Greens councillor Vanessa Ekins wants a state review of fluoridated water supply Greens councillor Vanessa Ekins. FIRST local, then state - the Greens councillor behind Lismore's fluoridation ban now wants her party to "repeal or review" the state government act governing the practice. Mum of two Vanessa Ekins, whose motion was carried 6-4 a fortnight ago, said she was not convinced fluoride was safe. Fluoride was first added to the water supply in Yass after the government passed the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Act 1957. "In the 1950s we thought DDT was safe, we thought amalgam in our teeth was safe, we thought lead was safe, so there is 60 years of science that has occurred since that decision was made by the state government, so it's time we review that decision," she said. At our next state delegates conference I'm going to ask all of our Green MPs to put up a members bill asking for an independent review of the 1957 fluoridation of the water supplies act. Cr Ekins rejected the weight of scientific evidence in favour of fluoridation - and said she believed it could impact on the heart and skeletal system. "I believe there is some benefit to the topical application to the teeth, I use fluoride toothpaste and I take my kids to the dentist and they have fluoride treatment there, what we're talking about fluoride in the water is putting it in our bodies," she said. If we're doubtful of the impact of fluoride on the body, let's not do it. Children in northern NSW have almost three times the cavities at age six compared to those growing up in fluoridated water supply areas. "You're talking about medicating an entire population of people so that you can target a small group of low socio-economic kids that don't have access to cheap dental care and don't have good dental hygiene, so to me the solution is provide education about drinking water, healthy diet and provide cheap dental care," Cr Ekins added. She also accused the state government of a cost-shifting exercise when it scrapped free dental clinics in schools. "They used to come and check their teeth in year two, year four and year six, it was a fantastic program, and if they needed care, they were referred to the dental clinic," Cr Ekins said. And then in 2006 we were starting to be lobbied to add fluoride to the water supply and at the same time I noticed the school dental program wasn't being run anymore. It was a classic case of cost shifting by the government. They are scrapping an effective school program and trying to shift the cost onto our local community and expecting us to pay to put a chemical in the water supply. Cr Ekins, a trained science teacher, also said she did not immunise her two sons now aged 14 and 16 because she feared immunisation was not safe either.