MWRA maintains a target fluoride level of 0.7 ppm to reduce tooth decay. MWRA has added fluoride since the 1970s, and continuously monitors the levels. MWRA is aware that a number of people across the country sometimes raise questions about fluoride in drinking water. MWRA intends to keep an open-minded view, keep abreast of all current scientific research on the topic and pay close attention to competing viewpoints.
Even in light of recent news reports concerning fluoride, the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend that children drink fluoridated tap water. The American Dental Association also states that it remains committed to fluoridation of public water supplies as the single most effective public health measure to help prevent tooth decay. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health strongly supports community water fluoridation as a safe, cost effective, and proven practice that promotes good oral health within our communities.
Our approach is reinforced by the views of other organizations with strong public health and medical credentials that also support fluoridation including the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets fluoride standards to guard drinking water safety. For fluoride, 4.0 parts per million is the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG), the level below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MWRA’s level of 0.7 parts per million are well below the EPA MCLG.
MWRA’s licensed drinking water treatment operators adds fluoride at its Carroll Water Treatment Plant, which serves 47 communities in eastern and metro west Massachusetts, including Boston.
MWRA gets fluoride from Univar, Inc., which manufactures it in Spruce Pine, North Carolina or Aurora North Carolina.
Fluoride is not added to MWRA's three Chicopee Valley Aqueduct (CVA) communities: Chicopee, South Hadley and Wilbraham.
The summary of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) views on fluoridation is included in the document: Achievements in Public Health, 1900 to 1999: Fluoridation to Prevent Dental Cavities. The CDC also published a report, Ten Great Public Health Achievements — United States 1900-1999 (PDF), that listed fluoridation of public water supplies to reduce dental cavities as one of the leading public health achievements of the entire century.