Utah has become the first state in the nation to ban the addition of fluoride to public drinking water.
Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed the legislation with little fanfare on Thursday, and it will take effect May 7.
The push to ban fluoride comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed skepticism and sometimes outright hostility about water fluoridation, which is considered one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Prior to the election, Kennedy called fluoride an “industrial waste,” and said that the Trump administration would “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water” because of the potential health risks.
Anti-fluoridation bills have been introduced in North Dakota, Tennessee and Montana. Legislation introduced in Florida would ban “additives” from drinking water, including fluoride.
The Utah bill would not only ban fluoride, it would also explicitly prohibit municipalities and counties from passing their own ordinances requiring or permitting fluoridation.
However, it would add fluoride to the list of drugs that can be prescribed by a pharmacist.
In an interview with Utah’s ABC 4 earlier this month, Cox noted that nearly half the state doesn’t have fluoridated water, and there’s been no substantial health difference between that group and the half that does have their water fluoridated.
“You think you would see drastically different outcomes with half the state not getting it and half the state getting it… and we haven’t,” Cox said. “It’s got to be a really high bar for me if we are going to require people to be medicated by their government.”
Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance that helps to prevent tooth decay by strengthening and rebuilding weakened tooth enamel. Water fluoridation has occurred in the U.S. since 1945, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends community fluoridation as a cost-effective way to improve Americans’ oral health.
Major medical associations and public health groups — including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dental Association and the CDC — also endorse adding fluoride to drinking water to help prevent cavities.
