The ongoing war in Iran has placed a strain on global supply chains, impacting drinking water for communities in Maryland. The fluoride levels in water have been temporarily reduced by two major water systems serving Baltimore and Washington D.C. metropolitan suburbs.
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission announced that they are reducing the fluoride concentration in water for Montgomery County and Prince George’s County at the start of April. The following week, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works announced they would also reduce the fluoride levels in their water systems.
Both water systems serve about 1.8-1.9 million residents in their respective communities. Baltimore City’s DPW water systems would also affect residents in Baltimore County and Howard County, who purchase their water from the city.
The water systems adjusted the fluoride content from the federally recommended 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/L) to 0.4 mg/L at their respective water treatment plants. The decision was brought on by national supply chain constraints of hydrofluorosilicic acid, the compound used to fluoridate drinking water to prevent cavities.
Supply chain background
The conflict in the Middle East is credited with disrupting domestic production and output of hydrofluorosilicic acid from world producers, according to the WSSC press release. The US-Israel war with Iran and the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz have impacted U.S. fluoride levels, as Israel is one of the major global suppliers of the compound.
The majority of inorganic acids purchased by the U.S., like hydrofluorosilicic acid, are sourced from international producers. Israel is one of the largest exporters of inorganic acids in the world, according to a 2022 risk assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Companies make the compound in overseas factories, as domestic factories are limited. U.S. suppliers import and deliver the product in tanker trucks to U.S. water treatment plants in liquid form.
WSSC Water will continue to receive shipments of the compound, but at a reduced volume, according to the WSSC press release in April.
Other Shortages
Global disruptions have caused delays in chemical treatments in water before. But unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, the current shortage of the chemical is resulting in intentional reductions in chemical usage.
In March, Pennsylvania reported similar fluoride shortages for Lititz Borough in Lancaster County and Hanover Borough in York County’s water systems. The lack of suppliers led the boroughs to consider a temporary pause in fluoride use, but both cases were resolved within weeks.
Despite WSSC filtration plants drawing from the Potomac River, WSSC has not attributed the current sewage water spillage to affecting their systems’ fluoridation and its reduction.
“They’re not reducing fluoride because of a localized reason; it’s due to their dependence on one supplier,” said Antoinette Barber, communications director of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Barber told Capital News Service that WSSC and Baltimore DPW made a unique decision to cut down on the compound in water instead of cutting it out completely.
In Maryland, 93.7% of residents served by public water systems are provided with fluoridated tap and drinking water. Despite the community fluoridation, there are still water system plants in the affected counties that have not announced concentration reductions.
The city of Rockville, in Montgomery County, has its own separate water system that serves 70% of the city, or about 52,000 people. All other areas of the city receive their water through WSSC.
While the city also draws water from the Potomac River, the city did not announce a fluoride concentration reduction like WSSC. Rockville’s water fluoride concentration is already below the U.S. recommendation of 0.7 mg/L.
Capital News Service’s data analysis compared the fluoride concentration levels for each fluoridated public water system plant serving Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County.
Before the reduction announcements, WSSC and Baltimore City’s water treatment plants detected average fluoride levels ranging from 0.7 to 1.41 mg/L during their respective sample tests since 2021. In contrast, Bowie’s and Rockville’s water systems have consistently detected fluoride levels lower than the recommended level of 0.7 mg/L.
The recent fluoride reductions for WSSC and DPW water allow their water systems to contribute to the state’s community water fluoridation, without cutting out the compound completely. Community water fluoridation is the process of adjusting the amount of fluoride in drinking water to a level recommended for preventing cavities.
Maryland actively participates in community water fluoridation, with approximately 95% of its population served by public water systems receiving fluoridated water, according to the state’s water fluoridation plan. This percentage is higher than the national participation, which sits at 72% of the country’s population served by community water systems, according to the CDC.
Fluoride is not a required additive by the EPA, which regulates drinking water and provides recommendations. The addition is decided on a state and local level.
Despite the systems’ fluoride treatment reductions, the drinking water remains safe, says WSSC and Baltimore in their press releases.
WSSC Water’s Director of Production Ben Thompson says they aim to maintain quality drinking water with hopes to restore optimal fluoride levels as soon as supply conditions stabilize. But the timeline remains unclear.