The city of Tallahassee has been adding fluoride to the public water system since 1987 to help improve oral hygiene and fight tooth decay. Now the topic is scheduled for discussion today at the city’s commission meeting.
Adding fluoride to public water systems has been making national headlines. President Elect Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said, if confirmed to the position, he plans to remove fluoride from drinking water nationwide. And recently Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo issued guidance recommending that Florida communities stop adding fluoride to drinking water.
Ladapo says he’s concerned about studies showing that children exposed to higher levels of fluoride could experience a host of problems including IQ deficits.
“It is public health malpractice with the information that we have now to continue adding fluoride to water systems in Florida," Ladapo said.
He says there are plenty of other ways people can access fluoride. Such as through fluoridated toothpaste or mouthwash.
But public health experts say those studies are based in other countries where the level of fluoride exposure is higher than is approved for use in the United States. Organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association say the benefit of fluoridating drinking water at levels approved in the U.S outweighs the risk.
But the decision about whether fluoride should be added to the public water supply is up to each community.
The Florida Department of Health’s website includes a page where users can see all public water systems actively using fluoride.
In the Florida Panhandle and in the Big Bend, fluoride can be found in the public water of Leon, Wakulla, Gadsden, Taylor, Bay, Washington, Walton, Okaloosa, and Suwannee Counties.
2023 data shows that more than 70% of Floridians using public water systems receive fluoridated water, compared with 95% of Georgia’s public water consumers (from 2020).
Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound often found in the water and food we drink and eat. It has been added to public water systems across the country since the 1940s, mainly to help fight tooth decay on a mass scale and to help save on the cost of negative health outcomes associated with poor dental hygiene.
The CDC has called the fluoridation of drinking water "one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century."
Some local governments have voted to remove fluoride from their water—including Winter Haven, Stuart, and Naples.
The Tallahassee Commission meeting starts Wednesday at 3:00.
