Compiled by Michael F. Dolan, PhD
New Zealand Party Would Reverse Water Fluoridation Mandate
In 2021 the New Zealand parliament voted unanimously to expand water fluoridation across the nation by giving the Director-General of Health the power to impose the practice on individual districts. A political party has now introduced a bill to reverse the mandate while its leader denounces government threats against local politicians as a “despotic Soviet-era disgrace.”
Following recent developments in Whangarei District, which has persistently declined to fluoridate despite being ordered to do so, the New Zealand First party, a small political party, introduced a bill to end the mandate. In this district council members have been threatened with imprisonment if they do not comply with the order to fluoridate.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has slammed the health order over Whangarei District Council fluoridation as a “despotic Soviet-era disgrace,” according to a report in The Northern Advocate on February 16th.
According to that paper, “The “Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill” seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralized authority to the Director-General of Health and mandated the fluoridation of local water supplies.
“It will also amend the Local Government Act 2002 and Health Act 1956 mandating local authorities to hold a binding referendum on water fluoridation.”
“This bill reinstates the fundamental right for communities to determine through democracy whether or not their water supply is fluoridated,” Peters said, according to the Advocate.
The current Director-General of Health Dr. Diana Sarfati has recently announced she will resign on February 21, denying her resignation is related to the fluoridation dispute.
Florida Bill Would Ban Water Fluoridation
Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s change in Florida’s Health Department’s advisory on fluoridated water from “fluoridate” to “don’t fluoridate” continues to ramify across the state with more localities ending the practice, and now with the introduction of a bill to ban fluoridation.
State Senator Keith Truenow of Tavares has introduced a bill “which looks to address a number of agricultural issues, [that] will also prohibit local governments across the state from adding fluoride to public water systems,” according to a report on WESH 2 on February 18th.
“Prohibiting fluoride in public water systems ensures that individuals and families have the final say over their health,” Truenow said, according to the report.
The news report also mentioned that the City Commission in Longwood, a city of nearly 17,000 just north of Orlando, voted unanimously to remove fluoride from its public drinking water on February 17th, joining many others in recent months.
A report on the bill by WUSF’s News Service of Florida indicates, “Among the Florida governments who have recently voted to end fluoridation are Winter Haven, Fort Pierce, Niceville, Ormond Beach, Immokalee, Naples, Tavares, Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Palm Bay, Melbourne, and Lee and Collier counties.”
Source: https://www.wesh.com/article/state-senator-files-bill-ban-fluoride-statewide/63821672
Fluoride Exposure a Risk Factor For Hypertension, Harms Endothelial Cells
Researchers at Harbin Medical University have discovered a possible mechanism for fluoride-induced hypertension.
Concerned that the prevalence of endemic fluorosis, due mostly to fluoride occurring naturally in drinking water, has become a major health concern in China, the scientists developed a research project that combined human epidemiological data from over 700 people, cell culture studies of human umbilical epithelial cells, and animal toxicological tests.
Their comparison of populations of residents from the Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County found that those with higher levels of fluoride in their urine suffered significantly more hypertension, and had less of an enzyme in their blood, superoxide dismutase, that is produced to counter oxidative stress.
They noted, “endothelial cells are very sensitive to [reactive oxygen species], and oxidative stress is the main cause of endothelial cell injury, which plays an important role in the occurrence and development of vascular endothelial aging, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other [cardiovascular diseases].
Their analysis of the endothelial cells from umbilical cords and sacrificed rats revealed that oxidative stress caused by fluoride exposure triggered the production of p53, a tumor suppressor protein, that in turn stimulated the production of another regulatory molecule that led to cell dysfunction.
According to the authors, “Endothelial cells (ECs), which form the vascular endothelium, are essential in maintaining the functional integrity of the cardiovascular system.”
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.121102
Dentist Recounts Reasons For Opposition to Fluoridation
An unusually balanced National Public Radio (NPR) report on February 17th gave a noted dentist opponent of water fluoridation ample space to describe his own loss of faith in water fluoridation, and to explain his advocacy for ending the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies.
Dr. Bill Osmunson, now retired from practicing dentistry, has worked for many years to stop fluoridation. His original research on the practice’s high cost to society was noted in a recent Fluoridation Review. While he originally endorsed the practice, anti-intellectual and anti-science aspects of his public health education contributed to his changing view on the policy.
