Stanly County Starts The Discussion Of Removing Fluoride From Public Water

STANLY CO.- Leaders in a local county are debating whether to keep fluoride in public water. This, after Union County leaders voted to remove it from its public water system. Stanly County commissioners started the conversation tonight at their meeting. People on both sides of this fluoride debate signed up to speak to the board here in Stanly County, and board members had concerns of their own.

“Can you show us something where the government, medical, or dentist is supporting your theories?” said county commissioner Peter Ascuitto to Harold Schmoeker from Union County. He spoke up during the fluoride debate there as well. Union County commissioners ultimately voted to have it removed from public water.

He was in Stanly County Monday night to urge county commissioners to remove fluoride from their public water, too.

“When a dentist says fluoride, they’re talking about medical grade fluoride they use in their practice. what gets added to the water is hydrophilic acid,” said Schmoeker. Stanly County does not have its own public water system. It uses water from the city of Norwood and the city of Albemarle. People also signed up to tell the board that they want to keep fluoride in their public water.

“As a practicing dentist,  I’ve seen what happens to people who are on well water who don’t get public water, what they look like. A lot more decay and a lot more trauma when the restorations are done,” said local dentist, Dr Tom Norwood.

Another doctor,  Dr. Jim Beard, told commissioners that what Schmoeker was referring to was not hydroxylic acid, but hydrofluoric acid.

“Hydrofluoric acid itself, if you purify it and put it in a bottle it would be quite dangerous, it’s a nasty compound,” said Beard. “If you keep the pH and the acidity of the water, it gets converted to fluoride.”

A third doctor told the board how much it would take to feel any toxic effects of fluoride.

“A 200 pound man would  need to drink about 1,800 gallons of water in one sitting to get the toxic amount of fluoride,” said Dr. John Rizzly, a chemistry professor at University of North Carolina Charlotte.

There was no decision made tonight on whether or not fluoride will be removed, but it does beg the question; how many other counties in our area will consider this? Stanly County’s next board of commissioners meeting is on March 18th.