2011 at a glance:

13th October 2011 New Plymouth District councillors vote to end fluoridation.

28th July Hastings. Hastings District Council vote for referendum to be held inconjunction with the next local body elections in 2013

Jun 28. Taumarunui. Ruapehu Taumarnui District Council vote to stop fluoridation in the only fluoridated town in the district, Taumarunui.  Fluoridation was started in Taumarunui in the 1960s.

Jun 7. ALASKA. Momentum continues to build with last nights 5-1 vote by the Fairbanks City Council to end nearly 50 years of water fluoridation for a population of over 35,000. This came after the Council undertook its own task force which came back to the council advising that fluoridation be stopped.  See full report.

May 18. NEW YORK. Trustees of Naples Village (population 1,070) voted to end fluoridation.  Residents said the vote was the result of two dedicated local residents doing their research and making a five minute long power point presentation at a regular Trustee meeting in April.  This shows what can be accomplished by local citizens who take the time to educate local decision-makers about the dangers of fluoride.     

May 16. MICHIGAN. Mount Clemons City Council, which serves almost 17,000 residents voted to end 60 years of fluoridation.

Apr 14. ATLANTA. Citing concern that fluoridated water disproportionately harms poor citizens and black families, influential Atlanta civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Gerald Durley are calling on top Georgia legislators to repeal Georgia’s mandatory water fluoridation law.  See press release.

Feb 8. CANADA: Calgary City Council voted 10-3 to end 20 years of fluoridation. The combined efforts of informed council members and citizens coupled with good reporting from the Calgary Herald produced this stunning victory in a city of over one million. Jim Beck, MD, PhD, and co-author of the book, "The Case Against Fluoride," lives in Calgary, and was at the forefront in this battle. (See today's Calgary Herald editorial).

Feb 8. UTAH. Waterwatch of Utah challenged the Davis County Board of Health to require fluoridated public water systems to advise their users that infant formula made with with tap water could cause dental fluorosis in children.

Feb 7. OHIO. Yellow Springs City Council voted 3-1 to stop 50 years of fluoridation.

Feb 7. TENNESSEE. House Speaker and 4 Legislators ask the state's Department of Health to end its promotion of fluoridation. See press release from Dan Stockin and letter sent to the Commissioner of the Tennessee DOH.

Feb 1. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Two lawmakers have sponsored House Bill 312 that would require "public water systems which provide fluoridation to place a warning on all billing statements against fluoride-treated water for infants under the age of 12 months."

Feb 1. ARKANSAS. Water additive bill filed in legislature subtitled the Arkansas Water Additive Accountability Act. Water operators would not be able purchase additives unless toxicological studies are available. The bill also requires disclosure of the source, i.e., country of origin of such additives.

Jan 30: U.S. Black Pastors speak out against adding fluoride to drinking water. 

Jan 18. NEW YORK CITY. Bill to end fluoridation in NYC by City Council member Peter Vallone.

Jan 14. U.S. National Public Radio (NPR). For the first time in memory a balanced program on fluoridation was aired on NPR - with equal time given to Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, and Chris Neurath, Director of Research at Fluoride Action Network.

Jan 11. U.S. GOVERNMENT. The Environmental Protection Agency proposes to end the use of the food fumigant sulfuryl fluoride on the grounds that Americans are over-exposed to fluoride. This was the result of an historic decision by EPA in  granting "all of the objections" submitted over six years by the Fluoride Action Network, Beyond Pesticides, and the Environmental Working Group. The three groups were aided by their terrific pro-bono counsel Perry Wallace, a law professor at American University. We expect strong opposition from Dow AgroSciences, politicians, and the agro industry.

Jan 11. U.S. GOVERNMENT. The Oral Health Division of the Centers for Disease Control is being downgraded from a "division" to a "branch" of another department. The American Dental Association strongly objects as it will be losing its major PR mouthpiece - read their letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS.

Jan 7. U.S. GOVERNMENT. The Department of Health and Human Services proposal to lower the level of fluoride added in fluoridation schemes to 0.7 ppm because children are being overexposed to fluoride is sending shock waves around the fluoridating world.