A long-standing public health debate is back on tap at city hall.
Pam Killeen opposes the fluoridation of London’s drinking water and will push for city hall to discontinue the practice next week.
“It’s not ethical. You are mass medicating a population,” she says.
More than a dozen people have registered to speak at the Civic Works Committee meeting.
Killeen says her message will be simple, “We see a long history where Health Canada has taken industry-funded science and it has backfired on the consumer.”
But Dr. Chris Mackie, the Middlesex-London Health Unit’s medical officer of health, rejects those claims.
“Fluoridation is safe and effective, it prevents cavities and there are really no significant health risks.”
Mackie adds that the consequences of not adding fluoride would be significant, “Here in London we could easily see 40,000 more cavities in children over the next 10 years.
“The children who would be most affected would be the ones without dental coverage, they would end up clogging our emergency rooms and costing millions of dollars.”
London last held public meetings about fluoridation in 2012.
Opponents argue fluoride poses an unnecessary health risk.
Killeen says, “It’s a toxic chemical that is coming from the smoke stacks of the aluminum industry.”
But Mackie says the concentration of fluoride should not be a concern, “London water is safe, it’s delicious and it is healthy.”
So will London's new council have an appetite to reopen the fluoride debate?
The committee will hear from the delegations on Tuesday.
