Central Fla. City to Remove Fluoride From Water System

There was initial skepticism over former Democrat and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy’s goal of removing fluoride from the water supply because those decisions are left to local governments.

But it appears President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services already has influenced a city in central Florida that voted Tuesday to stop adding fluoride to drinking water after a lengthy public comment period where residents shared health concerns.

The Winter Haven City Commission voted 3-2 on a resolution to remove the fluoride by Jan. 1, or on a date “as soon as reasonably practical thereafter,” WFLA-TV reported Thursday.

The city commission based its resolution on a federal court ruling in California in September that the Environmental Protection Agency must strengthen regulation of fluoride in drinking water across the country.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen, a former President Barack Obama appointee, wrote in his 80-page decision that scientific evidence of fluoride’s health risks when ingested at levels currently prescribed for drinking water — especially to the developing brains of infants — requires stricter regulation of the chemical’s presence in drinking water under the Toxic Substances Control Act. More than 200 million Americans, or about 75% of the population, drink fluoridated water.

For many commission and audience members, the issue at hand was government overreach.

“The government really should not be involved in healthcare, or what goes into the bodies of citizens,” Mayor Pro Tem Brian Yates said, after hinting that fluoride in the water supply and his hyperthyroidism might be related. “Those really should be left up to the patient and the [healthcare] provider.”

On Nov. 2, just days before the election, Kennedy posted on X: “On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease. President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @MELANIATRUMP want to Make America Healthy Again.”

Yates denied that a reported 9,000 children face significant barriers to accessing fluoride because of existing public health services, WFLA reported. Commissioner Brad Dantzler suggested giving some of the estimated $48,000 saved by adopting the resolution to charities that can provide dental health products.

In 1962, ironically while Kennedy’s uncle, John F. Kennedy, was president, federal drinking water standards were updated to include fluoride guidelines with recommended and maximum levels, according to a timeline by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The optimal fluoride concentration ranged from 0.7 ppm (parts per million) to 1.2 ppm, contingent on the local climate.

By 1980, half of the U.S. population was drinking fluoridated tap water and by 2012, fluoridated water was supplied to 74.6% of Americans through public water systems, and 67.1% of the overall U.S. population had access to fluoridated tap water.

Dantzler said, in response to correspondence with dental professionals, that city commissioners acknowledged that fluoride is beneficial for dental health but are concerned about what might happen when it “gets in the gut.” He also cited Kennedy’s concerns.

“I’ll tell you that after the recent election, President Trump has named Mr. Kennedy to be his H-something-something director, and Mr. Kennedy has made it well-known and has publicly said that he wants fluoride out of the water around the entire country,” Dantzler said. “So, this issue, we may be at the front of it, but this issue is coming just based upon current events and what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”