A Texas legislator is laying out his case for banning water fluoridation, bringing the state further into a national discussion that has been championed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
At a public hearing on Tuesday for the state Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, framed curbing fluoride use as a matter of personal choice.
As he laid out Senate Bill 2653, Hall talked about potential side effects of consuming an “excessive amount” of the mineral, and said Texans should be able to choose for themselves.
“Fluoride is widely and easily accessible,” Hall told the committee. “If an individual makes a decision that the benefits of fluoride outweigh the potential risk, they have every ability to supplement it for themselves.”
Several states have considered banning fluoridation, and Utah recently adopted a ban on the practice, which has been used in the U.S. for decades to prevent tooth decay and improve oral health.
Hall’s bill is short and simple. It would ban any person from adding “any form of fluoride to any public water supply for the purpose of fluoridation, regardless of the intended concentration.”
Two public speakers weighed in on the bill in front of the committee: a health and food blogger in favor of the bill and a dentist in opposition.
The dentist, Dr. Shailee Gupta, said water fluoridation helps to protect against tooth decay — for everyone who drinks it, but particularly for children who do not have regular dental care.
“Water that has been fortified with fluoride is like fortifying salt with iodine, milk with vitamin D, bread with folate and orange juice with calcium,” Gupta told the committee.
After about 25 minutes of consideration, the Senate committee left the bill pending on Tuesday evening.
A priority of RFK Jr.
Kennedy has brought national attention to water fluoridation and has campaigned for the public health practice to be halted.
In early April, Kennedy spoke at a news conference in Utah, the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water. He said he was “very, very proud” of the state for its move, according to reporting from The Associated Press, and he called on other states to follow Utah’s example.
He also said after the news conference that he planned to ask the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation of public water supplies.
Kennedy has been clear for months about his vendetta against fluoridated water. In early November, he posted on social media that defluoridation would be a day one priority for the Trump administration.
Kennedy’s calls have gained traction in Texas, and not just with the bill filed by Hall. In mid-February, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller called for a statewide ban on water fluoridation, too.
Why is water fluoridated?
Public water fluoridation has long been seen as a public health achievement.
In a Q&A for the Johns Hopkins public health school, a Seattle pediatrician explained that, before public water fluoridation, many Americans had decaying or missing teeth.
Fluoridating the public water supply helps to prevent cavities and improve oral health.
The CDC’s webpage for public water fluoridation hails the practice as “a cornerstone strategy for prevention of cavities in the U.S.” and “one of 10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.”
The CDC website also notes public water fluoridation is not a mandate, but rather a recommendation for local health and water authorities.
Kennedy, however, has said there’s no reason to add fluoride to water.
He’s pointed to a scientific review that found a potential link between high fluoride levels and reduced IQ levels in children. However, that review, published by the National Toxicology Program, only found a potential link when looking at water fluoride levels that are more than double the federally recommended concentration.
An array of health organizations, including the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have publicly affirmed their support for continued fluoridation of public water supplies.
In Texas, 72 percent of the state’s population drinks water with fluoride in it, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. That includes both fluoridated water supplies and water supplies with naturally occurring fluoride.
According to a tracker on the CDC’s website, the vast majority of water systems in Dallas County and the majority of water systems in Tarrant County currently fluoridate the water supply.
