{"id":20037,"date":"2025-05-18T12:46:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T16:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=20037"},"modified":"2025-05-18T12:50:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T16:50:04","slug":"florida-becomes-second-state-to-ban-fluoride-in-public-drinking-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=20037","title":{"rendered":"

Florida Becomes Second State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water<\/b><\/h3>"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/h3>\n

In a press conference today, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is ending fluoridation because, \u201cWhen you do this in the water supply, you\u2019re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n

by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
\nChildren’s Health Defense<\/p>\n

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a>\u00a0today said he will sign a bill banning the addition of fluoride to public drinking water, making Florida the second state to end the practice. The ban will take effect July 1.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 700<\/a>, known as the \u201cFlorida Farm Bill<\/a>,\u201d passed the state House last week 88-27, sending the bill to the governor\u2019s desk.\u00a0The bill<\/a>\u00a0prevents \u201cthe use of certain additives in a water system.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0press conference<\/a>, DeSantis said Florida is ending fluoridation because, \u201cWhen you do this in the water supply, you\u2019re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said research shows the chemical has serious negative\u00a0health<\/a>\u00a0consequences for children and pregnant women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want local governments unilaterally injecting a chemical into the water supply and exposing people to potentially harmful side effects,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He also said people can add fluoride to their water at home if they want to.<\/p>\n

DeSantis was joined at the press conference by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Florida Surgeon General\u00a0Joseph Ladapo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year,\u00a0Ladapo advised governments<\/a>\u00a0across the state to stop adding fluoride to their water, citing the neuropsychiatric risks associated with the practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we announce that drinking water will hydrate, not medicate,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cFlorida water will be clean, it will be safe, and it will be medication-free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ladapo also praised the decision. His office last year issued\u00a0written guidance<\/a>\u00a0detailing the latest research showing that exposure to fluoridated water can lead to neurodevelopmental issues in children, including\u00a0lower IQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given that risk, along with the wide availability of toothpaste, mouthwash and other alternative sources of fluoride, Ladapo recommended ending community water fluoridation.<\/p>\n

Ashley Malin, Ph.D.<\/a>, assistant professor in the University of Florida\u2019s Department of Epidemiology, also spoke at the press conference. She is the lead author of a recent\u00a0study of women and children<\/a>\u00a0in Los Angeles that found children born to women exposed during pregnancy to fluoridated drinking water were more likely to have neurobehavioural problems.<\/p>\n

Malin said there have been \u201cmajor milestones\u201d in research on fluoride\u2019s effects on neurodevelopment in the last decade, and particularly in the last year. She added:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith more and more studies finding associations of\u00a0fluoride exposure<\/a>\u00a0with adverse neurological outcomes, even at levels that we commonly encounter in Florida, the findings of these studies point to an imminent need for policy change and the policy change happening in Miami-Dade today with the ultimate signing of this bill, is one that will protect the brains of children in Florida from unreasonable risk of harm for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis held the press conference in Miami, hours after the Miami-Dade commissioners voted for a second time to ban fluoridation there.<\/p>\n

County commissioners voted last month to halt the county\u2019s fluoridation program. But on April 11,\u00a0Mayor Daniella Levine Cava vetoed<\/a>\u00a0the legislation. Earlier that day, county commissioners voted 8-4 to override her veto.<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 announcement comes one day before\u00a0Utah\u2019s fluoride ban<\/a>\u00a0takes effect. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill in late March that prohibits adding the chemical to the state\u2019s water systems, making Utah the first state to ban water fluoridation.<\/p>\n

Starting tomorrow, local water managers in Utah will have to dispose of their remaining water fluoride chemicals \u2014 which are\u00a0byproducts of phosphate fertilizer<\/a>\u00a0production \u2014 as\u00a0hazardous waste<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Defender is 100% reader-supported. No corporate sponsors. No paywalls. Our writers and editors rely on you to fund stories like this that mainstream media won\u2019t write.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Changing tide on water fluoridation<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Ladapo recommended that Florida communities end fluoridation last year, he said a\u00a0landmark ruling<\/a>\u00a0in September 2024 by a California federal judge prompted him to review the science.<\/p>\n

In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen concluded water fluoridation at current U.S. levels poses an \u201cunreasonable risk<\/a>\u201d to children\u2019s health. Chen ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take regulatory action in light of recent scientific findings.<\/p>\n

The ruling stemmed from a\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0filed in 2017 by\u00a0Fluoride Action Network<\/a>,\u00a0Moms Against Fluoridation<\/a>,\u00a0Food & Water Watch<\/a>\u00a0and individual parents and children.<\/p>\n

It also followed the publication in August 2024 of a key report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u2019\u00a0National Toxicology Program<\/a>. The report concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure in drinking water are consistently\u00a0linked to lower IQ in kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In October 2024, an updated\u00a0Cochrane Review<\/a>\u00a0concluded that adding fluoride to drinking water provides very limited, if any,\u00a0dental benefits<\/a>, especially compared with 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

Since the ruling, more than 60 U.S. towns, counties and now states have voted to stop fluoridating their water, Rick North, board member of the Fluoride Action Network, told The Defender.<\/p>\n

North said DeSantis\u2019 announcement is more evidence that \u201cthe tide has turned throughout the country on water fluoridation, and that\u2019s no play on words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCity by city, state by state, the U.S. is catching up to the 95% of the rest of the world that has already rejected fluoridation,\u201d North said. \u201cCall it what you like \u2014 a tipping point, a critical mass, a snowball, whatever. It\u2019s happening, and there\u2019s no stopping it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that changing tide \u2014 and the overwhelming evidence of fluoride\u2019s neurotoxic effects \u2014\u00a0pro-fluoridation organizations<\/a>\u00a0like the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Fluoridation Society and others\u00a0continue to push water fluoridation<\/a>, often attempting to intervene in local democratic processes to end the practice.<\/p>\n

Commenting on those groups\u2019 refusal to reexamine their position in light of new scientific evidence, Ladapo said they reminded him of Linus from Charlie Brown, who clung to his baby blanket:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have professionals, doctors, dentists, public health leaders who are holding onto fluoridation like that blanket. I mean, it doesn\u2019t matter what the evidence shows, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the studies show about potential harms in children and pregnant women, and who knows about the rest of us, you\u2019re just holding onto it. And it\u2019s OK when you\u2019re a kid, but we\u2019re grown-ups here. We\u2019re adults. We\u2019re responsible for the lives of other people. We need to make good decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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