Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill into law Thursday banning fluoride from the state’s drinking water becoming the first to do so.
(This story has been updated to include new information.)
Utah has passed the first law in the U.S. banning fluoride from its drinking water.
Signed by Republican Governor Spencer Cox, the new legislation prohibits the addition of fluoride to the state’s water supply. It goes into effect on May 7.
Naturally occurring in water, soil, plants, rocks and even the air, fluoride was discovered as a useful tool for preventing cavities and tooth decay by the late 1930s. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to fluoridate its community water, adjusting existing levels in the supply to the therapeutic 1.0 parts-per-million (ppm).
Since then, the levels have been adjusted to a maximum of 0.7 ppm or 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, which is considered optimal for preventing tooth decay.
While the CDC maintains that fluoridated water is both safe and cost-effective, questions as to potential hazards introduced by water fluoridation have existed as long as the practice has been popular.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who has no formal medical training and is a long-time proponent of misinformation related to health topics such as vaccines, has led a renewed charge against fluoridated water, saying in November 2024 that the second Trump administration would “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” citing unsubstantiated health concerns.
Cox did not cite these same health claims, but previously claimed that with only about half of the state (43.6% as of 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control), did not drink fluoridated water and that he had not seen a significant discrepancy in oral health between the two halves, the New York Times reported. He also previously claimed the addition of fluoride to public water was the same as being “medicated” by the government, reported AP.
The bill would also allow pharmacists to prescribe fluoride tablets as an alternate means of consuming the mineral.
Other states, including North Dakota, Tennessee and Montana, also have anti-fluoride bills on the table.
USA TODAY has reached out to Gov. Cox’s office for comment.
Fluoridated water by the numbers
In 2022, the CDC reported that 72.3% of the U.S. population on a community water source received fluoridated water, a percentage fairly consistent with 2020’s 72.7%. Still, growing anti-fluoride sentiments in some communities echo concerns that have circulated since the practice became widespread.
The potential for fluoride toxicity does technically exist, for example, but would require consuming an amount of fluoridated water that would kill a human via water intoxication before the amount of fluoride could become harmful or deadly, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Other arguments have included a theorized connection between fluoridated water and increased cancer risk, a topic studied extensively. According to the National Cancer Institute, the most recent population-based studies found no evidence of an association between fluoride in drinking water and an increased risk of bone cancer.
Other topics have been explored as science has evolved, including the impact of fluoride consumption on pregnancy, arthritis, IQ, and kidney disease. Results have been mixed and scientists say more research needs to be done to come to a strong conclusion. Thus far, however, no definitive link has been found between fluoridated water supplies and these conditions.
Some have also begun to speculate about the need for fluoridated water with so many dental hygiene products now available in stores. Detractors argue that there is no need to add more of the compound on top of what naturally occurs in water and that distributing it via drinking water is an imprecise and uncontrolled way of dosing residents.
The CDC says, however, that while hygiene products can help reduce tooth decay, the greatest protection comes when they are used in tandem with fluoridated water. And, a wealth of studies have found that water fluoridation was related to a significant (up to 30%) decrease in cavities among adults and children.
Source: Utah News