Utah will become first state to ban flouride in drinking water

Utah will become the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, despite widespread opposition from dentists and national health organizations.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he would sign legislation that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water systems.

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Government researchers have found that community water fluoridation prevents about 25% of tooth decay.

Utah lawmakers who pushed for a ban said putting fluoride in water was too expensive. Its Republican sponsor, Rep. Stephanie Gricius, acknowledged fluoride has benefits, but said it was an issue of “individual choice” to not have it in the water.


Cox said that like many people in Utah, he grew up and raised his own children in a community that doesn’t have fluoridated water.

“You would think you would see drastically different outcomes with half the state not getting it....We haven’t seen that,” Cox said in a weekend interview with ABC4 in Salt Lake City. “So it’s got to be a really high bar for me if we’re going to require people to be medicated by their government.”

More than 200 million people in the U.S., or about 63% of the U.S. population, receive fluoridated water through community water systems.

Already, some cities across the country have gotten rid of fluoride from their water, and other municipalities are considering doing the same. A few months ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to kids’ intellectual development.

Opponents warned it would disproportionately affect low-income residents who may rely on public drinking water having fluoride as their only source of preventative dental care. Low-income families may not be able to afford regular dentist visits or the fluoride tablets some people buy as a supplement in cities without fluoridation.

Fluoridation is the most cost-effective way to prevent tooth decay on a large scale, said Lorna Koci, who chairs the Utah Oral Health Coalition.


(AP Photo Marcio Jose Sanchez)