this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025

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227

Utah becomes the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water (apnews.com)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

62 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water after Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation prohibiting local decisions on fluoridation.

Cox cited cost and personal choice, likening fluoride to government “medication.”

The ban faces opposition from dentists and health experts, who argue fluoride prevents cavities and benefits low-income communities.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans receive fluoridated water. Some cities have already removed fluoride, and a recent court order requires the EPA to regulate high levels that may affect children’s intellectual development.

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[–] Manticore@lemmy.nz 16 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Natural groundwater already has some fluoride in it; it's the potability processing that takes it away. So of course a lot of places put it back in.

I see the push to remove it in my country, too. People claim is kills children's brains - but the amount of fluoride to do any damage is so insanely high. You would die of literal water poisoning several times over before you ingested enough fluoride.

Literally anything hurts you if you have too much, that's what 'too much' fucking means. Deciding something is bad because it has an unreachable 'too much' is like refusing to eat bananas because of Chernobyl.

The water here is extremely hard and has a lot of lime. Limescale is inevitable. Yet I don't see people complaining about drinking rocks? Who benefits from blaming fluoride? Where is this fear coming from?

[–] ours@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Who benefits from blaming fluoride?

Dentists?

Where is this fear coming from?

Idiotic conspiracy theorists.

[–] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 89 points 5 days ago (16 children)

This would 100% be easily enough to make me move away.

That's a massive negative impact on my child's health. Anyone with more than 1 braincell who lives in Utah right now and wants to raise kids should be considering leaving to live somewhere with fluoride, unless you want your kid to be at risk of a bunch of health issues.

2025: we are bringing fucking Rickets back baby!

[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 9 points 4 days ago

Just take the iodine out of salt while we're at it. Don't need no smart thunkers in the Amazon warehouse.

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 16 points 5 days ago (1 children)

just get a toothpaste with fluoride. That's how it is in Europe

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 34 points 5 days ago (9 children)

I don't think you understand how bad low-income people have it.

[–] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago (3 children)

This, this is what people completely whiff on...

People forget not everyone can afford toothpaste...

[–] mPony@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago

Some people are unable to comprehend poverty. "just buy toothpaste" is low-key the equivalent of "just get a loan from your family and start your own business" or "Just get your accountant to write it off" or "just buy a second house" or "just let the lawyers clean it up". If you have the financial means, certain problems just don't affect you.

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[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Anything to make plebs suffer /s

America's leadership is dog shit. Only reason to get into politics anymore is to bilk the system and join the grift, fuck everyone you have to squash along the way, and especially once you reach the top

[–] Vex_Detrause@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

Thanks! This is very good point!

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[–] straightjorkin@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

They've already lost the Sundance film festival, what's the difference if they lose all their people?

[–] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago

That's another reason to move away.

There are so many others.

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[–] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Why put fluoride in water when you can sell it over the counter with a 1300x mark-up?

[–] Olap@lemmy.world 45 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Just wait until they hear what's in toothpaste!

[–] breakingcups@lemmy.world 25 points 5 days ago

Toothpaste? I just use Vitamin A mixed with ivermectin.

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[–] HappySkullsplitter@lemmy.world 41 points 5 days ago

Utah dentists:

[–] MCHEVA4EVA@lemmy.world 40 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Water? You mean like in the toilet?

[–] massacre@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

FLOURIDE! It's what toilets crave!

[–] Stamau123@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago

prohibiting local decisions

cited... personal choice

bruh

[–] GenerationII@lemm.ee 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This isn't really a right-wing wackadoo thing (or at least not exclusively).

Portland, OR hasn't put fluoride in their drinking water for a VERY long time, with many people citing the fact that they don't want the pristine Bull Run water source tainted.

If you use fluoridated (or even nanosilver particle) toothpaste and/or mouth wash, there isn't really any logical reason to also have it in your drinking water, right?

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

and you think the people who are pushing for this aren't the same people who insist on using fluoride free toothpaste

[–] GenerationII@lemm.ee 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm sure they are, but that's not my point. I'm just saying that it's not really medically necessary to flouridate water when fluoridated toothpaste and other treatments are so readily available

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

there is though because people are too stupid to live

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Looks like conservatives are going to start feeling actual, physical pain due to their poor decisions.

Have fun with rotted teeth.

[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

As a Brit, I can't wait to move up a place in the public sphere about our teeth!

[–] IndiBrony@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Amusingly enough, our dental health is actually better than Americans already 👍

It's a funny thing about living in a country where healthcare doesn't bankrupt you.

[–] mPony@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Americans have been busy convincing the world that anyone British who doesn't wear a suit (or isn't married to someone who does) has awful teeth. It's been a staple of movies and TV since the beginning. They're jealous of the NHS

[–] Bring_Back_Guillotines@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

Hope they like paying dentist bills.

[–] Oth@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 days ago (2 children)

The fact that this is normal in the US is incomprehensible to my European brain. I don't think the fluoride is harmful, I don't think there's anything nefarious about it all, I just think it's weird to add things to the water supply?

Water coming from the tap should just be ... water? If you want fluoride in it for better dental health, just add it yourself? Or use fluoride toothpaste?

I feel like if you start doing that, you kinda open the door to mass dosing of other "potentially beneficial" agents. And things we think are safe today, may turn out to be unsafe a few decades from now (see lead, plastics and a number of pharmaceutical compounds that turned out to be unsafe later after decades of use).

[–] NIB@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_by_country

Plenty of countries have fluoride in their water. Ultimately, if you brush your teeth, it is a useless policy but if you dont brush your teeth, it helps a little and with 0 negative side effects.

It is a policy that "my individual rights" crowd loves to shit on. Whether individual rights are more important than a minor effect to the health of a few individuals is debatable.

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

it helps a little and with 0 negative side effects.

Here in the Netherlands we stopped in 1976 because there was an increase in migraines, stomach- and bowel issues and depression ever since fluoride was added to the drinking water supply (+5%).

Toothpaste still has it, but it's cautioned against to use fluoride-enriched toothpaste for children due to studies suggesting a negative effect on brain development. But even with fluoride-enriched toothpaste the amount is being reduced because there appear to be more damaging effects that are lessened in lower dosages, and the health benefits are seemingly not impacted.

[–] Tehdastehdas@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

… 21 of 23 recent epidemiological studies report an association between high fluoride exposure and reduced intelligence. The discrepancy between experimental and epidemiological evidence may be reconciled with deficiencies inherent in most of these epidemiological studies on a putative association between fluoride and intelligence, especially with respect to adequate consideration of potential confounding factors, e.g., socioeconomic status, residence, breast feeding, low birth weight, maternal intelligence, and exposure to other neurotoxic chemicals.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-020-02725-2

[–] desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 days ago (8 children)

it is already accepted that tap water will have chemicals added (at a minimum chlorine) to make it safe to drink, fluoride generally has benefits in small amounts, the amount that the water company addes IMO should be published somewhere accessible so people won't get too much, but removing contaminants from water is far from a new idea in America.

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[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Not the most retarded state yet! That's gotta be Florida or Texas.

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