Florida has become the first state to recommend removing fluoride from its public water systems because of the risks it poses to children’s brains.
The mineral has increasingly been part of the public debate since a bombshell government report released earlier this year and comments made by Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The report concluded that consuming high levels of fluoride can harm brain development in children and is associated with lower IQ.
Based on an analysis of previously published research, the report marks the first time a federal agency has determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between fluoride and IQ.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said, “It is clear that more research is needed to address safety and effectiveness concerns related to community water fluoridation.”
“The previously considered benefit of community water fluoridation does not outweigh the currently known risks, especially for special populations such as pregnant women and children.”
Dr. Ladapo, who was embroiled in controversy over his response to the Covid-19 pandemic and resistance to vaccines, is not the first official to call for the elimination of fluoride, which was added to water to strengthen teeth and improve oral health. RFK Jr said removing the mineral from water would be the first act he would take as an official in the new Trump administration.
The staunch anti-vaxxer has called fluoride “industrial waste” and claimed it is associated with bone fractures, arthritis, bone cancer, thyroid diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders.
However, much of the literature on water fluoridation shows that the practice is safe.
The image above shows a woman filling a glass with tap water, amid concerns about the quality of tap water (stock)
According to self-reported data from Florida, more than 70 percent of residents who rely on community water systems receive fluoridated water.
Adding fluoride to water has been touted as a major public health achievement, but doubts about its benefits and concerns about its impact on health have been growing.
In Dr. Ladapo’s announcement, he said that “Floridians should be aware of the safety concerns related to systemic exposure to fluoride,” including some that RFK has promoted.
These are, he said, the risk of ADHD in children, behavioral problems in children born to mothers who consumed fluoride during pregnancy, sleep distribution, premature puberty in girls, thyroid disorders, the reduced intellectual ability and increased risk of bone fractures.
The announcement continued: “Due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children, and the wide availability of alternative sources of fluoride for dental health, the State Surgeon General recommends against fluoridating community water.”
Water fluoridation is a standard national policy in the United States, England and Canada, but other developed countries such as Germany, Sweden, Scotland and Switzerland have discontinued it, arguing that people now get enough fluoride through other sources, such as toothpaste. teeth and mouthwash.
And earlier this year, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the EPA should reevaluate national regulations on fluoride, which makes teeth more resistant to substances that can wear down enamel and make them thinner, weaker, and more prone to cavities and dental infections.
This map, from 2020, shows fluoride levels in untreated groundwater supplies. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral and is often already present in many water supplies. Areas marked with a yellow or red dot have more than twice the level of fluoride in groundwater than recommended
Health authorities have long listed water fluoridation as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century.
In addition to preventing cavities and infections, the NIH says they have saved Americans hundreds of millions of dollars in dental medical costs.
Originally introduced into the water supply in 1944, the government has decided to add it to most public water systems, meaning that approximately 72 percent of Americans who consume public water drink fluoride.
Since fluoridation came nationwide, rates of dental problems in children have decreased and dentists praise the program.
Critics, however, argue that the potential harms caused by fluoride do not outweigh the benefits it may provide, and that Americans get enough fluoride from other sources.
Dr. Ladapo’s advisory said fluoride is already widely available in toothpastes, mouthwashes and applications from dentists.
Florida is not the first state to follow this path. Hawaii does not add the mineral to its water because lawmakers are divided over whether it will improve oral health in the state, which has the highest rate of cavities in children.
Hawaiian senators Mike Gabbard and Donna Mercado Kim have rejected the fluoride recommendations, saying it amounts to unnecessary mass medication.