First State Bans Fluoride in Water as RFK Jr. Guts Health Department
MAHA conspiracy theorists rejoice: Utah has become the first state to ban fluoride from public drinking water.
Republican Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill late Thursday that will prevent local cities from choosing to add the mineral to their water.
The order—which will go into effect on May 7—is a culmination of a baseless premise that originated in the 1960s that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has pushed even further. Fluoride removal bills are also on the table in North Dakota, Montana, and Tennessee.
This anti-fluoride movement is rooted in the conspiracy that early childhood exposure to fluoride could cause mental disability and low IQ. These studies have been thoroughly debunked. Utah’s legislation made no mention of these worries in the text.
“The benefits of community water fluoridation are most pronounced in low income communities—communities that often have the least access to dental care and to other sources of fluoride,” Dr. Scott Toma, a dentist, told The New York Times.
Multiple studies suggest that fluoridation actually is good for dental and oral health. It’s connected with a 27 percent decline in adult cavities and a 30 percent decline in child cavities.