oak Bluffs is the only town on the Island that fluoridates its public water supply.
It took the town of Oak Bluffs forty years to accept what the Centers for Disease Control calls one of the ten great health achievements of the twentieth century — community fluoridation of water.
The Oak Bluffs water district has been fluoridating the public water supply since April of 1992, and is the only town on the Island to do so. But the board of health is considering ending the practice as soon as this summer. A public hearing will be held next month to discuss the issue.
