Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that prohibits fluoride from being added to public water systems, following closely in the footsteps of Utah. Utah ended water fluoridation on April 30, when Gov. Spencer Cox signed House Bill 0131 into law. The bill, effective July 1, 2025, prohibits public water systems from adding fluoride unless approved by local voters through a referendum.Florida’s law will also go into effect July 1. Senate Bill 700 bans municipal governments from adding not just fluoride, but any other health-related additive to local water supplies. Approximately 100 communities currently add fluoridate, according to the Florida Department of Health. .Utah to become first state to ban fluoride in public water.SB 700, passed by the Florida House on April 29 and the Senate on April 16, is a broad agricultural bill that includes consumer protections, the creation of the Florida Aquaculture Foundation and restrictions on plant-based food labeling.Its fluoride provision bans “certain additives” unrelated to water safety, effectively targeting fluoridation, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.The bill, sponsored by Sen. Keith Truenow and Rep. Danny Alvarez, was supported by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who in November 2024 advised municipalities to end fluoridation, as the Western Standard earlier reported.Ladapo urged municipalities to end fluoridation, citing “health risks outweighing benefits” and potential links to neurological harm..RFK Jr. to follow through on promise to ban fluoride in US drinking water .The law, having been in the works for months, has already had preemptive effects. According to the Tampa Bay Times, at least 900,000 Floridians have already lost access to fluoride.“It’s forced medication when they’re jamming fluoride into your water supply,” said DeSantis when he signed the bill in Miami on May 6. He noted on social media that topical fluoride options like toothpaste are widely available.DeSantis praised Miami-Dade County, a region that took the initiative to end fluoridation.“I think they voted the right way,” he remarked.Ladapo, citing a 2024 study, linked high fluoride to lower IQ, dental fluorosis, and skeletal fluorosis, and warned of cognitive risks even at low doses. The CDC found no harm at 0.7 milligrams per liter, but noted ongoing neurological studies, wrote the Guardian..IN-DEPTH: What do Calgarians need to know about fluoride in city water?.Calgary, meanwhile, is moving in the opposite direction of the US states. The city is undergoing preparations to add fluoride to the public water supply on an undetermined date in 2025.The implementation date has been postponed several times since the summer of 2024. The most recent rough deadline on the City of Calgary’s website is by the end of the second quarter — which is a mere six weeks away from the date of this article’s publication.
