Florida’s health officer advises communities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water: Shots

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Friday advised local governments in the state to stop adding fluoride to their communities’ water supplies. He called it “public health malpractice,” despite widespread consensus among public health experts that fluoridation has dramatically improved dental health in the U.S., saving billions in dental costs and preventing millions of cavities in children .

Ladapo held a news conference Friday morning in Winter Haven, a small city east of Tampa, where officials voted earlier this month to stop water fluoridation. The Florida Department of Health followed with an announcement and new guidelines.

Ladapo cited research suggesting that chronic exposure to high levels of fluoride can have harmful neurological effects on children, such as lower IQ and increased ADHD.

Fluoride is a chemical that occurs naturally in water, soil, food and other sources. It helps strengthen the teeth and protects them against tooth decay.

For decades, many American communities have added fluoride to their drinking water, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hails as one of the “Ten Major Public Health Interventions of the 20th Century” for dramatically reducing cavities.

Ladapo’s guidance comes after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick as Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced plans to take similar action nationally if confirmed for the position.

When a reporter asked Ladapo about the timing during Friday’s news conference, he said this was an issue he had been working on for months but was delayed by the recent hurricanes that hit the state.

What the studies say

“Community water fluoridation is one of the most effective and affordable public health measures we can implement to protect the oral health of our residents,” said Dr. Jeff Ottley, president of the Florida Dental Association.

Decades of scientific research prove the safety and effectiveness of fluoridation, he said.

“Adding optimal amounts of fluoride to our community’s water supply can prevent at least 25% of tooth decay in children and adults, reducing the need for expensive dental treatments,” Ottley said.

The National Toxicology Program in August published a systematic review of research on the link between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition. It concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure, such as drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter, are associated with lower IQ in children.

That’s twice as much as the 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water that U.S. health officials recommend for community water supplies.

“The finding of lower IQs in children was primarily based on epidemiological studies in non-US countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, where some pregnant women, infants and children had total fluoride exposures greater than 1 .5%. mg fluoride/l drinking water,” the NTP said in the report.

Scientists added that there was “insufficient data” to determine whether the lower level recommended in the US has a negative effect on children’s IQ. The NTP added that there was no evidence that fluoride exposure had adverse effects on cognition in adults.

But Ladapo said he found the results “terrible” and believes the risk outweighs the dental benefits. He said there are now other ways people can get fluoride, such as in certain toothpastes, mouthwashes and foods.

“In this day and age, with the additional sources of fluoride that people have access to, it is public health malpractice to add fluoride to the community water systems that pregnant women and children have access to,” he said during the press conference.

Ladapo was joined by Ashley Malin, an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Epidemiology, who has studied the effects of fluoride in pregnant women.

She led a study published in May based in Los Angeles that suggested that fluoride exposure during pregnancy was linked to an increased risk of neurobehavioral problems in children.

“Although this issue has become politicized in recent times, I do not view this as a political issue; I consider this a human rights issue and a public health issue,” Malin said.

The Florida Department of Health estimates that approximately 70 percent of residents on community water systems receive fluoridated water.

Collier County voted to end water fluoridation in February, while the city of Winter Haven did so on November 12. Ladapo urged Floridians to demand policymakers in their communities follow suit.

“It is clear that more research is needed to address the safety and efficacy issues related to water fluoridation in the community,” Ladapo said.

Major health groups support adding fluoride to water

Organizations such as the CDC, the World Health Organization, the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support adding fluoride to the community water supply. They say it helps extend dental protections to low-income people who may not be able to afford other types of dental care.

In September, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to tighten fluoride regulations. Recent research shows there is an “unreasonable risk” that 0.7 milligrams per liter is not low enough to protect children from harm. Although he also noted that his statement “does not conclude with any certainty that fluoridated water is harmful to public health.”

The Florida Dental Association said it continues to support water fluoridation in the community.

“Water fluoridation is one of the tools we have in our toolkit to help children achieve healthy oral health,” says Ottley. “If we take that away, we’re putting the kids in those communities at a younger age with higher levels of tooth decay.”

The Florida Health Department also raised concerns in its guidelines about the risks of a rare condition known as skeletal fluorosis from fluoride exposure, which can increase the risk of bone fractures. The EPA requires that water systems contain no more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water to prevent skeletal fluorosis.

The CDC says health experts have found “no compelling scientific evidence linking community water fluoridation with potential adverse health effects or systemic disorders such as increased risk of cancer, Down syndrome, heart disease, osteoporosis and bone fractures, immune disorders, low intelligence, kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease or allergic reactions.”

In his guidance, Surgeon General Ladapo shared other recommendations to support dental health, including expanding community access to dental services and promoting health habits such as reducing sugar consumption.