Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, addresses the chamber at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The Utah Legislature has approved a bill that bans adding fluoride to public water systems.
The Utah Senate on Friday voted 18-8 to give final legislative approval to HB81, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain. It now goes to Gov. Spencer Cox for his consideration.
Fluoride can occur naturally in water, but U.S. municipalities have added extra for decades because of its ability to fight tooth decay.
Dentists, especially in vulnerable communities, have advocated to continue letting cites add fluoride to water supplies, arguing that adding fluoride substantially prevents cavities in children. However, the practice has recently become controversial despite evidence of its benefits, with some questioning whether the substance is safe.
Similar opposition to fluoride has been percolating around the country, particularly amid growing skepticism toward science and public health measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the bill is “about protecting our water, reducing unnecessary costs, and ensuring people have the right to decide what they consume,” the bill’s Senate sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, said during an earlier presentation on the Senate floor.
He agreed to run the bill in response to water conservancy districts’ requests, he said, since they were concerned about toxic exposure to the mineral when mishandled.
The bill was controversial among dental health communities but was supported by Utahns worried about personal freedoms.
Ultimately, the final vote split mostly along party lines in the Senate.
While most Senate Democrats voted against the bill, Sen. Stephanie Pitcher, D-Salt Lake City, argued in favor of it, describing the practice of adding fluoride to water “incredibly invasive for those individuals who don’t want fluoride in their water.”
Utah lawmakers advance bill to ban adding fluoride to drinking water
She also mentioned that Salt Lake County hasn’t voted on the issue since the year 2000, which concerned her. Other Republican senators joined Pitcher in her support, saying that it’s impossible to control the intake of the mineral, since people drink different amounts of water, and much of it goes down shower drains or gets lost in lawns.
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, criticized the proposal, arguing that the bill would ban two counties — Salt Lake and Davis — from adding fluoride to their water at a 0.7 mg/L level, while fluoridation naturally occurs in higher concentrations in other areas of the state.
“I don’t really have a dog in the fight whether we fluoridate our water or not,” Weiler said. “But I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the legislature telling Salt Lake City, Brigham City, Helper and Davis County that their local authorities can’t do what their residents have voted to do.”
Cullimore reiterated that the bill wouldn’t ban anyone from taking fluoride. The proposal also allows pharmacists to prescribe fluoride to expand the options for those concerned about the decrease of fluoride in their water.
“This bill does not prohibit anybody from taking fluoride in whatever fashion they want,” Cullimore said. “It just disallows people who do not want fluoride from having to consume fluoride in their water.”
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