MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – New guidance from The Florida Department of Health and state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is recommending against adding fluoride to tap water.
“These studies have actually found the same finding, that moms and children exposed to higher levels of fluoride have experienced adverse neurological and neuropsychiatric effects,” he said.
The guidance, issued Friday, acknowledges fluoride’s role in combating tooth decay, but links a handful of reports and studies, and recommends communities stop adding it to the water supply, “Due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children, and the wide availability of alternative sources of fluoride for dental health, the state surgeon general recommends against community water fluoridation.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fluoride began to be added to local water systems in the mid-1940s and has greatly helped to prevent cavities.
But the topic of fluoride has re-entered the national conversation, thanks in part to President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Junior for Health and Human Services Secretary, who has publicly said he wants fluoride out of the nation’s tap water.
According to the Florida Department of Health, all water systems in Broward County fluoridate their water. The same goes for Miami-Dade County.
Roy Coley, the Director of Miami-Dade’s Water and Sewer Department, said he hasn’t had any conversations with local cities about ending fluoridation.
“We fluoridate the water consistent with EPA recommendations, 0.7 milligrams per liter of water where the EPA says the maximum amount should be 4 mg/L,” said Coley. “We have not been able to identify anything in those studies that suggest our water could be harmful to you.”