KENNEBUNK — A group of citizens determined to see fluoride removed from the water supply of several towns in York County have suspended their campaign ”“ for now.

With the goal of sending the matter to voters in November, Jan Hanson and Micky Bergman had approached several boards of selectmen governing the towns serviced by the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District with a simple message: Too much fluoride is bad for people’s health. The pair had spearheaded an initiative to disseminate information they say backs that claim, and to have residents in seven towns ”“ Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells, Ogunquit, Arundel, and parts of Biddeford and York ”“ decide for themselves at the polls.

But a special meeting of the board of selectmen in Kennebunk was canceled on Tuesday, and Bergman said it was largely due to timing. The boards of the relevant towns indicated that it may take several meetings to discuss the issue before deciding on whether to place it on the ballot. While affirmative votes were needed in only four of the seven towns, the anti-fluoride campaign’s midsummer start has made it impossible to garner the necessary municipal support in advance of November’s election, organizers said.

“The unfortunate timing and lack of education about fluoridation was going to tank our initiative,” said Bergman.

She indicated that she may once again be willing to fight for her cause in the future, given the requisite community support for her efforts.

Earlier this month, Hanson cited information provided by the Fluoride Action Network, an organization with a large Internet presence, which claims a number of different health risks associated with the infusion of fluoride in public water supplies. A document provided by FAN claims that the benefit of the compound is topical, not systemic, and that an overabundance of it may damage the brain, lower the IQ of children, affect thyroid functions, and exacerbate arthritis and bone damage in the elderly, along with other maladies.

Joseph Kenneally, a Biddeford dentist, as well as past president of the Maine Dental Association and vice president of the American Dental Association, has argued passionately against those claims, asserting that the fluoridation of public water has the backing of sound science. Citing the World Health Organization and ADA as his sources, Kenneally said that community water fluoridation has been found to prevent about 25 percent of tooth decay in children and adults.

In the early to mid-1980s, Kenneally led a campaign to introduce fluoride to the water supply in Biddeford and Saco; he said that since then, he has seen an overall decrease in instances of tooth decay among his patients. Recent upticks in the number of cavities he sees at his practice, he said, are attributable mainly to non-fluoridated bottled water and sugary drinks.

Kenneally said in mid-July that he hopes the public isn’t swayed by what he calls “misinformation” propagated by the Fluoride Action Network.

“Unfortunately, they’re all over the Interrnet,” he said. “And that’s the downside of the Internet: Just because it’s on there, doesn’t mean it’s true.”

The end of Hanson and Bergman’s anti-fluoride crusade came as a disappointment to the KKWWD, according to superintendent Norm Labbe. While the water district was not actively involved in any campaigning, it had thrown its public support behind the removal of fluoride from the public water supply.

“We have been working with fluoride for almost a dozen years,” said Labbe on Wednesday. “I’ve done a lot of research on it, because as water professionals, we want to know what we’re putting into the water.

“(Fluoride) has nothing to do with the safety of the water or quality of the water.”

Removal of fluoride would have saved the water district roughly $20,000 in annual operating costs. But Labbe said that public health, and not cost, was the KKWWD’s primary motivation in supporting the anti-fluoride initiative.

Bergman said she’ll feel out public sentiment before embarking on a new campaign.

“If people want us to renew our efforts, we will,” she said.

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 319 or [email protected].