Tallahassee Won't be Striking Fluoride in Water, Despite Ladapo Request

Despite pressures from the state Surgeon General and the future Health and Human Services Secretary, Florida's capital city has no plan to follow the lead of central Florida cities and remove fluoride from its tap water.

At least, that's what Tallahassee city spokesperson Alison Faris told The Floridian soon after state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo implored communities to strike the "risky" compound, weeks after fluoride opponent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was nominated as Trump's secretary of health and human services, and days after Stuart and Winter Haven voted to stop fluoridating water.

"While we are aware of recent discussions about fluoride, including at the state level with the Florida Surgeon General, we are not aware of any official proposals to discontinue its use in our water system," Faris said via email Monday afternoon, noting that any changes to the city water system would need to be voted on by the Tallahassee commission.

And so far, none of the five commissioners have introduced a fluoride-related proposal before their next meeting on Dec. 11.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral linked to decreased tooth decay. Over 73% of Americans served by community water systems now receive fluoridated water, which was first tested in a 1945 trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan as oral issues plagued the nation.

The post-wartime study found that severe tooth decay in the northern city dropped 60% with fluoride additives, leading other cities and countries to start adding fluoride to their drinking water—with one big caveat: no more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water can legally be added. Tallahassee, for example, now has just 0.85 milligrams per liter after beginning to fluoridate its water in 1987.

Why? Because excess fluoride can lead to thyroid or skeletal issues in adults and developmental problems in children—fears that Ladapo and Kennedy hold as cities continue to fluoridate their water supplies.  Their fears are grounded in recent studies linking more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter to lower IQ in children.

Winter Haven—a city just outside of Orlando—heralded the renewed fluoride debate on Nov. 13, two days before Kennedy was nominated and nine days before Ladapo circulated a memo alleging that fluoridated water poses serious health risks. Of note, one of the three commissioners who voted to strike the mineral said he did so because he was following Kennedy's lead.

Situated on the Treasure Coast, Stuart followed suit on Nov. 27 with a unanimous decision to temporarily stop fluoridating the water. Since then, a Miami-Dade county commissioner has asked that the South Florida hub also remove fluoride from its water supply, though Miami has shown no signs of complying.

Nor has Tallahassee:

"The City remains committed to staying informed on this issue and will engage in conversations guided by policy direction from the City Commission," Faris said.