“IT’S POISONING US”: Naples locals want water fluoride banned.

A burgeoning movement in Naples is urging the city to eliminate fluoride from its public water supply. The campaign comes after Collier County commissioners voted earlier this year to end fluoridation of the county’s water.

At a city council meeting on Wednesday, citizens expressed alarm over fluoride’s potential health consequences, including birth deformities, joint problems, and skin irritation. They requested the city to prohibit its usage in the municipal water supply, according to a recent article by Mahmoud Bennett of FOX4.

“The City of Naples is poisoning us,” a resident told the council. “We wash our hands, we swim in the water, we splash water on our faces,” she went on to explain “It causes us harm every day,” she remarked.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that water fluoridation is safe and promotes good oral health, however there is ongoing disagreement about its potential toxicity.

“And every research study that people are promoting and saying this is great for human health, none of them say to ingest, swallow, or absorb fluoride, and it’s a known neurotoxin,” said Ashley Jenkins, a Naples resident who is leading the effort to remove fluoride.

Jenkins, who has lived in Naples for eight years, was important in convincing the county to discontinue water fluoridation in February. She now lobbies for similar action at the municipal level, where the water supply is distinct from the county’s.

“This is not something that is healthy,” Jenkins stated. “Once that material is in the water, reverse osmosis does not remove it. It’s destroying sea life just off our coast, which is completely unacceptable,” she continued.

While some local dentists and medical professionals share Jenkins’ worries, others disagree.

The Collier County Dental Association believes that community water fluoridation is both safe and effective.

“Fluoride is important in water because we absorb it systemically,” said Dr. Alexis Diaczynsky of the Collier County Dental Association. “Having fluoride in our water provides a baseline level of fluoride in our saliva that helps prevent tooth decay,” Diaczynsky tells me.

The Naples City Council agreed to examine the issue of fluoride in the local water supply at their next meeting on October 14.

This article originally appeared on FOX4.