DeSantis Signs Bill to Make Florida 2nd State to Ban Fluoride Drinking Water Systems

Utah was the first state to ban the mineral from its water earlier this year.

A glass of tap water in Washington on Nov. 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 15 signed a bill that made the Sunshine State the second to ban fluoride from its drinking water systems.

The Republican governor signed the measure at an event in Dade City after state lawmakers approved the bill in April, requiring that the mineral and other additives be removed from public drinking water systems statewide. The law will go into effect on July 1.

At the event where he signed the bill, DeSantis said that using fluoride for your teeth is “fine” but that “forcing it into the water supply is basically forced medication on people.”

He also said that fluoride is “readily available now.”

Some local governments in Florida have already voted to remove fluoride from their water ahead of the statewide ban. Earlier this month, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted to override a veto by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and move forward with plans to remove fluoride from the county’s drinking water.

Some Republican-led states have moved to impose bans on fluoride in drinking water following a push by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop fluoridating water, and earlier this year, Utah became the first state to ban the chemical compound from drinking water systems.

Fluoride is a mineral that has been added to drinking water since the 1940s to strengthen teeth and reduce cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Excess fluoride intake has been associated with streaking or spots on the teeth, and studies have also found a link between excess fluoride and problems with brain development.

In 2024, a landmark ruling on the matter was issued by a federal judge in California who told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review the risks of adding fluoride to drinking water.

The agency was mandated by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen to make sure that there is a margin between the hazard level and the exposure level.

“If there is an insufficient margin, then the chemical poses a risk,” the judge said in the September 2024 order. “Simply put, the risk to health at exposure levels in United States drinking water is sufficiently high to trigger regulatory response by the EPA [under federal law].”

In 2024, the federal National Toxicology Program discovered an association between higher amounts of fluoride exposure and lower IQs in children. The report used studies that included fluoride levels at about double the recommended limit for drinking water systems.

When Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed the state’s fluoride bill into law, multiple medical associations said they opposed the move.

“With the weight of the evidence and nearly universal support of community water fluoridation in all corners of the health care sector, we urge your veto of HB 81,” the American Dental Association (ADA), a group that has long backed water fluoridation, said in a letter to Cox in February.

The ADA added that Utah’s measure, which went into effect earlier this month, would “take away the most effective, efficient and equitable way for dental disease prevention.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.