Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo is advising Miami-Dade County to stop the long-held practice of adding fluoride to municipal drinking water suppl, despite widespread opposition from dentists and national health organizations.
Ladapo appeared before county’s committee on safety and health Tuesda with University of Florida professor Ashley J. Malin and two dentists to speak against fluoride in local water supplies. Malin's research focuses on the potential negative effects of fluoridation.
“The debate here is whether fluoride should be added to your water, and it shouldn’t be,” Ladapo said. “This is not in the interest of children … of pregnant women … of our community.”
The group presented what they say is strong research evidence suggesting a dose-response relationship between fluoride and neurotoxic harm.
Ladapo and Malin cited a ruling from a federal judge last September that ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose risks to intellectual developmental in children.
The ruling comes out of a National Toxicology Program systematic review that concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking water with levels more than 1.5 milligrams per liter, are associated with lower IQ in children.
No action was taken by the committee at the meeting, but several of members cast doubt on the push to stop fluoridation.
“My concerns are that you are presenting one side,” said County Commissioner Marleine Bastien. “Overwhelmingly, the research that my staff and I found … shows that low levels of fluoride in our water are not bad for our health.”
Miami-Dade began adding fluoride to the local drinking supply in 1958, according to a county spokesperson. A natural amount of fluoride in municipal groundwater comes to about 0.2 milligrams per liter, and the county adjusts those levels to 0.7 milligrams per liter, which aligns with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The county's water department "does keep a close eye on all of the research,” said Commissioner Raquel Regalado. “Like my colleagues, I just want everyone to have clarity on the quality of Miami-Dade County water.”
The discussion comes as more than a dozen municipal water systems in Florida have stopped fluoridation, and a bill has been filed in the Legislature to prohibit the practice by local governments.
Fluoride is a mineral naturally found in soil, water, plants and food. It prevents tooth decay, according to the National Institutes of Health. The CDC praises fluoridation as one of the great public health interventions of the 20th century because of the decline in cavities since the practice began in the U.S. in 1945.
More than 200 million people in the U.S., or about 63% of the population, receive fluoridated water through community systems.
But a national debate over the topic was sparked during the 2024 presidential campaign. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now secretary of Health and Human Services, promised that Donald Trump would push to end fluoridation if elected.
Shortly after, the Florida Department of Health, led by Ladapo, released guidance for local municipalities to stop the practice citing the research he brought to the Miami-Dade committee.
Utah will be the first state to to ban fluoride in public drinking water. On Monday, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he would sign legislation that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water systems.
Other cities across the country have already gotten rid of fluoride from their water, and other municipalities are considering doing the same.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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