According to the NPR report, “It took many years for Osmunson to change his position on water fluoridation, and it started with something one of his professors said in college when he was pursuing a master’s degree in public health.
“I want you to remember that your job is to promote policy. Your job is not to give your own opinions, but you’re to promote what you’re told to promote.”
He said he began to question fluoride’s safety when reading the poison control warning on a tube of fluoridated toothpaste, then went on to discover the low quality of much of fluoridation research. He was particularly troubled by the evidence that ingested fluoride is associated with cancer and lowered IQ in children.
Unusual for a dentist, Osmunson shows a concern for exposing patients to toxins. According to the NPR report, “Osmunson knew that with anything that’s potentially poisonous, the dose is a key factor. That part started rubbing him the wrong way, because fluoride was administered and added to the drinking water by his municipality.”
Ultimately, according to the NPR report, he concluded, “Of course, I’m going to try to defend their brains,” he said. “Am I not going to speak up, knowing what I knew and not speak up to try to help parents and children?”
Source: https://whyy.org/segments/scientists-and-dentists-debate-water-fluoridation-practices/
Dentist Acknowledges Patients Turning Against Fluoride
A leading advocate of water fluoridation has confirmed that many patients do not want to expose their children to fluoride.
“I’m hearing from all of my colleagues in dentistry that a not insignificant percentage of their patients no longer want topical fluoride on their child when they go in for their checkup visits, they’re looking for non-fluoride toothpaste,” said Prof. Scott Tomar professor and associate dean for prevention and public health sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, in a recent NPR report.
In the report entitled “Scientists and dentists’ tug-of-war over water fluoridation as public health practice comes under scrutiny,” Tomar acknowledges that the current level of discussion based on an historic National Toxicology Program report and a federal court judgment that legitimized the conclusion that prenatal exposure to the low concentration of fluoride in drinking water is harmful has made it difficult to convince the public of fluoride’s safety.
“The conflicting study outcomes and public debate is making it harder and harder for public health leaders to cut through the noise, Tomar said,” according to the NPR report.
Source: https://whyy.org/segments/scientists-and-dentists-debate-water-fluoridation-practices/
Florida County That Stopped Fluoridating in 2021 Now Looks to Make it Permanent
The Manatee County Commissioners voted 6-0 to instruct staff to write an ordinance that would eliminate the county’s fluoridation program at its January 28 meeting. During the discussion county administrators revealed that the fluoridation equipment broke down more than four years ago, and hasn’t been repaired.
Manatee County, with a population of 400,000, is across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg.
“Deputy County Administrator Evan Pilachowski, who oversees utilities, said the county has two options to bring the system back online. Replacing the system at its current location would cost around $2 million and take about a year to complete, Pilachowski said. A new fluoride system could also be added as part of an upcoming capital improvement project for the county’s water system, Pilachowski said. He estimated that option would cost around $1.5 million and take three years to complete,” reported the Bradenton Herald on January 30th.
County Commissioner Amanda Ballard, who brought the issue before the Commission, referenced the recent National Toxicology Program report that fluoride in drinking water at just twice the level deliberately added was consistently associated with reduced IQ in children noted, ““We don’t know what level is safe for our children’s brain development,” according to the Herald report.
Source: https://www.bradenton.com/news/politics-government/article299367109.html
Rolla, Missouri Begins Process to End Water Fluoridation
The City Council in Rolla, MO voted 6-5 on Jan. 21st to notify the state and consumers that it will end water fluoridation.
Since a city election will be run prior to that date, it is expected that fluoridation will be a key issue in voters’ minds, according to a report in the Phelps County Focus January 29th.
At a council hearing in December, FAN board member and dentist Bill Osmunson testified against continuing fluoridation. Stuart Cooper, FAN’s Executive Director, also testified at the hearing.
According to a report in the same newspaper, “[Dr. Osmunson] recommended that girls and women wanting to become pregnant someday should avoid drinking water with greater than 0.2 parts per million of fluoride (cities like Rolla have levels of 0.7 parts per million) or swallowing fluoride toothpaste.”
“The half-life of fluoride in our bodies is about 20 years, so girls should not drink fluoridated water for about 20 years prior to when they become pregnant,” he said.
Rolla is a city of 20,000 southwest of St. Louis.
Source: https://www.phelpscountyfocus.com/news/article_b66a109a-de50-11ef-b4df-8ffbd8ce5960.html
•• Michael Dolan can be contacted at <mdolan.ecsn@outlook.com>