wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1251 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that:
Public health is essential to Washington state residents of all ages and ethnicities and that balancing public water systems with an optimal level of fluoride is a proven mechanism for reducing health disparities affecting people at all stages of life;
More than 75 years of practice has shown that fluoridated water promotes community oral health and prevents oral disease and dental cavities. When tap water is fluoridated, people experience 25 percent less tooth decay over a lifetime. Today, while roughly 74 percent of the people in the United States are served by public water systems that have effective levels of fluoride, only 56 percent of Washingtonians receive the same benefit, leaving 44 percent of our residents without a basic public health benefit tool to help prevent dental cavities and oral disease;
Providing effective levels of fluoride in public water is a meaningful way to bridge societal inequities that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. In Washington, third graders from low-income households suffer tooth decay at twice the rate of children from higher-income households. Hispanic, American Indian, and Alaska Native children have a 50 percent higher rate of tooth decay than the general population;
Oral health inequities affect people at all stages of life and from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Children with dental problems are more likely to miss school and teens with recent dental pain are four times more likely to earn lower grades. Low-income adults are more likely to say the condition of their teeth impacted their ability to interview for a job. Adults missing teeth are less likely to do well in job interviews and seniors without teeth are at risk for malnutrition;
Preventing oral health disease through fluoridation is cost-effective for all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. In the United States, dental services are the third highest medical expenditure for families, and the United States centers for disease control and prevention estimate that communities with fluoridated water save an average of $32 per person per year in prevented dental treatment costs; and
The global pandemic will exacerbate the long-term racial and socioeconomic disparities in health care, education, job attainment, job stability, and wage growth, and that implementing effective fluoridation in public water systems is essential to public health and the continued economic vitality of the state of Washington.
A public water system that considers discontinuing fluoridation of its water supply on a continuing basis shall seek and receive the most current information about the public health impacts of community water fluoridation from the department and its local health jurisdiction at least 90 days prior to a vote or decision on the matter.
After meeting the requirements of receiving information from the department in subsection (1) of this section, a water system that considers discontinuing fluoridation shall notify its customers of its intentions at least 90 days prior to a vote or decision on the matter. Notification to customers must include information received from the department on the public health impacts of discontinuing fluoridation as required in subsection (1) of this section. The water system shall notify its customers via radio, television, newspaper, regular mail, electronic means, or any combination of notification methods which most effectively notifies customers at least 90 days prior to any meeting at which the vote or decision will occur. Any public water system that violates the notification requirements of this subsection shall return the fluoridation of its water supply to its previous optimal level until proper notification is provided under the provisions of this section.