Florida is poised to become the second state in the U.S. to implement a ban on adding fluoride to its public drinking water, a move that has received growing support as several cities and states have begun to take similar actions in spite of the advice of many public health experts who contend the mineral’s removal could be detrimental to dental health.
Lawmakers in the Sunshine State this week approved Senate Bill 700, or the Florida Farm Bill, which includes a measure “prohibiting the use of certain additives in a water system,” which would effectively ban the addition of fluoride.
Fluoride, a mineral that has been proven to help strengthen teeth and reduce the risk of tooth decay, has been added to the U.S. water supply as early as the 1940s. It has been included in municipal public water systemsthroughout much of the country since the 1960s.
The bill is awaiting the signature of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. If signed, it would make the state the second in the U.S. to implement a ban on water fluoridation. In March, Utah became the first state to implement a ban on adding fluoride to public drinking water, with that law set to go into effect May 7.
With several states considering similar moves to ban water fluoridation, here are a few things to know about the recent backlash against what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named one of the “10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.”
What States Are Seeking Fluoride Bans?
While not an outright ban like Utah and Florida, in February, the Kentucky House passed a measure to end the state’s mandate for communities to add fluoride to their public water systems, instead making it optional. In April, lawmakers in the Louisiana state Senate advanced a bill to ban fluoride from all public water systems in the state.
In March, Nebraska lawmakers also introduced a bill to end that state’s mandate that requires certain communities to add fluoride to water.
Since the start of the Trump administration, anti-fluoridation bills have been introduced in the state legislatures of North Dakota, Tennessee and Montana, all of which have failed.
In Massachusetts, there is no state requirement for communities to fluoridate their public drinking water, with more than 60% of residents getting fluoridated water, according to news reports. Other states, including Hawaii, New Jersey and Oregon, also do not have mandates on adding fluoride to water systems, with those states having some of the lowest fluoridated water rates, according to health care policy research organization, KFF.
Nationwide, more than 70% of the population received fluoridated water through community water systems in 2022, according to the CDC, with nearly 63% of the total U.S. population receiving water with fluoride.
Why Are States Pushing to Ban Fluoride?
Support for the elimination of fluoride from drinking water has centered on concerns about possible links to elevated levels of the mineral to increased risk of arthritis, neurodevelopmental disorders and lower IQ scores in children.
While the findings of a report from the National Toxicology Programconcluded with “moderate confidence” that lower IQ in children could be linked with consuming drinking water containing fluoride at levels of more than 1.5 milligrams per liter, such levels are twice as high as those recommended for community drinking water supplies. No evidence has yet linked the recommended level of 0.7 milligrams per liter to having a negative effect on children’s IQ.
The RFK Jr. Effect
States looking to ban fluoride have been emboldened by remarks by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who since taking over the position has expressed a desire to implement a national ban on water fluoridation, alleging it is associated with various health concerns.
At an April 30 Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, Kennedy reiterated his claims of health risks associated with fluoridated water, saying that it made people “stupider.” He said he would seek to changefederal recommendations that support the adding of fluoride in community water systems.
”The more you get, the stupider you are. And we need smart kids in this country. And we need healthy kids,” Kennedy said.
Original article online at: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-05-02/florida-approves-fluoride-ban-as-red-states-embrace-rfk-jr-s-contrarian-calls