Florida has become the second state in the nation to prohibit local governments from adding fluoride to public water systems.
While the bill does not specifically reference fluoride, it does require “certain additives” to be removed from water systems.
“We have other ways where people can get access to fluoride,” Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said earlier this month. “When you do this in the water supply, you’re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.”
In February, officials in Florida’s Lee County voted unanimously to eliminate fluoride from the area’s water supply.
Last year, Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, called for local governments to stop adding fluoride to water. “Moms and children exposed to higher levels of fluoride have experienced adverse neurologic and neuropsychiatric effects,” he said during a press conference. “I mean, it’s appalling. But it’s actually been documented in multiple studies now.”
“So, based on these findings and in recognition of the fact that there are other sources of fluoride that people in communities have access to, whether it’s brushing with fluoridated toothpaste or whether it’s using a fluoride mouthwash, and there are other sources too, people go to the dentist and receive fluoride there, it is public health malpractice, with the information we have now to continue adding fluoride to water systems in Florida.”
“It is public health malpractice,” Ladapo reiterated. “And so we are issuing guidance to every community, every municipality, every county in Florida, to stop adding fluoride to their community water systems.”
Utah became the first state to prohibit fluoride in public water systems in March.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also said that he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end its recommendation that fluoride be present in public drinking water.
