By james art 
Salt Lake City (Kutv) – A heated debate broke out in Utah to fluorine drinking water.
Two counties, Salt Lake and Davis, have added fluoride to their water supply.
Rep.
“This comes down to personal freedom when it comes to what medicines you want to put into your body,” said Grisius.
She referred to a court ruling in California of 2024, where a judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take action, stating that the fluoride “causes an unjustified risk of injury to health.”
Dentist and naturopathic doctor Cole Griffin is among those who are advocating to remove fluoride from water.
“We should not add this to our water supply. It is not useful to teeth and causes so much harm,” Griffin said.
However, Brent Larson, a four decades of experience in the Salt Lake area, disagrees.
“This is one of the largest health programs we have,” Larson said.
He noted that during decades, he can easily identify patients who have had fluoride in their water through how their teeth look.
“The children entered my office and would have six, eight, sometimes 10 cavities,” he said.
Fluoride opponents refer to studies suggesting a link between high fluoride levels and reduced intelligence ratio in children, as well as other cognitive effects. Griffin said fluoride causes “brain damage”.
Larson, who has explored fluoride widely, claims that these studies include fluoride levels three to six times higher than what we have in drinking water.
“This is really safe. There are no studies to show that at the level in which we put fluoride in the water, there is some problem at all. And over 7,000 studies have been made,” he said.
Grisius, although it does not comment on the validity of health risks, emphasized the importance of individual choices.
Her bill also offers the provision of fluoride supplements available by prescription.
“Every time we have this risk, we have to introduce an individual choice,” she said.
Approximately 1.5 million people in Utah receive fluorinated water. Larson warned that removal of fluoride could lead to significant dental costs.
“Which can be thousands and thousands of dollars and hours and hours in the dental chair,” he said.
However, Grisius believes that fears about the effects on the health of the oral cavity are exaggerated.
“You will not see how everyone’s teeth fall. I think it will be fine,” she said.
Organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Pediatrics support water fluorination.
“The best and most bright minds in Bulgaria are in support of the fluorization of water in the community,” Larson said, claiming that true science is on the side of the fluoride.
The legislative debate on Grisius’s bill began last week in January.
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