Florida Becomes Second State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water
The unthinkable is happening... Will your state be next?
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
In a press conference today, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is ending fluoridation because, “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.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today 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.
Senate Bill 700, known as the “Florida Farm Bill,” passed the state House last week 88-27, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. The bill prevents “the use of certain additives in a water system.”
In a press conference, DeSantis said Florida is ending fluoridation because, “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.”
He said research shows the chemical has serious negative health consequences for children and pregnant women.
“We don’t want local governments unilaterally injecting a chemical into the water supply and exposing people to potentially harmful side effects,” he added.
He also said people can add fluoride to their water at home if they want to.
DeSantis was joined at the press conference by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.
Last year, Ladapo advised governments across the state to stop adding fluoride to their water, citing the neuropsychiatric risks associated with the practice.
“Today we announce that drinking water will hydrate, not medicate,” Simpson said. “Florida water will be clean, it will be safe, and it will be medication-free.”
Ladapo also praised the decision. His office last year issued written guidance detailing the latest research showing that exposure to fluoridated water can lead to neurodevelopmental issues in children, including lower IQ.
Given that risk, along with the wide availability of toothpaste, mouthwash and other alternative sources of fluoride, Ladapo recommended ending community water fluoridation.
Ashley Malin, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Epidemiology, also spoke at the press conference. She is the lead author of a recent study of women and children in Los Angeles that found children born to women exposed during pregnancy to fluoridated drinking water were more likely to have neurobehavioural problems.
Malin said there have been “major milestones” in research on fluoride’s effects on neurodevelopment in the last decade, and particularly in the last year. She added:
“With more and more studies finding associations of fluoride exposure with 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.”
DeSantis held the press conference in Miami, hours after the Miami-Dade commissioners voted for a second time to ban fluoridation there.
County commissioners voted last month to halt the county’s fluoridation program. But on April 11, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava vetoed the legislation. Earlier that day, county commissioners voted 8-4 to override her veto.
DeSantis’ announcement comes one day before Utah’s fluoride ban takes effect. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill in late March that prohibits adding the chemical to the state’s water systems, making Utah the first state to ban water fluoridation.
Starting tomorrow, local water managers in Utah will have to dispose of their remaining water fluoride chemicals — which are byproducts of phosphate fertilizer production — as hazardous waste.
Changing tide on water fluoridation
When Ladapo recommended that Florida communities end fluoridation last year, he said a landmark ruling in September 2024 by a California federal judge prompted him to review the science.
In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen concluded water fluoridation at current U.S. levels poses an “unreasonable risk” to children’s health. Chen ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take regulatory action in light of recent scientific findings.
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 2017 by Fluoride Action Network, Moms Against Fluoridation, Food & Water Watch and individual parents and children.
It also followed the publication in August 2024 of a key report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program. The report concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure in drinking water are consistently linked to lower IQ in kids.
In October 2024, an updated Cochrane Review concluded that adding fluoride to drinking water provides very limited, if any, dental benefits, especially compared with 50 years ago.
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.
North said DeSantis’ announcement is more evidence that “the tide has turned throughout the country on water fluoridation, and that’s no play on words.”
“City 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,” North said. “Call it what you like — a tipping point, a critical mass, a snowball, whatever. It’s happening, and there’s no stopping it.”
Despite that changing tide — and the overwhelming evidence of fluoride’s neurotoxic effects — pro-fluoridation organizations like the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Fluoridation Society and others continue to push water fluoridation, often attempting to intervene in local democratic processes to end the practice.
Commenting on those groups’ 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:
“We have professionals, doctors, dentists, public health leaders who are holding onto fluoridation like that blanket. I mean, it doesn’t matter what the evidence shows, right?
“Whatever the studies show about potential harms in children and pregnant women, and who knows about the rest of us, you’re just holding onto it. And it’s OK when you’re a kid, but we’re grown-ups here. We’re adults. We’re responsible for the lives of other people. We need to make good decisions.”
Related articles in The Defender
Utah Becomes First State to Ban Fluoride in Public Drinking Water
Utah Set to Become First State to End Water Fluoridation for All Residents
Breaking: Fluoride in Water Poses ‘Unreasonable Risk’ to Children, Federal Judge Rules
Coming Jan. 13: ‘Fluoride on Trial’ Documentary Exposes 70 Years of Censored Science
‘House of Cards’: Some Cities Hit Pause on Water Fluoridation in Wake of Historic Federal Ruling
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