DWP Commission OKs Plan to Fluoridate Tap Water

Whether fluoride is a convenient cavity-fighting tool or a toxic cancer-causing poison, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commission took a step toward adding it to tap water Wednesday.

The water board approved fluoridating the city’s water, or adjusting the amount of fluoride present to a level considered optimal for preventing tooth decay.

The water agency will present an implementation and financing plan to a City Council committee Jan. 23, said Bruce Kuebler, director of the water quality and distribution division of the DWP.

Fluoridation would cost the city about $4 million to $7 million in one-time capital expenses, Kuebler said. It would cost about $1 million annually to operate the system.

Kuebler said it was not decided where the funds would come from, but coordinating the project with the Metropolitan Water District could save about a third of the cost. No timetable has been set, he said.

Los Angeles is one of few major U.S. cities that does not add fluoride to its drinking water, a national trend that began 51 years ago in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Opponents--including the John Birch Society, other conservatives and advocates of natural food--have drawn out the heated debate in Los Angeles for decades. The City Council rejected fluoridation in 1966 and 1974.

Instead of calling fluoridation a communist plot to create a one-world government, as had been argued in the past, today’s critics say fluoride may cause bone cancer and hip fractures and argue that consumers should be able to decide what they want in their drinking water.

Fluoride is a poison that should be compared to lead, Paul Borraccia of the California Coalition Against Mandatory Fluoridation told the DWP commissioners Wednesday.

However, supporters say that adding fluoride to tap water would lower costs of the tax-funded state dental program, citing studies that show fluoridation reduces tooth decay among low-income children who do not receive regular dental care.

Gov. Pete Wilson signed a state bill mandating fluoridation in most California water systems in October. Water districts serving more than 10,000 households must adopt fluoridation as soon as foundation grant or government money for the equipment becomes available.

But, Kuebler said, “If there’s no money, [the law] doesn’t affect anybody. The city couldn’t be forced to fluoridate if it didn’t want to.”

The city looked into fluoridation on its own shortly after the state bill was introduced, he said.