Florida has grow to be the second state within the nation to ban using fluoride in public consuming water. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the brand new laws into regulation on Thursday.
This comes lower than two weeks after Miami-Dade County voted to end fluoride use.
The measure, a part of the broader Florida Farm Invoice, will take impact statewide on July 1. Whereas the regulation doesn’t explicitly identify fluoride, it prohibits using sure components in public water programs—a provision that successfully ends neighborhood water fluoridation within the state.
Talking at a press convention in Dade Metropolis, DeSantis framed the choice as a matter of private freedom and bodily autonomy.
“Sure, use fluoride on your tooth, that’s fantastic,” he mentioned. “However forcing it into the water provide is mainly pressured remedy on folks. They don’t have a selection. You’re taking that away from them.”
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With the signing of the invoice, Florida follows Utah, which earlier this yr turned the primary state to enact a ban on water fluoridation.
At the moment, about 100 public water programs in Florida add fluoride to their consuming water, in accordance with the state’s Division of Well being. Greater than 70% of Floridians who depend on neighborhood water programs obtain fluoridated water.
Florida Surgeon Common Dr. Joseph Ladapo has beforehand spoken out towards the apply. In November, he issued steerage recommending towards neighborhood water fluoridation, citing “potential well being results,” significantly for pregnant ladies and kids.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral present in soil, rock, and water. For many years, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) and the World Well being Group (WHO) have endorsed fluoridation of public water provides to assist cut back tooth decay. In 2015, the CDC named neighborhood water fluoridation one of many “10 Best Public Well being Achievements of the twenty first Century.”
The American Dental Affiliation (ADA) additionally continues to assist the apply, noting that “eighty years of neighborhood water fluoridation at optimum ranges has confirmed to be secure and efficient at decreasing tooth decay to enhance oral well being.”
Nonetheless, considerations over fluoride’s security have grown lately. Analysis cited by CNN has linked prenatal publicity to fluoridated water with elevated neurobehavioral issues in youngsters. A federal evaluation additionally discovered associations between excessive ranges of fluoride and decrease IQ scores in youngsters.
