The Monona City Council, at its May 18 regular meeting, reaffirmed its decision to remove added fluoride from the city’s water.

The council originally approved starting the process to remove added fluoride in October, at the suggestion of former mayor Grant Langhus, who cited claims of its connection to health concerns.

Langhus feared that babies, runners and other residents receive higher dosages due to their rate of consumption. He further believed added fluoridation is contributing to cancer diagnoses and other diseases, and questioned whether cavity prevention outweighed that potential impact.

The topic came up again in January, after a new mayor and council members were installed. At that time, Kiane Smith, the oral health and I-Smile coordinator for Clayton County, asked the council to reconsider due to the potential impact on those in the community—especially children—who don’t have access to regular dental care or oral health products.

Smith said tooth decay is the top preventable disease among children and that fluoridated water is an easy and more affordable way to support those efforts. She brushed off claims of fluoride’s connection to other health concerns.

Local dentists have also weighed in, advocating for added fluoride to remain.

Last week, with a 90-day evaluation period drawing to a close, city administrator Barb Collins wanted the council to voice, once and for all, how it wanted the city to proceed.

“I put it back on [the agenda] because when we voted to start the 90-day process, it was a very hard decision to get three people [to vote in favor],” she said. “Someone can make a motion if they feel we have done our due process. Or someone can make a motion to continue to have fluoride and not stop it.”

According to PeopleService operator Jared Burkle, some fluoride—roughly .4 to .5 parts per million—occurs naturally in the water. The optimal level is considered .7 ppm. So discontinuation would drop the level from .7 to .4 or .5.

He said Monona’s fluoride levels are tested quarterly.

“Roughly a pound of fluoride per day is what we’re adding,” he noted.

Burkle previously noted fluoride is a corrosive chemical and hard on equipment. Other communities are steadily discontinuing it.

“And I don’t hear about anybody bringing it in,” he told the council.

Council member Preston Landt acknowledged he was struggling over the decision. He felt a community survey, which said a majority of respondents favored removing added fluoride, did not have a large enough sample size.

“It was 1.5 percent of the population of town. So it’s a pretty small sample size compared to the size of the town,” Landt said. “I’ve looked online, read some books...I’ve searched through learning institutions and can’t find proof it’s bad for you. You can find the American Cancer Society is for it. Obviously, dentists in general are for it. Our dentist in town, who I would expect to know probably more so than anybody else, is for it.”

Council member Bill Benda felt conflicted too.

“We’re caught in between, you know,” he said.

Excluding dental professionals, Collins said no one else has come forward opposing discontinuation of added fluoride since the topic first came up.

Council member Bridget Schlein originally voted to keep added fluoride in the water but later voted not to stop the process to remove it.

She said, “At the end of the day, we’re adding something to the water that is not about water treatment. There’s a lot of data out there, and what it’s done for me is create reasonable doubt.”

She felt it was important to give people a choice on whether they wanted to consume fluoride, not to force it through the water.

The council—even Landt reluctantly—voted unanimously to continue with the removal of added fluoride from the city’s water.