Florida bill moves to ban fluoride in local water supplies
A Florida Senate committee Tuesday approved a wide-ranging bill that includes preventing local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies.
The Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously supported the bill (HB 700), which involves a series of issues related to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Local governments in Florida and across the country recently have debated—and, in some cases, stopped—the longstanding practice of adding fluoride to water supplies.
The bill, sponsored by committee Chairman Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, would prevent in public water systems "the use of any additive included primarily for health-related purposes."
Truenow said Floridians can get fluoride in other ways.
"We want to make sure that we give those choices to the parents and the people receiving the fluoride," Truenow said. "So if someone doesn't want to use the fluoride in the water system, you can't really opt out." But health organizations have long said fluoride in water helps prevent cavities and dental problems.
Brandon Edmonston, a lobbyist for the Florida Dental Association, urged lawmakers to leave decisions about fluoride in water to local governments.
"Community water fluoridation is regarded as one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 20th Century," Edmonston said.
"While there are other sources of fluoride such as toothpaste and mouthwash, that can be applied to the surface of the teeth, fluoride works best systemically and strengthening the enamel from the inside out."
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