Queens community board divided over issue of fluoride in drinking water

The issue of fluoride in drinking water is dividing a community board in Queens as it debates whether to pressure city and state officials to remove the chemical from New York City’s water system.

Community Board 1 – which covers all of Astoria, parts of Long Island City and Woodside – considered a motion at its monthly meeting this week that would ask elected leaders in a letter to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the removal of fluoride from drinking water. Leaving aside the scientific nuance of the debate, some members expressed skepticism over whether a local community board should be weighing in.

Antonella Di Saverio, the board's environmental and sanitation committee chair, cited a California federal judge’s ruling from September that ordered the EPA to strengthen its regulations.

“The impetus behind the letter is to raise awareness that a judge — as a result of the seven-year court case — thinks that we should be concerned with the levels of fluoride in water,” Di Saverio said.



https://gothamist.com/news/queens-community-board-divided-over-issue-of-fluoride-in-drinking-water