Utah Becomes First State to Ban Fluoridation in Drinking Water

On Friday, March 28, Utah became the first state to ban the addition of fluoride in public drinking water. While several state legislatures voted on similar pieces of legislation, Utah Governor Spencer Cox was the first to sign such a measure into his state’s law.

Where previously individual communities could vote on whether to add fluoride to their public drinking water or not, the bill removes the ability of communities to decide and places a blanket ban on adding fluoride. Fluoride regulation processes vary widely across the nation, with some states requiring fluoridation for communities over a certain population threshold and others banning fluoridation altogether.

The bill sponsor, Rep. Stephanie Gricius, cited concerns about potential harm that fluoridation has on the cognitive abilities of children. Many dentists and health experts say that public water fluoridation is one of the greatest public health initiatives of the last century, noting that it has increased dental health quality and reduced spending on emergency dental care in the communities in which it has been added. Since the new executive administration began in January, neither the Center for Disease Control nor the Environmental Protection Agency has taken any national action on fluoride. The EPA Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for fluoride in drinking water is 4.0 mg/L, and the U.S. Public Health Service recommends 0.7 mg/L as the optimum water fluoridation level.