By NICOLE CARTRETTE

Whiteville City Council is undecided about adding fluoride to the water.

Dr. Randolph Matthews, a Whiteville pediatrician, asked council to approve. a grant request for funds to implement a water fluoridation program in Whiteville at the June 27 budget hearing.

City council decided more information was needed about the program after Azure Spivey, head of the water department, presented information that suggests fluoridation of ground water is not recommended. He explained most municipalities that fluoridate water have one point of entry.

Whiteville’s water system has multiple wells at different water levels. The variation from well to well would require different amounts to be added to the respective sites.

The expense of handling and properly administering the program may be more than the water budget and current staff can handle, Spivey said. “We have asked for another employee (for what we handle now), and still haven’t got one yet,” he said.

Spivey estimates the start-up cost to be $40,193.

Employee safety is in question. “Its hazardous for people who handle it,” Spivey said as he passed out a detailed list of additional protective equipment the city would need to buy.

“Its more corrosive than chlorine or anything else,” he said.

Councilman Robert Leder moved to table the action and the motion was seconded by Howard Jones. The council requested that Spivey bring more information back to the council at its July meeting.

Eager to do something about the large number of children he has seen with rotten teeth in his pediatric practice, Matthews is advocating that fluoride be added to Whiteville’s water supply to prevent tooth decay.

He met with other local supporters last month to discuss approaching city council with the issue.

Two-thirds of U.S. municipalities add the cavity-fighter to water, and Matthews believes it is crucial to dental health. He told council fluoridation of water is safe at recommended levels and noted that some cities have been doing it for 60 years with no detrimental effects.

The only known risk of excessive fluoride usage is a mild cosmetic effect of “white lacy markings across the tooth’s surface” – fluorosis, Matthews said.

Matthews’ plans are to request federal grant funding to implement the fluoride program, with council’s approval.

Two and a half years ago Matthews joined forces with other medical professionals and began an unsuccessful movement for adding fluoride to the county water supply.

The American Dental Association, U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), among others, recommend fluoridation.

The recommended level is 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million –comparable to “1 cent in $10,000,” says the ADA.

North Carolina is ranked 18th in fluoridation, according to a 2002 CDC report that indicated 84.6 percent of the state was on fluoridated water systems.