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MEBANE — A vote last week by Graham City Council to quit adding fluoride to the city’s water has caused a stir in Mebane and elsewhere around the county.

Graham’s vote to discontinue fluoridation was contingent on members of the Mebane City Council doing likewise. Should both boards agree, fluoride will no longer be added to the Graham-Mebane Lake water supply.

If Mebane votes to continue the use of fluoride — or simply doesn't take action on the matter — the water will continue being treated as it has for decades.

Members of the Mebane City Council meet March 4. The agenda for that meeting hasn't been set, so it’s unclear if the issue concerning fluoride will be discussed.

Mebane Mayor Glendel Stephenson said he’s received numerous emails — from area dentists, from citizens and from state health officials — about fluoridation since Graham’s vote.

“Ninety-five percent are saying, ‘Please don’t change,’” Stephenson said. “That’s the overwhelming opinion.”

He said he was surprised Graham voted on the matter before discussing it with Mebane leaders.

“We’re in a partnership,” Stephenson said. “Why make a decision like that without first communicating with the other partner? Why would you bring up something so much a public matter at a council meeting without (getting) a lot of background and make a decision?

Graham’s vote came after council members heard a presentation from the city’s utilities director, Victor Quick. He recommended the action after telling council members fluoride has been linked to some cancers and other health ills, “according to the research you believe.”

Stephenson said the feedback he’s received indicates those who oppose fluoridated water are basing their stances on flawed research. He noted that almost anything used in improper measures can prove harmful.

Arsenic, Stephenson noted, is used in some medications. Chlorine is used to clean pipes at water plants. Use either at the wrong levels, he said, and they’re deadly.

“You can’t put in 5 percent (fluoride),” Stephenson said. “It’d kill us all.”

Stephenson cited an email he received from N.C. Health Director Dr. Laura Gerald, who referred to fluoride as, “Both a safe and cost-preventive means of preventing tooth decay.” An email from Rebecca King, the state’s dental director, said fluoride was proclaimed by the Centers for Disease Control “one of the top 10 health advancements of the 20th century.”

Stephenson isn't the only one receiving those emails. Mebane Councilman Ed Hooks said he and other council members have all been on the receiving end of correspondence about fluoridation. He said only one email he’s received asks that fluoride be removed from the drinking water.

The remainder, Hooks said, have been overwhelmingly in support of keeping it ,I don’t think any of us will support getting rid of fluoride in the water,” Hooks said of council members. “I know I’m leaning toward keeping it.”

Members of the Alamance County Board of Health won’t be specifically addressing the Graham/Mebane matter when they meet Tuesday, but on their agenda is a vote on a resolution in support of fluoridated water.

Kent Tapscott, the board’s chairman, said he and other health board members have received numerous letters and emails from individuals and state leaders in support of fluoridation.

“Fluoride is really important for all the citizens,” Tapscott said.

He said the information he’s read indicates removing fluoride from water would have the greatest negative impact on lower income families, whose children don’t visit the dentist on a regular basis. Tapscott said he’s read studies that indicate the need for professional dental care increases as much as 25 percent when an individual’s water is not treated with fluoride.

“I’m not sure we’d have enough dentists in the area to take care of everyone if we removed fluoride,” Tapscott said.

Barry Bass, director of the Alamance County Health Department, said the vote concerning the fluoride resolution will come shortly after the board opens its monthly meeting – scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Alamance County Human Services Center (the former Alamance County Hospital).

BASS SAID THE cities of Graham and Mebane aren’t the only ones addressing the matter of fluoridation.

“This issue appears to be popping up across the state,” he said.

Graham Mayor Jerry Peterman said the fact the city’s board was going to address the issue of fluoridation was advertised in numerous media outlets prior to its Feb. 5 meeting.

“When we had the meeting, no one spoke,” he said.

A lack of feedback hasn’t been the case since news accounts of the board’s decision were made. Council members have been inundated, Peterman said.

“We’re getting a lot of information,” he said. “After the article came out in the paper, people started coming out.

”Peterman said he doesn't regret the board’s vote. “We were doing right with the information we had,” he said.

Peterman said he doesn't think members of the Graham board would readdress the issue, but said he plans to attend Mebane’s March 4 meeting and speak if permitted. He said going into Graham’s vote, board members knew their action would hinge on Mebane voting in a like sense. Peterman said he won’t be disappointed if members of the Mebane Council don’t follow Graham’s lead.

He said he’s heard from several local dentists who were upset by Graham’s vote. Peterman said he’s also heard from officials with the Alamance-Burlington School System who told him his board erred.

Peterman said board members decided to address the matter about six months ago when it was learned the supply of fluoride at the water plant was running low. He said they’ve got a supply of about two months remaining. Discontinuing the fluoridation program would result in an operational savings of about $12,000 to $14,000 per year.

But at last month’s meeting in Graham, Quick emphasized his recommendation to discontinue the use of fluoride was not a money-saving move, but one of health.

“The plant staff believes the addition of fluoride to our public water supply is unnecessary,” Quick said at the time. “Staff believes fluoride should be applied directly to the teeth as opposed to ingestion” from the water. “Fluoride toothpaste is a much safer and cost-effective way to reduce tooth decay.”