When the F-word is ‘fluoride’: A county in Florida halts water fluoridation amid political pressure

Florida is poised to become the second state to ban the long-standing practice of adding fluoride to public water systems.

Florida is poised to become the second state to ban the long-standing practice of adding fluoride to public water systems. State senators have already cleared a bill that would prohibit community water fluoridation, and Florida’s House is expected to vote on a similar bill in the coming week.

The word “fluoride” isn’t found anywhere in the Florida Farm Bill, but it would be included because the legislation aims to ban “the use of certain additives in a water system” throughout the state.

If Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signs the bill, Florida will become the second to ban fluoride from water supplies. Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican, signed a bill in late March that prohibits any person or government entity from adding the cavity-fighting mineral from the state’s water systems. The Utah rule will go into effect on May 7.

Similar legislation is making its way through other states, including Kentucky, Massachusetts and Nebraska.

In Wisconsin, nearly 80 communities have already voted to stop adding fluoride, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, and others in the state are considering a ban. And Union County in North Carolina voted last year to remove fluoride from drinking water.