The city of Wichita has an important decision to make. This decision is vital to each and every person living in or around Wichita. It will affect many people and will adversely affect their health in many ways. Many people have been to a convenience store and purchased a bottle of water, or a restaurant where they ordered a glass of water but few people ever consider what’s in the water. If a customer were to order a glass of water at a restaurant they would expect a glass of clean unadulterated water. For example when you order a glass of tea, several questions are going to follow. “Sweet or Unsweet?”, “Would you like a lemon in your tea”. Almost each and every drink ordered at a restaurant would have a few basic questions with the exception of water. There is not a single question or modification that can or should be made to water. However, what if the waiter asked you, “Do you want some chemical in your water?” Many people would be shocked or even confused on how or what to answer. Still you have another group of people that would firmly say no, and those people may even wonder if they chose the right establishment to patronize. This is the decision that the city of Wichita is pondering. This decision is to decide whether or not to add the chemical, fluoride to the water supply.
Fluoride is usually found naturally in low concentration in drinking water and foods. The concentration in seawater averages 1.3 parts per million (ppm). Fresh water supplies generally contain between 0.01–0.3 ppm, whereas the ocean contains between 1.2 and 1.5 ppm. In some locations, the fresh water contains dangerously high levels of fluoride, leading to serious health problems. (Wikipedia, 2012) Now if some location of the world have dangerously high levels of fluoride then it would be safe to say that fluoride in abundance is dangerous. This statement would then lead to the question, “Why would this be a hard decision at all?”
The level of fluoride in the water should be left to nature itself. There are two genuine reasons why adding fluoride to the water is ridiculous. The first reason is water fluoridation is a form of mass medication. All humans need water to survive and therefore all humans living off of the Wichita water supply would have to give consent. This decision cannot be a majority decision but must be a unanimous decision. There is no guarantee that water suppliers can accurately control the levels of fluoride that individuals receive and thus cannot monitor their response. (Wikipedia, 2012) For example the proponents of water fluoridation argue that it is better for the overall dental health of the population. There has been no firm evidence that a population with fluoride in the water has better dental health than a population without. Also as stated previously it is a fact that a high level of fluoride in the water can be dangerous. This fact also raises the question of what about certain types of people and professions that consume more water than an average person. These examples would include athletes, hard labor workers and infants who drink nearly twice the amount of water than that of an average person. In the United Kingdom one political party refers to fluoride as a poison. The political party also claims that water fluoridation violates Article 35 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, is banned by the UK poisons act of 1972. The most important reason for a water supply not to be fluoridated is that it is unethical to force a medication onto people. Fluoridation of water has not shown reduction of the incidence of cavities. However, Topical fluoride in toothpaste and mouthwash has been shown to work. Simply put the fact remains that ingestion of fluoride has not shown result so improved dental health.
The second reason that fluoridation of water should not be performed is that the medication will be administered to all people that drink water regardless of age, health or vulnerability. In November 2006, the American Dental Association advised parents to avoid giving fluoridated water to babies. (Chow, 2008) Fluoride also has been defined as a neurotoxin, and it may also affect the intelligence of the child. Increased studies have shown the possibility of fluoride to all affect hormonal systems and endocrine systems. These studies also determined that fluoride can have an impact on the IQ of children who are still developing.