Camas moves to reverse fluoridation of water

Camas could become the first community in Southwest Washington to reverse its water fluoridation efforts.

The Camas City Council on Monday voted 4-2 to instruct the city’s attorney to draft an ordinance that would, if approved by a majority of the council, halt the city’s 60-year-old practice of adding fluoride to its public drinking water system. (Fluoridation aims to protect residents’ health by preventing dental cavities.)

On Monday, council members John Nohr and John Svilarich voted against advancing the anti-fluoride ordinance, while council member Tim Hein spoke in favor of reversing the city’s fluoridation practice.

“I don’t believe the general population should be exposed to fluoride if they don’t want to,” Hein said. “I do believe fluoride works. I believe it should be up to those who want it to get it.”

The council’s vote followed a public hearing that drew nine in-person and online speakers and at least 39 written comments — 28 of which called for the city to halt its fluoridation practice.

Many of those who spoke against fluoridation said they believe the practice has more health risks than benefits.

Camas resident Geri Rubano brought the issue to the Camas City Council in December and spoke out against fluoridating public water supplies during a Battle Ground City Council meeting in January. She told Camas officials this week that she believes adding fluoride to the drinking water system is “akin to mass medication.”

“The FDA does say that fluoride is a drug so, in my opinion, it is unethical to force a medical treatment on people, especially when there is a risk of harm,” Rubano said.

According to Camas Public Works Director Steve Wall, Camas is one of about 50 Washington communities that adds fluoride to its public drinking water and has done so since the mid-1960s.

There is no state mandate to fluoridate the water system, Wall said.

“It is a community choice and always has been,” Wall told city officials in December. “We’re not required to add fluoride in our water system, but, if we do, we have requirements from the Department of Health and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), including sampling, monitoring and notifications.”

According to Wall, the city’s fluoridation program costs about $40,000 a year. He said Camas adds 0.7 milligrams of fluoride for every liter of public drinking water and buys in bulk from a local supplier who gets the fluoride from overseas.

Wall has also said that two of the city’s largest industrial employers — both semiconductor chip manufacturers — strip the fluoride out of the water before it comes into their facilities.

Camas officials listened to fluoride opponents argue that people who want to apply fluoride to their teeth can find plenty of products, including toothpaste, that offer it without having to consume it in their drinking water.

“There is a benefit to having (fluoride) … it avoids dental cavities to some degree,” Camas chiropractor Mike Hamilton said Monday, but he added that too much fluoride is known to be toxic to human health. “People get (fluoride) in toothpaste, and that’s plenty.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fluoride “strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear.”

Communities have been adding fluoride to public drinking water systems since the 1940s, but the issue has received national attention over the past few months thanks to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an outspoken anti-fluoride advocate.

Several people who have urged the Camas City Council to end the city’s fluoridation program also pointed to a 2024 court ruling against the EPA, which ordered the federal agency to evaluate health risks associated with fluoridating drinking water systems, as well as a Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program review showing that “excessive fluoride by the exposure can be associated with lower IQ in children.”

The Associated Press reported in September that the ruling was “another striking dissent to a practice that has been hailed as one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.”

Dentist weighs in 

On Monday, a local dentist spoke in favor of keeping fluoride in Camas’ water system.

“Many of the things given in opposition are (based) either on incomplete information or information misdirecting away from what is really true,” said Nels Walther, a Camas resident who said he has practiced dentistry for 12 years.

“Fluoride is a neurotoxin, but dose is what’s important,” Walther said, adding that a person weighing 150 pounds would have to drink about 93 gallons of fluoridated water in one sitting to receive enough fluoride to cause toxicity.

“It’s incredibly hard to get a lethal dose,” Walther said. “It is toxic, but nowhere near the levels we’re talking about.”

Walther added that, although topical fluoride applications can help prevent dental cavities, having it in a public water system provides other benefits.

“When you drink fluoridated water, you have a continual effect through saliva,” Walther said, adding that having fluoride in the water during tooth development is “the most beneficial” as the fluoride helps make new teeth more resistant to acids.

“It’s like putting on a … bulletproof vest. It doesn’t stop you from getting shot, but it certainly helps if you get shot,” Walther said.

“There is 75-plus years of research showing a 25 to 30 percent reduction in the number of cavities (in communities that fluoridate public drinking water). And it is incredibly cheap. It’s a great way to provide protection to our population,” he added.

The Camas City Council is expected to vote on the anti-fluoridation ordinance at an upcoming council meeting. The council meets at 7 p.m. at Camas City Hall, 616 N.E. Fourth Ave., on the first and third Monday of the month. To view council agendas, visit cityofcamas.us/meetings.

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; [email protected]