Utah seems to be the first state that is ready to ban fluoride completely from public water systems. This is because of a bill that doesn’t let cities or towns decide if they want to add the cavity-fighting mineral.
A bill sponsor and an organization that is against fluoridating water said that Utah’s plan would set a standard in the U.S. This would happen at a time when Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new federal health secretary, has expressed doubts about water fluoridation, which is seen as one of the most important public health achievements of the last 100 years.
Utah’s bill passed its last test in the senate on Friday, and now it goes to Gov. Spencer Cox to be signed into law. A representative for Cox didn’t answer right away when asked if he would sign it.
Some towns across the country have already taken fluoride out of their water, and more are thinking about doing the same. Some months ago, a federal judge told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to control the amount of fluoride in drinking water because too much of it could hurt children’s brain development.
The percentage of Utah people who get fluoridated water was ranked 44th in the country by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022. The data came from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. About two out of five Utahns who live in areas with community water systems got water that was treated.
Lawmakers who backed the bill, which was backed by state Sen. Kirk Cullimore and Republican Rep. Stephanie Gricius, said that adding fluoride to the water costs too much.
Gricius told The Associated Press in a text message, “I don’t dispute that fluoride can be beneficial. That’s why the bill also includes a deregulation of the prescription.” He was talking about a fluoride pill. “This is not anti-fluoride legislation; it is pro-choice and informed consent.”
For a big group of people, Lorna Koci, chair of the Utah Oral Health Coalition, said that fluoridation is the best and least expensive way to keep teeth healthy.
Koci said, “I think the anti-fluoride people are taking advantage of Kennedy’s role and using his beliefs as a way to get in the door to stop fluoridating water.”
She also said that for some people, treated public water is the only way to get preventive dental care, and that low-income Utah residents may be most affected.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that fluoride replaces minerals that are lost during regular wear and tear, which makes teeth stronger and less likely to get cavities. And almost two-thirds of people in the U.S. drink water that has been treated.
A study by the Associated Press found that only 66 of the 484 Utah water systems that sent data to the CDC in 2024 treated their water. The largest was Salt Lake City, which is the state’s largest city.
Brigham City is north of Salt Lake City. In 2023, voters there threw out a bill that would have taken fluoride out of the city’s public water supplies. More than two to one, the plan was turned down.
Val Radmall, who runs the Utah Dental Association, said that he and some other people met with Gricius to ask her to change her mind about the plan. He worked for thirty years in a town that didn’t have fluoride, and he said it was clear that there wasn’t any.
“Someone would come in with no cavities or other problems, and I’d tell them, ‘You didn’t grow up here.'” “Where did you grow up? Everyone here has a lot of cavities!” he asked.
