黑料福利社

Yakima will continue to fluoridate its water聽鈥� at least for now, City Council members decided on Tuesday.

For decades, municipalities across the nation have added small amounts of fluoride to their water supplies as a passive public health measure to help prevent tooth decay. The practice is largely supported by dentists and health professionals, though opponents raise concerns about potential negative impacts.

Yakima began fluoridating its water in 2000 after a vote of the people the previous year. On Tuesday, per direction from the council, City Attorney Sara Watkins gave an overview of local and state water fluoridation laws and explained the steps that would be necessary to put the question of ending water fluoridation on the ballot.

Nearly a dozen dentists and other community members showed up at the meeting to urge council members not to put the measure on the ballot.

鈥淚 see firsthand how limited access to dental care affects families across our region. Too many families in Yakima and the surrounding area already struggle to find routine dental care. For many children, seniors and working adults, prevention is not something they can count on through regular dental visits,鈥� said Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, dean of the school of dental medicine at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima. 鈥淭his is exactly why community water fluoridation matters. It reaches everyone, regardless of income, insurance status, transportation or whether they can get to the dental office.鈥�

Panagakos added that, if fluoride were removed from Yakima鈥檚 water supply, the city could expect increased cavities and associated infections, more emergency room visits, more missed school days, more missed workdays for parents and caregivers and greater strain on already limited dental services.

Others echoed those concerns, emphasizing potential community health and financial costs.

鈥淚f water fluoridation ends, Yakima will incur the high costs that come with putting this issue on the ballot, decommissioning fluoridation equipment, retraining staff, eventually the exorbitantly high cost of reinstating the program in five to 10 years, when you realize what a terrible mistake you made,鈥� said Dr. Karen Tritinger-Young, president of the 黑料福利社 Dental Society.

One person did voice concerns about the city's use of fluoride.

Daylene Ackerman of Selah noted that the product put into the city's water supply isn't naturally occurring fluoride, but instead is a byproduct of phosphate fertilizer production聽鈥� what she described as an "industrial waste product." She encouraged the council to look into the matter with an open mind and consider multiple sources of information.

"If someone wants to use fluoride, they can seek it out, but the population on a whole should not be involuntarily made to ingest it," Ackerman said.

Daniel Tiliano, the city鈥檚 water and irrigation divisions manager, told council members that the city pays about $35,000 a year to add hydrofluorosilic acid to its water supply at a rate of 0.7 milligrams per liter, which is the standard recommendation. The compound is also used for things like etching metal and requires safety precautions for handling, he said, but it鈥檚 commonly used across the United States.

After hearing public comments and information from staff, Council member Juliet Potrykus made a motion to postpone the item indefinitely. Potrykus said she didn鈥檛 feel she had heard enough from both sides of the argument to carry it further. She added that the council could always bring the matter back up in the future if recommendations changed.

Council member Patricia Byers expressed similar sentiments.

鈥淚t would be a deep dive into this, and would take a lot of time and a lot of expense to move forward with this if we decide to,鈥� Byers said. 鈥淚'm not sure we're ready, the city is ready. I'm not ready to put money into doing that at this point.鈥�

Byers added that she鈥檇 still potentially be open to exploring whether there are safer or more cost-effective options for fluoridation.

Council member Rick Glenn initially asked to put the conversation about water fluoridation on the agenda. However, given that the majority of people the council heard from were in favor of keeping fluoride in the water, he said he thought it wasn't an issue the council needed to move forward on right away.

The council voted 6-1 in favor of indefinitely postponing the item, with a no vote from Mayor Matt Brown.