Locals call it the “Switzerland of Maine” for its breathtaking mountains and picturesque waters, yet Dedham is just one of a cadre of communities in The Pine Tree State where tap water may not be as safe as it appears. 
 
 Like the majority of the state, many of Dedham’s denizens rely on private wells for the water they drink, bathe in and perhaps use to make infant milk formula. But the water trickling from the tap—unlike water from its public water sources—goes untested and is not subject to any state or federal guidelines. And although homeowners are encouraged to get their water regularly tested to ensure that worrisome levels of bacteria or naturally occurring minerals have not crept in, many residents do not follow that advice. 
 
 Yet newly available data, released in recent months, indicates that in some 10 communities in the state wells harbor dangerously high levels of fluoride. In some cases, the wells contain more than double the level that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the acceptable maximum exposure level. 
 
 In small quantities fluoride is known for helping to tamp down the blight of tooth decay; most municipalities in the U.S. add it to their water supplies as a public health measure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes water fluoridation as one of the top 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. 
 
 But at higher levels, fluoride can lead to pitted teeth and discoloration. It also makes bones brittle and more prone to fractures. And recent studies have also linked high levels of fluoride exposure with IQ deficits. A 2012 review article examined some two dozen relevant studies performed outside the U.S.—mostly in China but also a couple in Iran—and found that high fluoride exposures reduce children’s IQs by an average of about seven points. (The studies did not all account for exposures to other potentially harmful substances such as lead, but the sheer volume of them does raise concerns about this association.) 
 
 Mainers may be sipping similar amounts of fluoride. “The sort of levels we’re talking about that are high in China are the sort of levels we see in some private wells,” says Andrew Smith, Maine state toxicologist. 
 
 In Dedham, for example, data from 37 wells indicates that 37.8 percent of that water is above the state’s maximum exposure guideline for fluoride. Dedham is not alone: in Surry, Prospect, Franklin, Sedgwick, Penobscot, York, Harrison and Stockton Springs, more than 10 percent of the wells appear to have fluoride levels higher than the state cutoff. The level of potential fluoride exposure encountered by residents may be even higher when factoring in fluoride exposures from dental rinses and toothpaste. 
 
 The new data on fluoride levels in Maine water is not from a random sampling of homes in Maine nor is it complete. The data comes from homeowners who voluntarily sent water samples into state labs for testing, which potentially skews the sample. But it does provide the first snapshot of what may prove to be a larger problem. 
 
 The state’s suggested limit of two milligrams per liter is half of the EPA limit but many public health advocates argue that limit is far too high. The agency is currently considering lowering its cutoff for fluoride exposure, although it does not expect to have completed its review of the issue until 2016. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed adding fluoride to water in concentrations no greater than 0.7 milligram per liter to avoid any unwanted health effects. 
 
 Why are the Maine levels so high? Geology. Granite—especially certain kinds such as alkali and peraluminous granites—contains high levels of fluoride, boosting the chances of wells drawing it from that water. Certain other New England states such as New Hampshire (known as "The Granite State”) and Rhode Island may also have private wells at risk because they, too, sport large amounts of the potentially problematic rock. 
 
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 People living in areas with high fluoride concentrations can take steps to mitigate the problem—but it is an open question whether they will. Countertop filters like Brita pitchers are not effective but advanced technology such as reverse osmosis systems (which may start around $150 per unit) will capture much of the fluoride. 
 
 Unfortunately even people whose water is contaminated with far more harmful chemicals frequently take no action. Researchers recently surveyed residents of central Maine whose well water contains high levels of arsenic—an odorless, tasteless element that can cause maladies including cancer, blindness and numbness in hands and feet. They reported that 27 percent of those Mainers did nothing about it. When asked why not, people reported a lack of concern about arsenic and reluctance to pay for any mitigating action. 
 
 The potential health concerns around arsenic are so much better publicized than fluoride, suggesting that fewer people will protect themselves from excessive fluoride concentrations. Yet Mainers should. “The studies of high fluoride should be taken seriously,” says Harvard University environmental health professor David Bellinger. “We have a long history of first identifying adverse effects at high levels and then, with further and better studies, discovering that there are adverse effects [milder] at levels that we thought were okay.” ||||| Tests done on private wells in one-quarter of Maine towns found pockets of dangerously high fluoride levels, particularly in Hancock County. 
 
 While low levels of fluoride prevent tooth decay and promote oral hygiene, high fluoride levels, if unaddressed, have been found to cause pitted teeth and brittle bones. Some studies also have linked excessive fluoride levels to IQ deficits in children. 
 
 The survey, in which about 25 percent of all Maine towns participated, was reported by Scientific American magazine Wednesday. The results showed that Dedham in northern Hancock County had the highest percentage of wells that tested above state guidelines, at 37.8 percent. According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the tests, 37 private wells were tested in Dedham. 
 
 In fact, eight of the 10 towns that had dangerously high levels were in Hancock County. The cluster in Hancock County is likely attributable to a high level of granite in the area, which contains a lot of fluoride, according to Robert Marvinney, director of the Maine Geological Survey. 
 
