Harnett County leaders to discuss benefits, risks of fluoridation in water supply

WRAL learned leaders in Harnett County will discuss possible changes to its water supply, as the debate over the benefits and risks of fluoride emerges nationwide.

During an April 1 work session, Harnett Regional Water director Tommy Burns briefed commissioners on its use in the county, dating back to the 1950s.

“Fluoride is a public health additive,” Burns said. “There’s nothing about fluoride that affects our water quality process.”

According to guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ‘community water fluoridation benefits all members of a community by preventing cavities, reducing oral health disparities, and saving money for everyone.’

But debates about its effectiveness have intensified on the federal level.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared plans to tell the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide earlier in April.

He recently made remarks during a visit to the state of Utah, the first in the U.S. to ban the addition of fluoride in public drinking water.

“There is no systemic advantage, it’s zero systemic advantage,” Kennedy said. “The only advantage comes from topical application.”

Kennedy cannot order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

At April 1’s work session, commissioner Barbara McKoy insisted county leaders have a commitment to public health.

“We must protect our citizens, regardless of what’s going on in other parts of this country,” she said.

WRAL News reached out to all five commissioners to learn what prompted discussion about the fluoridation process in the county.

Harnett County commissioners meet for a regular board meeting Monday, April 21 at 6 p.m. at the Resource Center on McKinney Parkway in Lillington.