DeSantis signs bill banning fluoride in Florida's public water sources. What's next?

Miami Herald

15-05-2025

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill that will stop local governments from putting fluoride in water.
The bill DeSantis signed doesn't specifically mention fluoride. Instead, it bans local governments from putting anything in the water that doesn't help with improving water quality or reducing contaminants.
The move to block fluoride has been decried by major health organizations, who warn that it would negatively affect residents' health.
DeSantis said the bill was about informed consent, and letting people choose what to do with their health.
'Some of these people, they think that they know better for you than you do for yourself,' DeSantis said. 'They think because they have medical training, or they have this, that they should just be able to decree how we live our lives.'
Here's what to know about what comes next.
When will fluoride be out of the water?
As of July 1, local governments in Florida won't be able to add extra fluoride to the water to fight tooth decay.
But almost all water has some fluoride, which is a naturally occurring mineral.
For decades, governments in the U.S. have fluoridated water to reach 0.7 milligrams per liter, which health experts have recommended as the optimal level to safeguard oral health.
In Pinellas County, the natural amount of fluoride in the water ranges from about 0.15 to 0.50 parts per million, according to the county.
It's not clear if some local governments will choose to stop adding fluoride to their water system ahead of the July 1 deadline.
Where in Florida is fluoride added to water?
About 100 water systems across the state add fluoride to their water, according to the Florida Department of Health, including Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and the cities of Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Tampa.
But even ahead of the statewide fluoride ban, some local governments have wrestled with whether to remove it from their water systems.
Over the past several months, at least 14 cities in Florida have decided to stop putting fluoride in their water, affecting about 1 million people.
In Miami-Dade, the county mayor vetoed the commission's plan to end water fluoridation. The County Commission then overrode her veto, affecting about 2.4 million people.
Other local governments have opted to keep adding fluoride, including the Hillsborough Commission and the Clearwater City Council. But their decisions will be moot later this year when the state law goes into effect.
Where did the idea to ban fluoride come from?
Fluoride has had its skeptics for years.
But opposition became more vocal when President Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy has applauded DeSantis for working to ban water fluoridation, saying on social media that he was 'standing up for every Floridian's right to choose what goes into their own body.'
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has also spoken against fluoride, pointing to reports that question the side effects of consuming it. He has traveled the state on a campaign to get local governments to stop fluoridating the water.
In November, Ladapo issued an official recommendation against water fluoridation.
What do other experts say?
Margherita Fontana, a dentist and the chairperson of the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences & Endodontics at the University of Michigan, said fluoride is used in the United States in a way that is safe and effective.
'The more frequently we have fluoride in contact with our teeth, the better,' Fontana said.
Fontana said studies that point to concerns with fluoride have 'very, very poor' data or are from countries where there are also other contaminants in the water.
She said the only known side effect of fluoride use is fluorosis, which she said is a cosmetic issue that can cause white spots on teeth.
Fontana said the public outcry against water fluoridation has broader effects.
'There will be an increase in decay in young children if parents decide to try to intentionally avoid fluoride from all sources because of being scared of the information being shared,' Fontana said.
What is the FDA doing about fluoride?
As DeSantis has pushed for the ban on water fluoridation, he has said that people can still get fluoride from other means, like toothpaste and mouthwash.
But the Food and Drug Administration is planning to remove ingestible fluoride supplements from the market for children. The FDA set a goal date of Oct. 31 to take action.
In a news release announcing the decision, federal health officials said the supplements were never FDA approved, adding the best way to help children's health was through 'avoiding excessive sugar intake and good dental hygiene.'