 According to the magazine, the tests were done for homeowners who voluntarily submitted samples to the state for testing, and were not a random or complete sampling of private wells in Maine. 
 
 The tests were conducted between 2005 and 2009, according to the Maine CDC. The dangerously high levels were found to exceed levels recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and were similar to levels referenced in studies done in communities in China and Iran that linked high fluoride exposure to decreased IQ levels. 
 
 “The sort of levels we’re talking about that are high in China are the sort of levels we see in some private wells,” Andrew Smith, Maine state toxicologist, told the magazine. 
 
 Smith was on vacation and not available to answer questions Wednesday, according to Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokesman John Martins. But Martins said the data cited by Scientific American is part of a broader data set of tests conducted between 2001 and 2012. Martins also said there was an education effort conducted by the CDC after the results were compiled. 
 
 Fluoride in drinking water has been the subject of scrutiny for decades. Many Maine communities have been adding fluoride to their public water since the 1950s and 1960s, although recent federal guidelines have prompted some water districts to reduce their levels. 
 
 Maine calls for acceptable levels of fluoride of between 1 and 2 parts per million in public water. However, in 2011 the federal Centers for Disease Control concluded that 0.7 parts per million was sufficient. 
 
 But only about half of all Maine residents get their drinking water from municipal sources. The rest have private wells and the levels of fluoride – and other elements – in each varies greatly. 
 
 Mike Gelberg, who owns Air & Water Quality in Freeport, offers homeowners a variety of solutions to water-quality issues. He said high fluoride levels are not a problem he has encountered often, but said he’s not surprised. 
 
 “If you don’t test your water, you don’t know what’s there,” he said. 
 
 The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, according to its website, recommends that owners test well water regularly to see how much fluoride exists. But there is no state requirement to do so, and Gelberg said most homeowners don’t. 
 
 “The only time people have their water tested is when they buy a house or if they get sick,” he said. 
 
 Additionally, Gelberg said, fluoride is not always included in a standard water test, although it is if consumers go through the state’s laboratory. 
 
 The well survey conducted by the Maine CDC tested approximately 11,000 wells, but only about 25 percent of all Maine towns participated. Of those 110 communities, only 10 showed levels that were considered dangerous. 
 
 “I’m certain the number of wells that have this problem is smaller than those that have high arsenic, but this reinforces the need for people to test their wells,” said Marvinney, the Maine Geological Survey director. 
 
 A town official in Dedham said Wednesday that she could not remember whether the town was ever alerted to the state’s test results. Attempts to reach the town’s code enforcement officer and first selectman Wednesday were unsuccessful. 
 
 Rep. Ralph Chapman, D-Brooksville, who represents some of the Hancock County towns where high levels of fluoride were found, said he was aware of high arsenic levels in his communities. 
 
 But fluoride? 
 
 “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Chapman said. 
 
 Arsenic in well water has been well documented because excessive amounts can pose serious health risks, including cancer and blindness. A study released this year by scientists from Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire linked arsenic in private well water to lower intelligence levels in schoolchildren in six central Maine communities. 
 
 But while there has been a big public education effort around arsenic, that hasn’t been the case with fluoride. 
 
 Charlie Culbertson, a geochemist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Maine, said arsenic used to be under the radar, too, and predicted that fluoride could be a focus of the next public education campaign. 
 
 As for mitigation, commercially available filters, such as Brita, do not remove fluoride, according to Gelberg, who said the only effective solution is to install a reverse osmosis system, at a cost of $1,000 to $2,000. 
 
 “Reverse osmosis will give you the best water outside of distillation,” he said. 
 
 Gelberg equated reverse osmosis to putting water through plastic wrap using pressure. 
 
 “We don’t often put in mitigation systems for high fluoride,” he said. 
 
 Staff Writer Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or: 
 
 [email protected] 
 
 Twitter: @PPHEricRussell 
 
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– The CDC applauds the adding of fluoride to our water supply as one of the biggest public health triumphs of the 20th century. But it seems too much fluoride can do a lot of damage. Not only can it actually damage our teeth and weaken our bones—studies in China and Iran appear to link excessive fluoride to a seven-point reduction in children's IQs, Scientific American reports. Those studies may not control for other health risks, but they could signal a problem—one which is particularly worrying in states like Maine. Much of the state gets its drinking water from private wells, and that water isn't held to federal or state standards. In a voluntary study that included about a quarter of Maine's towns, wells in about 10 communities were shown to contain risky amounts of fluoride—sometimes more than twice the EPA's limit. Fluoride's presence is boosted by the granite under the state, which is packed with the chemical; there's plenty of granite in other New England states as well. An expert tells the Portland Press-Herald that residents should have their water tested, but people only do it "when they buy a house or if they get sick." If there's too much fluoride, reverse osmosis systems can help, but they cost between $1,000 and $2,000. (In better tooth-related news, our cavities could eventually take care of themselves.)