Ban on fluoride in drinking water moves closer to becoming law in Florida
- The Florida Senate passed a bill that could outlaw fluoride in municipal water supplies.
- The bill is part of a larger Florida Farm Bill and has sparked controversy. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.
- Supporters argue fluoride is unnecessary and potentially harmful, while opponents, including dental health experts, emphasize its importance in preventing tooth decay.
Florida is one step closer to outlawing fluoride in its municipal water supplies.
A bill that would preemptively prevent local municipalities from adding fluoride to their water passed the Senate on a 27-9 vote on April 16, and now heads to the House.
The provision is one part of the 111-page “Florida Farm Bill” (SB 700). Among other things, it requires local governments to issue permits for electric vehicle charging stations, adds consumer protections, establishes the Florida Aquaculture Foundation and a Florida beef marketing program.
But the fluoride measure has garnered the most controversy.
“I hope everyone realizes we are making a massive move here by telling our constituents that they cannot have fluoride in their water even if they voted for it in their local municipality,” said Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. “This would honestly be a joke if it didn’t have such dangerous consequences.”
Attempts by Senate Democrats to soften the fluoride restriction were all voted down. Amendments that would have allowed local governments to include fluoride if their constituents want it and that would have issued a study on fluoride were called unfriendly and failed.
Sen. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, said the bill did not speak specifically to fluoride.
“What I’m attempting to address is the mode in which medicines or vaccines can be delivered in the future,” Truenow said. “And that here in Florida, we are saying no additives that are not used in the treatment of purifying water. I remind you, many of the cities in the state of Florida do not use fluoride in their systems, and I do not remember hearing anything about the dental decay epidemic in our state.”
Across the state, an increasing number of municipalities are deciding to remove fluoride from drinking water. But in Miami-Dade County, even though commissioners voted to remove fluoride, the move was vetoed by County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, a Democrat.
As previously reported, state GOP leaders have pushed for the removal of fluoride in Florida’s drinking water, which dental experts staunchly disagree with. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has backed arguments the American Dental Association calls “dangerous.”
“Adding fluoride to water increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children and reduces their IQ. We can strengthen teeth without consuming this neurotoxin. The data are consistent, adding fluoride to our communities’ water must stop,” he wrote on X last November.
Studies show the naturally occurring mineral strengthens tooth enamel and helps prevent decay. But Ladapo has pointed to concerns over fluoride causing “adverse effects in children reducing IQ, cognitive impairment, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.”
“Due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children, and the wide availability of alternative sources of fluoride for dental health,” he recommended against water fluoridation, according to a Nov. 22 guidance from the department.
The Florida Dental Association has issued a statement saying Ladapo’s guidance against fluoride was “based on flawed and unscientific reports” and said it continues to “support … community water fluoridation as an effective tool in reducing dental decay.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called community water fluoridation one of the 10 greatest public health achievements in the 20th century.
But Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has promoted conspiracy theories about the dangers of fluoride in the water, saying it “should not be in our water,” at a recent press conference in Utah.
That state became the first to ban fluoride in its municipal water earlier this month, and at a press conference, Kennedy said he would tell the CDC to stop advising the fluoridation of drinking water.
In a statement, Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, called claims that fluoride is harmful and unnecessary “troublesome,” adding that it reminded him “of fictional plots from old movies like Dr. Strangelove.”
“When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research it is injurious to public health,” he said.
Before the bill vote, Truenow said one could make the case that fluoride was needed in the early 1900s, but now, more than 99% of the population brushes their teeth and gets fluoride in different ways.
“We’re here to hydrate, not medicate,” Truenow said.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.
