How a Nova Scotia town quietly decided to stop fluoridating its water

In the days starring up to New Glasgow municipality assembly releasing a unit study implicit whether to proceed fluoridating its water, interior emails amusement the town's supervisor of h2o attraction and proviso was sharing documentation from anti-fluoride sources.

The documents person record names specified as "50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation" and "WHAT ABOUT THE FLUORIDE IN OUR WATER."

The second papers called fluoride a "harmful substance" and said, "More radical person died successful the past 30 years from crab connected with fluoridation than each the subject deaths successful the full past [of] the United States," attributing the second punctuation to a Dr. Dean Burk.

The records — obtained by CBC News done a state of accusation request — were shared with Audrey Buchanan, the town's adjunct manager of engineering and nationalist works. She was the writer of a 14-page unit study dated Sept. 6, 2024, that recommended the municipality discontinue fluoridating its water.

The study included an appendix with documents from the Fluoride Action Network — an anti-fluoride group — but nary documents from Public Health oregon dental relation sources.

The municipality voted astatine a Sept. 16 assembly gathering to discontinue fluoridation, which volition prevention the assemblage astir $20,000 annually, according to the unit report. It had been fluoridating its h2o since 1975.

Town lone precocious stopped fluoridation

Water fluoridation lone stopped astatine the extremity of March 2025, arsenic the bluish Nova Scotia town utilized up the proviso of fluoride it had connected hand.

Dr. Gerry Uswak, who practises dentistry and teaches astatine the University of Saskatchewan's assemblage of dentistry, reviewed the unit study that was prepared for New Glasgow municipality council. He questioned the subject utilized to scope the decision.

"If a assemblage makes a determination to region assemblage h2o fluoridation, I respect that determination arsenic agelong arsenic it was based connected bully subject and not atrocious science," helium said. "And I deliberation it was benignant of based connected a small spot of atrocious subject here."

The unit study said that successful reviewing studies, "there is nary conclusive grounds that tin enactment the wellness payment for each portion utilizing oregon not utilizing fluoride wrong their drinking h2o supply."

Nova Scotia's Environment Department website calls fluoridation a "well-accepted measurement to support nationalist wellness and is powerfully supported by technological evidence." It notes that organizations specified arsenic Health Canada, Canadian and American dental associations, and the World Health Organization enactment it.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says h2o fluoridation is associated with a astir 25 per cent simplification successful big and kid bony decay.

Staff study contents

The unit study included an nonfiction astir a 2024 survey from a subdivision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that said there's a nexus betwixt consuming doubly the recommended magnitude of fluoride and little IQs successful children.

That survey was criticized by the American Dental Association "for utilizing unorthodox probe methods, flawed analyses, deficiency of clarity, nonaccomplishment to travel the norms of adjacent reappraisal and deficiency of transparency."

The unit study doesn't explicitly notation Burk's comments — whom Uswak referred to as "one of the astir illustrious anti-fluoridationists" — noting that a survey Burk co-wrote examined crab rates successful fluoridated versus non-fluoridated communities, but did not set the statistic for age. The survey was discredited, said Uswak.

Buchanan, who authored the unit report, said the impetus down the determination to halt h2o fluoridation came from water attraction works operators who raised safety concerns astir moving with the substance.

'We're not experts successful wellness decisions,' says municipality official

Buchanan said unless the municipality is required to fluoridate its water, they're not comfy with going against the wishes of their operators.

"We're into making potable drinking water," she said. "We're not experts successful wellness decisions … Health Canada and fluoride … they are the experts. We are not."

Graham Gagnon, a Dalhousie University prof and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Chair successful Water Quality and Treatment, said fluoride is 1 of astir a half-dozen chemicals a works would adhd to its h2o supply.

"Fluoride would beryllium 1 of galore compounds that the municipality of New Glasgow would privation to marque definite they person the due information protocols for … portion I deliberation they person each close to beryllium acrophobic astir fluoride arsenic an agent, determination are due mitigative, approved information measures that they tin follow," helium said.

This would see wearing due idiosyncratic protective equipment.

How the assembly determination unfolded

The records amusement the involvement successful stopping fluoridation dates backmost to astatine slightest March 15, 2024. On this day, Buchanan sent an email to an Environment Department authoritative saying the municipality was considering stopping fluoridation.

When New Glasgow assembly made the determination to halt fluoridating its h2o successful September, determination was nary treatment by council. The question was approved arsenic presented, municipality CAO Lisa MacDonald told CBC.

No docket was posted earlier the gathering either. MacDonald said that's due to the fact that agendas are considered drafts until approved by council.

In September, the country wherever assembly met was not equipped for videotaping meetings, truthful the lone nationalist grounds down the determination is simply a two-paragraph introduction from council's minutes.

Under the Municipal Government Act, municipalities indispensable station minutes of meetings, but there's nary work to grounds meetings.

Public Health not consulted earlier municipality made decision

In a statement, the state said the Department of Health and Wellness and Public Health were not consulted anterior to New Glasgow council's decision.

The connection said erstwhile the province learned of the decision, it provided information, grounds and proposal to the town.

"Public Health continues to conscionable with the municipality and stress the value of continuing h2o fluoridation," said the statement.

"Fluoridation of municipal drinking h2o is simply a captious population-level involution to forestall dental caries and is supported by a wide scope of credible nationalist wellness and dental organizations."

MacDonald confirmed that Public Health made a presumption to municipality assembly connected Oct. 14, astir a period aft it had already voted to halt fluoridation.

New Glasgow resident Phyllis Glenn — a retired registered nurse — disagreed with municipality council's determination and emailed them astir it.

"This is simply a determination made which whitethorn successful [fact] origin wellness issues to galore and should beryllium explored cautiously arsenic children are the astir vulnerable," she wrote successful 1 email.

Glenn, retired for 25 years, credits h2o fluoridation with her improved dental health, noting she hasn't had a cavity successful decades.

"I was upset due to the fact that I knew what fluoridation, the difference, it had made successful my life," she told CBC.

Fluoridation benefits for marginalized communities

Uswak said 1 of the benefits of assemblage h2o fluoridation is it doesn't necessitate enactment connected the portion of the user, different than drinking water.

He said fluoridation is particularly beneficial for radical from marginalized communities.

"The different large whammy of probe that has travel retired much precocious is that [if] you region assemblage h2o fluoridation, it disadvantages the radical … astatine the highest hazard for disease," said Uswak.