BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Tucked inside aBuffalo Water report is a troubling statistic. City residents have not had fluoride in their water for eight years, as first reported by the Buffalo News' Charlie Specht. Several pages into this year's report, you'll see the note, "since June 22nd, 2015 fluoride has not been added to your drinking water."
The same message was in all reports after 2015, but some also made mention of "fluoride restoration dates" which stopped after the 2019 report. For almost ten years now, Buffalo Water customers haven't had fluoride in their drinking water. Buffalo Water chairperson, Oluwole McFoy said they needed to upgrade the system.
"It was a messy system," he said.
McFoy said they use a powder process to put in fluoride. When they received a grant to switch from powder to liquid, they put a halt to the change. This was during the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and McFoy wanted to ensure that this swap wouldn't harm the drinking water. McFoy called for the University at Buffalo to study the switch to see if this would be safe.
"So we want to make sure while we're enhancing our system that we were doing it the right way," McFoy said.
McFoy said they notified customers about this change in their water quality reports, which were no longer mailed to customers after about 2018. 7 News' Kristen Mirand asked him if he thinks he should've kept customers better informed.
"I think in hindsight, you know, maybe we could have put more things out on that. but we've done the due diligence on this. and, you know, our main concern always is public health and safety," he said.
Fluoride in your drinking water is one of the most effective ways to ingest it, according to general pediatrician Dr. Sarah Ventre.
"It is safe, efficient and cost-effective way to prevent tooth decay and actually has been shown to reduce tooth decay by almost 30 percent," Dr. Ventre said.
Dr. Ventre said fluoride is crucial for your dental health, especially for kids and older adults.
"If you don't have fluoridated water, there is an increased risk of dental caries," she added.
Still, this issue with Buffalo customers points to a larger problem. Dr. Ventre said it's a health disparity, especially for kids who can't get to the dentist.
"Untreated dental caries are substantially more prevalent among kids and the low-income and below the poverty level," Dr. Ventre said.
Now with customers still without fluoride, McFoy said the goal is to get it back into your water by the end of 2023.
"Now, we're in the design phases where we're moving forward to get that done so that we have this back in service," McFoy said.
7 News' Kristen Mirand reached out to Mayor Byron Brown's office about this but was told he is out of town at a conference. When Mirand followed up and asked if the city has any comment, she never received a response.
Mirand was also told Councilman David Rivera is sending a letter to be filed with the council that will ask Buffalo Water to answer questions about this matter at a later council meeting.
