Lawmakers approved legislation that is widely expected to be signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida is poised to become the second state to ban fluoride in public drinking water under legislation that received final approval from lawmakers on April 29, ending a decades-old practice that has divided dentists and health officials.
The ban on fluoride is part of the Florida Farm Bill
SB700, which passed the House in an 88–27 vote. It passed the state Senate on April 16.
Though the measure does not explicitly include the word “fluoride,” it does include a provision that seeks to ban “the use of certain additives in a water system” throughout the state.
The legislation now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law.
Florida lawmakers approved the legislation after Utah became the first state in the country to ban fluoride in public drinking water on March 28.
That legislation prohibits any person or government entity from adding fluoride to water systems in the state. It is set to go into effect on May 7.
Fluoride repairs and prevents damage to teeth caused by bacteria in the mouth by replacing the minerals lost due to acid breakdown, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (
CDC).
More than 209 million people, or 72.3 percent of the U.S. population served by public water supplies, received water with fluoride in 2022,
according to the health agency.
Multiple public health groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (
AAP) and the American Dental Association, have joined the
CDC in championing the safety and benefits of adding fluoride to water.
Also last year, the federal National Toxicology Program
found that there is a link between higher amounts of fluoride exposure and a lower IQ in children. The agency used studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
wrote in a Nov. 2 post on the social media platform X that it is an “industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
Kennedy said on April 7 that he would tell the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation in municipal water nationwide.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava
said she was “deeply disappointed” by the Florida Legislature’s vote, adding that the decision “disregards the guidance of dentists, doctors, and medical experts.”
“Fluoridation is a proven, safe, cost-effective way to prevent tooth decay and protect oral health for children and adults, particularly for families with limited access to dental care,” she said in a statement on X. “No studies have shown that fluoridation at low levels is unsafe for our communities, including babies and pregnant women—in fact, it is vitally important for the health of developing teeth in infants and children.”
Cava said that decisions regarding fluoride should be left to local communities.
“Ending fluoridation will have long-lasting health consequences, especially for our most vulnerable families,” she said.
