Calabasas : Water Agency Won’t Oppose Fluoride Bill

A regional water agency has decided not to oppose a proposed bill before the Legislature that would require water districts to add fluoride to potable water.

However, officials of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District said this week they do not endorse a suggestion by an Agoura Hills dentist that the district add fluoride to drinking water sold to customers.

The district maintains that would not be worth the expense because less than 1% of the water sold by the district is actually consumed by people. Further, district officials argue, studies show that fluoride may cause impotence and even cancer.

Jonathan Ziv, a dentist who has practiced in Agoura Hills since 1979, said that adding fluoride to water would help prevent tooth decay. He said the practice has been endorsed by the California Dental Assn., the American Dental Assn. and the U.S. Public Health Service.

Ziv charges that the district lags behind much of the nation, where many water suppliers have been adding fluoride for the past 50 years. Overall, he said, 60% of the communities in the United States add fluoride.

Assembly Bill 733, which would require all water districts with more than 10,000 service connections to add fluoride, has passed the Assembly and is to be considered by the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

Water district officials said they would support the bill if it were amended to give water agencies discretion on whether to add fluoride. But Ziv said that would defeat the bill’s purpose.