The
largest State Legislature in the U.S., with 400 members, is poised to
be the first to pass a bill prohibiting the addition of fluoridation
chemicals to the public drinking water. After two public hearings and a
year of consideration, the Resources, Recreation, and Development
committee in the New Hampshire House of Representatives has recommended
HB611, an act abolishing fluoridation, as “ought to pass” by a
bi-partisan vote of 12-9. The bill will now go to the House floor in
January, where legislators have a history of voting with the committee
report more than 80% of the time.
HB611
was introduced in December 2020 by a bipartisan team of sponsors,
including veteran legislators and members of legislative leadership.
The prime sponsor, Rep. Leah Cushman, is a nurse who has loved
ones with dental fluorosis as a result of overexposure from community
water fluoridation. She authored a powerful OpEd prior to the public hearing last January explaining why NH residents ought to support the bill.
At
the first public hearing in January, committee members heard and
received testimony about the harms of the practice from a variety of
professionals including a pharmacist, a veterinarian, nurses, scientists
specializing in neurotoxicity, dentists, and doctors. They also heard
from many residents, including parents of children with dental fluorosis
and citizens with hypersensitivities to fluoride and concerns over
potential thyroid and kidney affects. Much of this testimony was
coordinated by the Fluoride Action Network working with local
stakeholders. Due to the pandemic slowing the legislative progress of
all bills in 2021, the bill was retained and studied over the summer.
In November, a work session was held, where committee members were
updated on the new science since the previous hearing, including a benchmark dose analysis on fetal neurotoxicity.
Of
course, the bill was not without opposition from the public health
industrial complex. Opponents included the NH Oral Health Coalition,
the NH Dental Society, and representatives of the NH Department of
Health and Human services and NH Department of Environmental services,
which oversees drinking water regulations. However, committee members
had been provided the most recent science prior to the hearing, and it
became clear to them that the opposition was relying on inaccurate and
outdated talking points and speakers had little personal knowledge of
the issue. A key moment at the public hearing occurred when I urged the
committee members to challenge opponents on the neurotoxicity
research and ask if they had actually read the studies or were relying
on statements from the American Dental Association and CDC. When asked
this very question by a member, a representative from Health and Human
services admitted he was in-fact reading talking points, but "trusted
the people and agencies that produced them."
NH
has a long and enviable history of regulating environmental toxins
years before federal agencies and corporate polluters admit harm is
being caused and take action. In 2020, the NH legislature passed a bill
requiring the lowest allowable PFOA levels in drinking water. In
previous years, they were leaders in removing MTBE from gasoline, and
banned BPA from infant bottles despite FDA and EPA assurances--since
proven wrong--that no action was necessary.
HB611 is the result of a multi-year education effort by the Fluoride Action Network. In
2012, responding to the skyrocketing rates of dental fluorosis, we put
together a sponsorship team, bill language, and a campaign that
ultimately led to the same House committee--Resources, Recreation, and
Development Committee--passing HB1416,
requiring a statement sent to all water consumers in NH’s fluoridated
communities notifying them of the CDC’s warning not to reconstitute
infant formula with fluoridated tap water, as this is when children are
at greatest risk of overexposure to fluoride. This bill was passed by
the House and Senate, and signed by the Governor. It has now been law
for the past 9 years: RSA 485:14-b.
The NH legislature’s action was prophetic, because two years later in 2014 the US Department of Health and Human Services lowered the recommended level of fluoride in public water supplies throughout
the country by 40% from 1.2ppm to 0.7ppm due to the CDC’s data showing
overexposure in fluoridated communities. Ten of NH’s public water
supplies were fluoridating at a level of 1.0ppm during this time, so our
levels dropped by 30% to 0.7ppm.
Years
later, this warning and the reality that the legislature acted
correctly despite pleas from the dental lobby, set the stage for this
years bill. Prior to voting to recommend HB611, legislators referenced
the infant warning statement, and couldn't understand why we'd continue
adding an additive that harms bottle-fed infants. They also commented
on NH being in the top three states with lowest dental decay for 3rd
graders, along with Vermont, despite both states having some of the
lowest rates of fluoridation in the country. When they compared those
rates with the states with the highest decay, they noticed most of them
have had statewide fluoridation mandates for 30+ years and are 90+%
fluoridated.
The
bill will now go to the House floor for a debate and vote. If passed,
it will then have a public hearing in a Senate committee some time in
either February or March, followed by a vote by the full Senate, then
will go to the Governor for his signature or veto. If successful, this
bill could be law by this summer.
The
best way you can help this hopefully precedent-setting effort is to
support the Fluoride Action Network. Your support will allow us to help
coordinate the best grassroots and grasstops campaign possible over the
next several months. Success in NH will undoubtedly have a
domino-effect across the country, as we're already seeing with a similar
bill having been introduced in Massachusetts and another likely to be
introduced in Hawaii. Stay tuned, as I will provide more information on
our legislative activities in future bulletins.
Thank you,
Stuart Cooper
Campaign Director
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