Will a Florida county remove fluoride from drinking water? What to know about the issue
Manatee County leaders plan to discuss the possibility of removing fluoride from the county's drinking water Tuesday.
Commissioner Amanda Ballard is calling for the county to stop adding the mineral to the local water supply following a renewed national debate about its safety.
What results have been seen in other communities that removed fluoride from drinking water? Here's what we found.
National debate over fluoride
A recent government report about potential impacts of high levels of fluoride on children's IQ levels was followed by controversial guidance from Florida's surgeon general, Joseph A. Ladapo, that communities should stop fluoridating water altogether.
Conversations about fluoride were further polarized by comments made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, when he claimed fluoride is an 'industrial waste' linked to diseases and said he would advocate against it at the federal level.
There is strong evidence that fluoride is a reliable and cost-effective way to protect teeth, and government health agencies and medical professionals have long vouched for its safety.
Some recent studies have raised concerns about the effects of high levels of fluoride on developing children, and some health experts agree that the issue needs more study. But many health experts continue advocating for its use, arguing that there is not clear evidence that fluoride poses health risks at the low levels used in U.S. water supplies.
Despite reassurances of fluoride's safety from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health organizations, the concerns have a wave of Florida communities abandoning a decades-long practice.
Studies show worse oral health after fluoride removed
Several studies have found that communities that stopped fluoridating water saw an uptick in cavities and oral health issues among children.
A study conducted in Juneau, Alaska, and published in 2018 in BMC Oral Health found that children of low-income households had a significant increase in dental decay after the community stopped adding fluoride to its water, resulting in more dental procedures and Medicaid expenses.
Some communities that opted to ditch fluoride have reversed course after an uptick in cavities and oral health issues.
In Calgary, the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta, officials voted to stop fluoridating water in 2011. But after a study showed that cavities among children increased dramatically in the following years, voters elected in a referendum to bring the fluoride back.
In Buffalo, New York, city officials recently brought fluoride back online following a class action lawsuit from residents. The suit was filed after an investigative reporter found that the city had not been adding fluoride to its water for nine years, unbeknownst to residents.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward counties add fluoride to the drinking water supply.
Have there been positive effects of removing fluoride?
The Bradenton Herald's review of recent scientific studies did not find any positive health outcomes reported in communities where fluoride has been discontinued.
A 2024 scientific review published by the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found that the widespread use of toothpaste and mouthwash containing fluoride had reduced the beneficial impact of fluoride in public water supplies.
However, one of the study's authors said that doesn't mean it's no longer beneficial.
'There's no evidence to suggest that where water fluoridation programs are in place, that they should necessarily be stopped,' Anne-Marie Glenny, one of the study's authors, told NBC news.
Fluoride's possible effects on children's IQ also remain a subject of debate.
While some peer-reviewed studies have found associations between fluoride exposure and loss of IQ or behavioral issues in infants and children, others have found no effect on brain development.
A University of Queensland study published in December in the Journal of Dental Research found that participants who had been drinking fluoridated water since childhood had higher average IQ scores.
As research efforts continue, there is not a strong consensus among the medical community that fluoride should be removed from public water supplies.
The scientific review at the center of a recent federal court case over fluoride also acknowledges that more information is needed.
'More research is needed to better understand if there are health risks associated with low fluoride exposures,' the National Toxicology Program's review says.
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