The city of Madison will stop adding fluoride to its drinking water this summer.

Madison Utilities will “permanently” stop adding the mineral June 16, according to its website.

Natural levels of fluoride will remain in all water sources.

According to WAFF, water manager David Moore said the decision is due to costs, not because U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy has questioned the use of fluoride in drinking water.

Moore said the city of Madison spends around $14,000 every year to buy the chemical. He said the maintenance cost is significantly higher. He also said the decision was made because of the hazards in handling the chemical.

The decision will not affect residents in the city limits who reside in Limestone County. They are served by a different utility service in that county,

Madison has been adding fluoride to its water for the last 34 years.

Starting in 1962, the United States Public Health Service recommended that public water supplies contain fluoride to help prevent tooth decay.

Fluoride is now used in the public drinking water supplied to about 3 out of 4 Americans, according to the American Cancer Society website. The decision to add fluoride to drinking water is made at the state or local level.

Surface water sources (such as lakes and rivers) in the U.S. have an average level of about 0.2 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, although levels can be much higher in some places than in others.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set a drinking water standard, which is the maximum amount of fluoride allowable in public drinking water systems, of 4.0 mg/L. If someone is exposed to levels higher than this for a long time, it can cause a condition called skeletal fluorosis, in which fluoride builds up in the bones. This can eventually result in joint stiffness and pain, and can also lead to weak bones or fractures in older adults.

The EPA has also set a secondary standard of no more than 2.0 mg/L to help protect younger children from dental fluorosis. In this condition, fluoride collects in developing teeth, preventing tooth enamel from forming normally. This can cause permanent tooth staining or pitting. (This secondary standard is a guideline, as opposed to an enforceable regulation, but public water systems must tell their customers if the fluoride level goes above it.)

In the last decade, more than 100 American cities and towns have decided to stop putting fluoride in drinking water, according to some estimates.

The health benefits and risks of Madison’s decision were subjects of debate on local social media pages. A post on the What’s Happening in Huntsville, Madison, Athens page had 168 comments and 51 shares as of mid-Saturday morning.