Dec. 19 (UPI) — At a time when the nominee to lead Health and Human Services has called for an end to public water fluoridation, a small town in Florida has voted to remove the chemical from its water system.
City leaders in Tavares, Fla., on Wednesday approved removing fluoride from the city’s water supply.
The Tavares City Council voted 4-1 to end fluoridation of drinking water, which Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo called a “public health malpractice,” Spectrum News reported.
Ladapo addressed the city council meeting and is a noted critic of fluoridation of public drinking water. He also has been a vocal critic of measures to prevent the spread of COVID and even has questioned the validity of using vaccines, as well. He was appointed to his position by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021.
Ladapo and a researcher from the University of Florida spoke with the council, which also heard public comments before its five members voted on the matter.
Putting fluoride in public drinking water creates a risk of neurological problems for young children and pregnant women, including attention deficit and behavioral problem, Ladapo said.
“I don’t understand why anyone who can read and, therefore, can read the studies is still defending it,” Ladapo said of the practice of putting fluoride in public drinking water.
The city’s mayor also questioned the practice of fluoridating the city’s water supply, which he said forces residents to ingest fluoride that is available in other ways for those who want it.
Those who accidentally ingest toothpaste containing fluoride are supposed to seek medical help or immediately call a poison control center, Mayor Walter Price told the council.
“So why are we putting that in our water?” he asked the council.
Council member Troy Singer likened fluoridated water to forcing people to take medication.
“They are being medicated [and] not through their own desires,” Singer said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a maximum of 0.7 mg of fluoride per liter of drinking water, but Ladapo cited a document showing many children have suffered lower IQs due to consuming drinking water containing more than double that amount.
Ladapo said putting fluoride in public drinking water does help teeth, but the extent to which it helps is questionable.
People who want to benefit from fluoride can use toothpaste that contains it, he said.
The council earlier in December heard from health professionals who support fluoridation of public water supplies.
“You’re receiving at least 25% cavity reductions,” dentist Johnny Johnson Jr. previously told the council, Spectrum News reported.
He said ending water fluoridation would affect a “silent majority” of people who are impoverished and would be most vulnerable to dental problems afterward.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, endodontist Maria Claus said she is a root canal specialist who sees many patients who experience pain due to deep-seated tooth decay.
Claus expressed her support for continued water fluoridation.
Fluoridated water is one of the many issues Robert Kennedy Jr. previously said he wants to address after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Kennedy is Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and said the federal department immediately will recommend ending water fluoridation at the state and local levels.
He said a federal judge on Oct. 4 ruled the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t conducted health and safety studies regarding the effects of putting fluoride in public drinking water.
Kennedy also cited Austria and Germany’s removal of fluoride from public water supplies and how those nations did so without experiencing increased cavity rates among their respective populations.
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