16 Feb 2012

USA - CBWD operator takes up anti-fluoride fight

CBWD operator takes up anti-fluoride fight
Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Becky Gillette
It is possible that customers of Carroll Boone Water District may not have fluoride added to their water after all as a result a CBWD contract with Eureka Springs, Berryville, Green Forest and Harrison that forbids the introduction of any corrosive water into distribution systems.
There are concerns that highly corrosive fluoride added to the water could leach lead from distribution pipes, which could cause lead contamination of drinking water, said René Fonseca, a licensed operator with the CBWD.

Lead is a neurotoxin harmful to infants and pregnant women that causes developmental delays in children, damages kidneys and the nervous system and interferes with red blood cell chemistry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 250,000 U.S. children 1 to 5 years-old have blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, the level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated.

Lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body. Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized.

Fonseca said experience in other areas of the country with aging infrastructure has shown that fluoride chemicals added to the water supply can result in extremely high lead levels in children. In 2004, an investigation by the CDC found that 42,000 children in Washington D.C. 16 months-old and younger had blood levels 2.4 times higher than normal.....

Old parts of Southampton have lead supply pipes.

No comments: