Recommended fluoride level

Recommended fluoride level

ATLANTA

In a remarkable turnabout, federal health officials say many Americans are getting too much fluoride, and it’s causing splotches on children’s teeth and perhaps other, more-serious problems.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans Friday to lower the recommended level of fluoride in drinking water for the first time in nearly 50 years, based on a fresh review of the science.

The announcement is likely to renew the battle over fluoridation, even though the addition of fluoride to drinking water is considered one of the greatest public-health successes of the 20th century. The U.S. prevalence of decay in at least one tooth among teens has declined from about 90 percent to 60 percent.

Oil still fouling Louisiana marshes

PORT SULPHUR, La.

Federal and Louisiana officials got into a heated argument Friday over the cleanup of oiled marshes during a tour of an area that remains fouled 81/2 months after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

State and Plaquemines Parish officials took media on a boat tour of Barataria Bay, pointing out an area where oil continues to eat away at marshes and protective boom is either absent or has been gobbled up by the oil. The heavily saturated area that reporters saw was 30 feet to 100 feet wide in sections. No cleanup workers were there when reporters toured the area.

The marshes are critical to the Louisiana coast because they protect the shore from hurricanes and serve as a nursery for Gulf sea life.

“This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America,” Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told reporters, gesturing with his gloved right hand, which was covered in oil.

“Clearly there is oil here in the marsh, but we are working as a team to find a best way to clean it up,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer. “It’s a high priority.”

GOP event criticized by groups, Dems

WASHINGTON

Democrats and congressional watchdog groups accused Republicans on Friday of illegally holding a campaign fundraiser in the Capitol complex during this week’s swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers.

One group said it would ask House ethics officials to investigate, but there were no immediate indications that they would take formal action.

A spokesman for the GOP congressman who sponsored the event denied that he had used it to raise campaign money and said funds collected were for the costs of buses that ferried people to the reception.

NYC overprepares for new snowfall

NEW YORK

New York City came out overprepared Friday for a weak storm that delivered just a few inches of snow — not enough to plow in most places and likely not enough for the mayor to redeem himself from a disastrous response to a post- Christmas blizzard.

Flakes melted onto wet streets as snowplows — some equipped with global-positioning devices since the blizzard foul-up — and salt spreaders sat idle in neighborhoods all over the city.

By nightfall, the National Weather Service reported the highest accumulation citywide was 2 inches in Queens, a mere dusting compared with the holiday storm that dumped 29 inches in Staten Island, 2 feet in Brooklyn and 20 inches in Central Park.

Associated Press