Secure Arkansas

by Becky Gillette

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Eureka Springs alderman David Mitchell’s presentation to the Arkansas Board of Health (ABH) April 23 in Little Rock was very professional and well targeted, amounting to a shot over the bow to the health department that the citizens of Arkansas will not give up on efforts to protect drinking water quality from lead and other toxic contaminants in fluoridation chemicals, according to Jeannie Burlsworth, executive director of Secure Arkansas.

Mitchell informed the ABH that Eureka Springs will be testing the water for lead and expects the health department to enforce state laws that prohibit adding lead to drinking water.

“David’s presentation gives hope to people all over the state who are tired of our own government spending our tax money to force fluoridation on the population despite numerous studies that indicate the harm of this practice,” said Burlsworth, whose organization videotaped Mitchell’s presentation for viewing on its website, http://securetherepublic.com/arkansas/ [and at this YouTube link].

“David’s presentation was very important to document the fact that the Board of Health has been informed about toxic contaminants including lead in fluoridation chemicals, and about numerous studies that indicate fluoridation harms children’s brains leading to decreased IQ and can cause thyroid problems in adults. At some point there will probably be a lawsuit over this issue, so it is important that we have this kind of documentation.”

Burlsworth said most people in Arkansas don’t want fluoridated water but do not know where to turn since efforts in the past legislative session to overturn the fluoridate mandate for water districts failed. The local control option passed the Arkansas House by a large margin, but failed to get out of the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. Five committee members were present, which represented a quorum. There were three votes to pass the bill out of committee and two against it. But Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, chair of the committee, ruled the motion failed because there are eight members of the committee and five votes were needed to pass it out of committee.

Bledsoe, who since 2011 has accepted $6,500 in campaign contributions from dental groups, is the mother of newly appointed Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Greg Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a member of the Arkansas Board of Health, but did not attend the meeting April 23. Burlsworth said her group has been trying unsuccessfully to get a meeting with Bledsoe to discuss fluoridation. Mitchell referred to the failed local control legislation in his presentation.

“It is a shame that a few senators were able to kill a bill allowing for local option regarding the addition of fluoride,” Mitchell said. “Not only does the City of Eureka Springs NOT want fluoride added to our water supply, but the cities of Hot Springs and Fort Smith have also expressed concerns about this issue.”

Like Eureka Springs, residents in those two larger towns have voted against fluoridation. Mitchell had been invited to the board of health meeting after the city council voted unanimously to send a letter to the health department requesting enforcement of a state law prohibiting adding lead to drinking water law, and also to not require the Carroll Boone Water District (CBWD) to fluoridate until a supplier of fluoridation chemicals is found that is willing to be held liable for harm caused to people who drink the fluoridated water.

At the meeting, Mitchell presented a packet of information to the board, primarily physicians, from Carroll Boone Citizens for Safe Drinking Water that included a specification sheet from the fluoride supplier selected by CBWD, Prayon. That information shows the product can contain 50 ppm of lead. The packet also included an abstract of a recent study published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health that said the contaminant levels of lead, arsenic, barium and aluminum in fluoride additives can vary widely from batch to batch. “Such contaminant content creates a regulatory blind spot that jeopardizes any safe use of fluoride additives,” the study concluded.

At the meeting, Mitchell also raised concerns about how fluoridation chemicals combined with disinfectants can leach lead out of old plumbing pipes, which has caused lead poisoning elsewhere in the country.

“Eureka Springs has many structures that still contain lead pipes and fluoridation chemicals will leach out more lead into our water supply,” Mitchell said. “I, for instance, have an historic home built in 1883 and finally found the last lead section of pipe two years ago and had it replaced. Many structures in Eureka and the surrounding areas have homes with lead pipes still in use.

“The City of Eureka Springs will be, via our qualified and certified director of public works, randomly testing our water supply at end points of homes and businesses within the city limits for lead via an independent testing facility. Should testing show any level of lead, the city will duly report that issue at both the State and Federal level, as appropriate.”

Burlsworth said she believes Mitchell was speaking not just for people in Eureka Springs, but across the state.

“I honestly think he was speaking for 75 percent of Arkansas,” Burlsworth said. “Fluoride is definitely not welcome. It is the game of politics that is keeping fluoride alive.” Mitchell knew he had an uphill battle with the presentation, which came last on the agenda for a meeting that stretched from 10 a.m. into the lunch hour, after he read that the Arkansas Department of Health “enthusiastically” endorses fluoridation. Earlier in the meeting board members applauded the health department lobbyist after he listed preventing overturn of the fluoride mandate as one of his accomplishments.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fluoridation is safe and effective, and the practice is particularly important for low-income children without access to dental care. Mitchell quoted the mission statement of the board: To protect and improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans, and its vision statement: Optimal health for all Arkansans to achieve maximum personal, economic and social impact. He challenged the health department to live up to that mission statement and vision statement by assuring that fluoridation chemicals are safe for human consumption and external use.

“Should a water district not get that written assurance from a product supplier, they are to continue their search for a supplier that will assure the product is safe for human consumption and will not fluoridate the water for that water district until a supplier is found,” Mitchell said.

The packet of information also contained personal letters from two local residents, Alexa Pittenger and Natalie Mannering, who are concerned about how fluoride can deplete iodine from the body causing thyroid problems. Both have thyroid conditions. A recent British study published in Epidemiological Community Health found that residents of fluoridated areas have twice the levels of hypothyroidism as non-fluoridated areas.

Residents of Eureka Springs have been fighting fluoridation for 30 years, but it now appears fluoridation will start within the next two weeks.

– – – – –

You may also read the article online here.

Be sure to forward this email to your family and friends!

They may also sign up to receive our Action Alerts by clicking here.

Local control of water and our freedom from fluoride poison are important!