Tallahassee has been adding fluoride to the public water system since 1987, but the topic is scheduled for discussion by the city’s commission on Thursday.
Adding fluoride to the water supply has been done for decades around the country as studies found it improved dental health. But the process has been making national headlines as of late.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said that he plans to push for the removal of fluoride from drinking water nationwide. And recently, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo issued guidance recommending that communities end fluoridation.
Ladapo says he’s concerned about studies showing that children exposed to higher levels of fluoride could experience a host of problems, including IQ deficits.
“It is public health malpractice with the information that we have now to continue adding fluoride to water systems in Florida," Ladapo said.
He says there are plenty of other ways people can access fluoride. Such as through fluoridated toothpaste or mouthwash.
But public health experts say those studies are based in countries where the level of fluoride exposure is higher than is approved for use in the United States. Organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Dental Association say the benefit of fluoridating water at approved levels outweighs the risk.
The decision about whether fluoride should be added to the public water supply is up to each community.
The Florida Department of Health’s website includes a page where users can see all public water systems actively using fluoride.
Data from 2023 show that more than 70% of Floridians using public water systems receive fluoridated water, compared with 95% of Georgia’s public water consumers (from 2020).
Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound often found in the water and food we drink and eat. It has been added to public systems across the country since the 1940s, mainly to help fight tooth decay on a mass scale and to help save on the cost of negative health outcomes associated with poor dental hygiene.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called the fluoridation of drinking water "one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century."
Some Florida governments have voted to remove fluoride from their water— including Winter Haven, Stuart and Naples.
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