Weighing In On Water Fluoridation in Sonoma County

Dear Sonoma County Board of Supervisors,

Before you spend any county money to research the "benefits" of fluoridated water, please go to your bathroom cabinet and read your toothpaste tube:

"Active ingredient: Sodium Fluoride
Warnings: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If more than used for brushing teeth in accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away."

The research has been done - do not ingest fluoride because it’s a poison. And that’s dental grade fluoride, not industrial grade which is actually hyrdofluorisilicic acid, a toxic waste from industry, which is what’s added to other municipal water supplies. This has never been tested for safety, and 98% of Europe has banned it.

Did you vote to require the labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms? If you did, how can you possibly be in favor of forcing every man, woman and child in Sonoma County to ingest a known poison that even toothpaste companies say DO NOT SWALLOW??

Why are you even considering taking away my right to choose what I ingest? I have a fundamental right to informed consent. I’ve done my research on fluoride, I’m informed, and I DO NOT CONSENT to being forced to consume it against my will.

What happens when our organic crops are watered with water contaminated by this untested chemical?

What happens to the milk and cheese that’s produced here when this toxic waste is added to it through the water?

What happens to our already decimated population of bees when the flowers they pollinate have been watered with industrial grade hyrdofluorisilicic acid?

On top of that, what happens to Sonoma County’s image - and revenue - when the rest of the world stops buying Sonoma County wine because you chose to dump toxic waste in the water? And "water filters" isn’t the answer. Were any water filters made for wineries with this particular toxic waste in mind?

You know, if I was doing PR and marketing for Napa Valley (or any other wine region), I’d be watching you very carefully right now. And if you decided to go ahead with this ridiculous plan, I’d be spinning it every way I could to cast a shadow over Sonoma County and re-direct a positive focus back on Napa Valley. Are you ready for the potential PR nightmare and possible loss of business and revenue that this WILDLY UNPOPULAR decision would create?

Please do not succumb to the "toothless kids" ploy. Do you know the state that has the highest levels of fluoridated water? Do you know the state that has the highest number of toothless adults? It’s the same state - Kentucky. That should tell you that there are NO benefits to adding fluoride to a municipal water supply. Drinking this toxic waste will NOT prevent cavities.

Please do not spend valuable resources - your time and all our money - on “research.”  The research has already been done. Fluoride is a poison, and WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO INGEST IT.

But, if you’re going to do this, why stop at fluoride in our drinking water? Why not add sunscreen to the water, too?

Sounds ridiculous, right?

Well, adding fluoride to a community’s water supply because kids are eating and drinking high-sugar products and getting cavities is no different than adding sunscreen to the water just because some people play all day at the beach, get sunburned, and might get skin cancer.

These are equally foolish ideas because they don’t address and resolve the CAUSE.

Use that money to educate kids on the primary CAUSE of cavities - the sugary drinks and snacks that we make available to them. Use that money to get soda machines out of schools. Use that money to educate them on making healthy choices, or to get kids to the dentist, or get dentists to the kids.

Because of my work, I can live anywhere in the world that I want to. One year ago I chose Petaluma and Sonoma County. One of the things I love about living here is that people genuinely care about the environment and about each other - at least I thought so. Please don’t shoot us all in the foot by throwing that care out the window.

I don’t want to stop buying Sonoma County wine and other local products, and I don't want to move. I really love it here.

Topical application of dental-grade fluoride might help prevent cavities. Forced internal consumption of industrial-grade toxic waste will only prevent long, healthy lives for Sonoma County residents like me, you, your children, and your children’s children, for generations to come.