- A Pennsylvania lawmaker is proposing a bill to ban fluoride from public drinking water, following Utah’s lead.
- Dental groups oppose the ban, emphasizing fluoride’s role in preventing cavities and its overall benefit to public health.
- The CDC recognizes water fluoridation as a successful public health measure, reducing cavities and saving billions in dental costs annually.
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to ban fluoride from the commonwealth’s drinking water amid an intensifying debate over the mineral additive credited with preventing tooth decay.
Sen. Dawn Keefer, R-York, this week said she’s designing her bill after one recently adopted in Utah, which became the first state in the nation to prohibit public water fluoridation. She said her forthcoming legislation will uphold “individual choice” by removing the fluoride from the public water supply while still giving people access to the mineral through supplements or topical applications.
The memo describing her bill alludes to a recent medical paper that detected an association between high levels of fluoride exposure and decreased IQ scores among children. Other studies, however, have produced conflicting results.
And dental groups have decried the ongoing anti-fluoride push championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“The most common chronic childhood disease is cavities,” Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a recent statement. “We know that when community water fluoridation stops, it’s the children and the most vulnerable of our communities who suffer.”
What is fluoride?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in water, soil and plants.
In the 1930s, researchers began noticing that people who drank water with high levels of fluoride ended up with mottled, or stained, teeth. But they also found these individuals were less susceptible to getting cavities, and in 1945 the first communities began adding controlled amounts of the mineral to their public water supply.
By 2010, about two-thirds of the U.S. population had access to the fortified tap water. People in these communities on average suffer from about 25% fewer cavities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC has recognized fluoridation as one of the nation’s most successful public health campaigns and estimates that it saves $6.5 billion in dental costs each year.
Why has fluoridation become controversial?
Some people have viewed water fluoridation with skepticism since its inception.
More recently, the push to ban it has gained momentum with the publication of studies linking prenatal and childhood fluoride exposure to lower IQ scores. Other researchers have found no evidence the mineral has negative cognitive impacts.
Kennedy, a vocal opponent of fluoridation, has also helped vault the issue into the public discourse, and some states have already been taking action. Utah in March decided to ban public water fluoridation, and Florida is poised to do the same.
The ADA has denounced these reforms and insisted that fluoridation is safe and effective.
To find out if your water contains added fluoride, you can look up information about your supplier using a CDC search tool.
Original article online at: https://www.goerie.com/story/news/politics/state/2025/05/09/fluoride-in-water-pa-ban-senate-proposal/83536971007/