Editor: We are very grateful that Pinellas County Utilities, from whom Pinellas Park purchases water as a wholesale customer, no longer adds fluoride to its water supply.
We would like the Pinellas Park city council and staff to consider some very important questions:
Is fluoride a byproduct of nuclear waste or isn’t it?
Does fluoride cause teeth (and perhaps bones) to darken or turn brown or gray?
Does fluoride cause hardening of the arteries or maybe even the brain?
Isn’t it true that any beneficial effect of fluoride for the young is far outweighed by the negative long-term effects on people and animals?
Is it not true that most adults and elderly of all socioeconomic levels are affected by gum diseases by varying degrees such as gingivitis and periodontal disease not by tooth decay per se?
$108,000 for one time infrastructure cost is a high price to pay for causing all Pinellas Park residents to ingest a questionable, hazardous chemical, which leads to many adverse health effects over a period of time, as has already been proved in many, many cases. Also, that so-called one-time infrastructure cost could be misleading since fluoride is a corrosive chemical and those tanks would have to be replaced periodically.
$71,000 is a large sum of money to pay for a hazardous chemical such as fluoride on a yearly basis, a cost that could rise annually.
Will you have to add one or more persons at the utility plant whose salary/salaries would add to the total cost?
We respectfully ask the council to carefully consider these facets as well as others and vote “no” to adding fluoride to the wonderful water supply of Pinellas County.
Dawn Strickland Sharon Marth Pinellas Park
Editor’s note: The city of Pinellas Park did later clarify that the $71,000 annual cost would include personnel. The Pinellas Park council passed a resolution on Jan. 26 authorizing the fluoridation of city water but agreed to wait until July for potential state funding.
