Dr. Joseph Ladapo was announced on Sept. 21, 2021, as Florida’s new surgeon general. Behind him is Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Photo by Michael Moline/Florida Phoenix)
The recent string of Florida cities and counties removing fluoride from their drinking water got interrupted Wednesday when a proposal to do the same in Hillsborough County died.
County commissioners deadlocked in a 3-3 tie (the seventh member of the board, Democrat Gwen Myers, was not present for the vote).
Cities such as Melbourne, Port St. Lucie, Stuart, and Tavares have dropped fluoride over the past few months, taking their guidance from a directive issued by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo in November. Ladapo recommended against community water fluoridation “due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.”
Major public health groups such as the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention support water fluoridation, citing studies showing the mineral helps fight cavities. Health groups also emphasize that the practice is safe.
“There is no way that I can support this additive of the fluoridation of the water in Hillsborough County. I motion to terminate our process of adding fluoride in the water resources department effective immediately,” proposed Republican County Commissioner Joshua Wostal.
But he received strong pushback from Commissioner Harry Cohen, one of only two Democrats on the board, who said that at minimum the board should schedule a workshop with medical professionals both for and against putting fluoride in the water.
“It is in my view highly irresponsible to take this action in light of the tremendous evidence that is out there that fluoride improves the dental and otherwise health of children across the country and has for over a century,” he said.
The vote transcended party lines. While three Republicans on the board supported removing fluoride from the drinking supply, two other Republicans joined Cohen, the lone Democrat, in opposing the measure.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said last November that the Trump administration intends to “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.”