Tavares City Council and leaders on Wednesday voted 4-1 to halt the fluoridation of the city’s water supply after hearing public comments from opponents and supporters, including Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.
The Lake County town had added fluoride to its water for decades.
The vote came after dentists during public comment defended fluoridation, claiming the mineral helps maintain healthy teeth among children and adults.
The majority of comments were against fluoride in the city’s water supply.
Ladapo was at the meeting and came forward to suggest the harmful impacts of fluoride in Tavares, including things like lower IQ levels and higher ADHD levels in children.
In November, he advised local governments across the state to stop fluoridation. Many have done so, most recently Naples, which voted Dec. 3, Winter Haven on Nov. 12 and Collier County in February.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead Health and Human Services, has also spoken out against fluoridating water. Also helping ignite local debates: A California federal court this yaer ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the “unreasonable risk” posed by fluoridation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Dental Association and other medical groups have since reaffirmed support for fluoridation when added in lower levels, typically 0.7 milligrams per liter.
Dr. Wade Winker has practiced dentistry for 29 years. During his comment, he said no one pointed out the benefits of fluoride as well as his shock at the opposition of fluoridation.
“Bleach, fluoride, iodine and vitamin D are all added to our water and food supplies,” Winker said. “Try taking iodine out of salt and see what happens. Hopefully, that's not what we're going to be talking about next. There are dangers with inappropriate concentrations on any of these. There are many health benefits at the right level.”
Tavares Mayor Walter Price Sr. presented a tube of toothpaste prior to the motion and read the poison control warning if someone consumes too much toothpaste. He pointed out that while the majority of toothpastes contain fluoride, it isn’t meant to be consumed.
“It doesn't make any sense to me, and I, for one, think though the city has a duty to protect our citizens from getting something forced on them that they don't want,” Price Sr. said. “There are other available sources of fluoride that they can get. We have clinics. We have a clinic right across the street that has great dental facilities, and so obviously you can tell where I'm at. I want us to take this fluoride out of our water immediately.”
Prior to the meeting, council member Troy Singer was for fluoridation, but after hearing from professionals and the public, he changed his mind to adhere to the public opposition. He said it went against his own beliefs about fluoride.
“It's just that I've spoken to quite a few of our residents, and the majority of the residents that I've spoken to, they do not want this in their water,” Singer said. “They don't want it forced on them. So, like I said, I have to set aside my personal feelings, my personal beliefs, because my job is to represent the majority of the people.”
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