A bill that would repeal a state mandate to include fluoride in water systems across Arkansas is on Wednesday’s agenda in the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor.

Senate Bill 2, which would do away with Arkansas’s statewide fluoridation program, is sponsored by Sen. Clint Penzo (R – Springdale) and Rep. Matt Duffield (R – Russellville). The proposal is consistent with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s crusade to ban fluoride from drinking water based on scientifically questionable claims that the mineral is linked to cancer and other health problems.

Kennedy is President Trump’s pick to head up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will appear this week before two U.S. Senate committees as part of the confirmation process. HHS oversees America’s health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Dentists and other medical professionals overwhelmingly disagree with Kennedy about the potential negative consequences of fluoride at the levels found in U.S. water systems. There are numerous studies, including this one from the NIH, that indicate fluoride provides significant benefits to children and adults when it comes to preventing tooth decay, cavities and other dental issues. Since 1962, the U.S. Public Health Service has recommended concentrations of the mineral in drinking water.

However, last September, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enhance its regulations around the amount of fluoride in drinking water after some studies indicated that high amounts could impact the intellectual development of children. According to the NIH:

Other evidence suggests that higher fluoride intakes during early development, including during gestation, might be associated with a lower IQ and other cognitive impairments (e.g., delays in cognitive development) in children. However, many experts, including the authors of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine review, consider this evidence to be weak and methodologically flawed. A 2023 meta-analysis of eight studies found that fluoride exposure at concentrations similar to that used in fluoridated community drinking water in the United States is not associated with lower IQ scores. Reported associations between exposure to higher levels of fluoride and neurodevelopment warrant additional research.

SB 2 would repeal a state law that calls for local governments to maintain quantities of fluoride in water as established by the Arkansas Department of Health. The statute requires the state health department to adopt rules “relating to the fluoridation of water systems” including “permissible concentrations of fluoride to be maintained by a water system.”

Along with Penzo and Duffield, SB 2 is co-sponsored by Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) and Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R – Knoxville). A separate bill sponsored by the same group of legislators, Senate Bill 4, would allow customers of a local water system to hold a vote on whether to have fluoride in drinking water. That bill is not on the committee’s agenda Wednesday.

Original article online at: https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/01/28/bill-aims-to-remove-states-fluoride-mandate-for-drinking-water-systems