Should NH prohibit water fluoridation?

Rep. Valerie Fraser is sponsoring a 2017 bill that bans fluoride from public water.

Under current law, residents in a city or town must vote to add fluoride to the water supply. According to the Department of Environmental Services, ten municipalities in New Hampshire fluoridate their drinking water. Another six communities purchase fluoridated water from Manchester.

Fraser co-sponsored a similar bill last year. 

After reviewing the bill, the House Resources, Recreation, and Development Committee noted, "The safety and benefits of fluoride are well documented and have been reviewed comprehensively by several scientific and public health organizations. ... By preventing tooth decay, community water fluoridation has been shown to save money, both for families and the health care system." 

The Legislature killed the bill, keeping the decision on fluoride at the local level.

Fluoride has its opponents, however. According to the nonprofit Fluoride Action Network, "a growing body of evidence reasonably indicates that fluoridated water, in addition to other sources of daily fluoride exposure, can cause or contribute to a range of serious effects, including arthritis, damage to the developing brain, reduced thyroid function, and possibly osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in adolescent males." 

Do you think New Hampshire should ban fluoride from all New Hampshire water? Let us know in the comments.