MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Birmingham-area water filtration company Central Alabama Water will stop adding fluoride to its drinking water, it announced recently.
The water utility company, which serves Alabamians in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Walker counties, said the decision was based on “a comprehensive evaluation of safety, infrastructure and financial considerations.”
“While we acknowledge there are strong opinions about fluoride in drinking water, this decision is based on our operational, safety and financial needs,” CEO Jeffrey F. Thompson said in a press release. “This change reduces chemical handling risks for our employees, eliminates the use of aging equipment and allows us to focus resources on delivering safe, reliable and exceptionally high-quality drinking water.”
The change in practice comes amid heightened skepticism about the safety of fluoridated drinking water, most notably from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement has repeatedly demonized fluoride, which is widely considered safe and beneficial for dental health. Florida and Utah instituted statewide bans on fluoride in drinking water last year.
Central Alabama Water said it considered “ongoing public and scientific discussion about potential health impacts from ingesting fluoride over a lifetime” but that it is not taking a position on these medical issues.
The utility also cited the $3.7 million price tag of updating its aging fluoridation equipment and $250,000 annual costs for chemical and recurring maintenance as motivation for the decision.
Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, on Monday released a letter urging CAW to reverse its decision and continue water fluoridation. He represents a part of Jefferson County.
Sellers called fluoridation “one of the most effective, safe, and equitable public health measures available.” He said it is especially important in places where families don’t have steady access to dental care.
“As a public servant and community leader, I am committed to policies that promote health, prevention, and equity,” Sellers wrote in the letter, emphasizing the scientific consensus about the safety of fluoride. “Continuing water fluoridation aligns directly with these priorities and ensures that all residents – especially our most vulnerable population – have access to a basic level of oral health protection.”
CAW said in its announcement that the decision will allow Alabamians and their health care providers to “make more individualized decisions about fluoride use.” The utility serves around 770,000 people.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin also expressed his opposition to CAW’s decision in a social media post over the weekend. He called the practice of fluoridating water “basic public health.”
“Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. It especially helps children, working families, and seniors who don’t have the luxury of perfect access to dental care. The American Dental Association has recommended it for decades. This is basic public health,” Woodfin’s post reads. “But once again, the people now running Central Alabama Water are choosing politics, cost-cutting, and culture war nonsense over the actual well-being of the people they serve.”