Utah has become the first state in the U.S. to ban adding fluoride to its public drinking water systems as concerns about the decades-long practice continue to grow, fueled in part by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation Thursday that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the chemical to their water systems.
The bill was passed by the legislature last month and is set to go into effect on May 7.
RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear.
Critics, however, have long said that washing teeth with fluoride is not comparable to the risks posed by ingesting fluoride, with the latter potentially triggering harmful neurotoxic effects. The fluoride used in public systems is typically not naturally occurring fluoride and is instead sourced from the phosphate fertilizer industry, where it’s captured during processing to prevent environmental emissions.
Utah lawmakers who pushed for a ban said putting fluoride in water was too expensive and didn’t improve dental health. Cox, who grew up and raised his own children in a community without fluoridated water, compared it recently to being "medicated" by the government.
Bill sponsor Rep. Stephanie Gricius, a Republican, told Fox News Digital in January that she had been working on the bill since early last year, noting that fluoride is federally regulated as a prescription.
"Community water fluoridation and informed consent, which is foundational to good health care, cannot coexist," Gricius said. "I believe strongly in individual choice when it comes to what prescriptions we put into our bodies."
She said only two of Utah's 29 counties practice community water fluoridation, and with a sample size of more than 70,000 children, researchers found there was no significant difference on children's dental decay between counties that add fluoride and those that do not.
"In fact, the county with the lowest amount of decay does not add fluoride," she said.
The American Dental Association sharply criticized Cox and Utah lawmakers, saying the ban showed "wanton disregard for the oral health and well-being of their constituents." The group said that cavities are the most common chronic childhood disease.
FLUORIDE IN WATER LINKED TO LOWER INTELLIGENCE
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed in November to outlaw the practice nationwide.
"Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease," RFK wrote in a post on X in November.
Kennedy, who is seen as the father of the MAHA movement since he endorsed President Trump’s presidential campaign in July, aims to improve nutrition, eliminate toxins, preserve natural habitats and fight the chronic disease epidemic in this country.
If Kennedy were to end the practice, it would overturn a policy first enacted 80 years ago when Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply.
Currently, more than 200 million Americans, or about 75 percent of the population, drink fluoridated water.
In September, a judge in California ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further regulate fluoride because high levels could pose "an unreasonable risk" to the intellectual development of children.
"Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure," the judge said. "And ample evidence establishes that a mother’s exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is associated with IQ decrements in her offspring."
Lawmakers in states including Ohio, South Carolina and Florida have also made proposals to restrict local governments or water system operators from adding fluoride to water.
Proposed restrictions on fluoridation in New Hampshire, Tennessee and North Dakota were rejected. A measure in Kentucky to make fluoridation optional stalled in the state Senate.
Fox News’ Ashley J. DiMella and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
from Health News Today on Fox News https://ift.tt/bHdVAXz
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