OAN Staff James Meyers
2:37pm – Tuesday, March 11th, 2025
Utah is set to become the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water.
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On Monday, Beehive Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UTAH) announced that he would sign a bill banning chemicals in drinking water throughout Utah.
“That's not a bill I felt strongly about. It's not a bill I care about that much, but it's a bill I sign,” Cox said. ABC4 Uta. According to the bill Wall Street JournalIt is scheduled to come into effect in May.
The bill came weeks after Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who repeatedly expressed his doubts about the benefits of fluoride in water.
“We don't need fluoride in the water,” he said. NPR'S Morning Edition. “It's a very bad way to get it to our system.” In 2015, US Public Health Services recommended that, as food and wine, fluorination in water be reduced to 0.7 milligrams per liter nationwide.
Recent time NBC In an interview, Kennedy told the network he supports it being removed.
“I think the fluoride is out… I'm not going to force anyone to take it out, but I'm going to advise the water district. I'm going to give them good information about science, and I think the fluoride will disappear.”
But the opposition to the ban says researchers have found that local water fluorination prevents nearly 25% of tooth decay.
“We have proven true evidence of the safety and effectiveness of this public health initiative,” said Brad Kessler, president of the American Dental Association.
Meanwhile, more than 200 million people in the US, or nearly 63% of the US population, receive fluorinated water through the community's water system.
The bill was supported by Utah teenagers who pleaded lawmakers to pass the bill after suffering a medical emergency when a malfunctioning Sandy, Utah fluoride pump released excess amounts of minerals into drinking water in 2019.
Additionally, opponents say that banning fluorides could affect low-income residents who rely on public drinking water, which have fluoride as the sole source of dental care.
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