ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Legislation to add fluoride to Albany’s drinking water is on the table. If passed, the capital city would join neighboring Schenectady and Troy, which have fluoridated their water for years.
"I was not aware that Albany did not have fluoridation in the water," said Steve Shafer, a Pine Hills resident. "As far as a question of fluoridation versus not, I don’t have any opposition to it.”
If you look for opposition, you can find it from a group called the Fluoride Action Network based in Binghamton.
"I think you deserve clean, safe drinking water for all," said Stuart Cooper, FAN's Executive Director, "and if people want fluoride, there’s no shortage of it. You can get cheap, abundant fluoride from topical applications.”
According to Whitney Young Health Director Dr. Katie Rothas, topical fluoride options like toothpaste and varnish serve a completely separate and different purpose than fluoride in drinking water, which can improve dental health for kids whose teeth haven’t come in yet.
“The teeth are technically still present in the mouth, but they’re underneath the gum line," Dr. Rothas explained, "and so the consumption of drinking water with fluoride allows for that absorption while those tooth buds are developing.”
Dr. Rothas said she’s often able to tell where a patient is from based on their teeth and whether that city has fluoride in its water.
Former Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen is also advocating for fluoridation to benefit children's dental health in Albany.
“We know that, that can impact them as they go through life. It impacts learning, it impacts career trajectory, it impacts general health," Dr. Whalen said, "and this is the best way we can get these kids protected.”
Tim Hoey, the common council member who brought the legislation forward, said the city needs to do an environmental review, and then it will go to the council for vote. It has overwhelming support; 13 of the 15 council members are co-sponsors.
Joe Coffey, Albany's Water Commissioner, explained that implementing fluoride in the city's water supply is "not difficult to do." He said the department would have to ensure it is safely handling the fluoride, which is metered into the system with a metering pump.
Coffey added it wouldn't be a major operational expense for the water department, and he would not have to hire additional personnel. However, he said the process it takes to implement fluoride in the water means if it were to theoretically be approved now, the city would likely not have fluoridated water until 2025.
