Conservation commissioner urges council to reconsider water fluoridation after split vote at commission

Julian Shepherd, a member of Binghamton's Conservation Commission, told the City Council during public comment that the commission voted 5–4 to send a resolution recommending the city stop fluoridating the drinking water supply.

Shepherd said the commission’s recommendation drew significant opposition within the panel and that he personally voted against the resolution because he believed it was too strong and the commission had not consulted enough outside experts before sending it to council. He urged council members to “give it careful consideration and consult, more authorities than we did about the issue,” and specifically said he had since spoken with the county medical director, Dr. Lazarus Carey.

Shepherd summarized the issue by noting the city fluoridates at 0.7 parts per million and that studies linking fluoride to neural development effects largely report associations at substantially higher concentrations (he cited studies and recent meta-analyses that identify effects at levels around 2 parts per million). He also noted that the Centers for Disease Control and the American Public Health Association support community water fluoridation as a longstanding public-health measure.

Shepherd asked council to solicit input from the county health department, the medical director and dental associations before deciding whether to act on the conservation commission’s resolution. The conservation commission's resolution was the subject of Shepherd’s remarks; the council did not take any formal action on the resolution at this meeting.

Shepherd also served earlier in the meeting as a reappointed member and was named chair of the Conservation Commission in the appointments announced by the council.

The council did not vote on any ordinance or policy change regarding water fluoridation at the Jan. 28 meeting.