NBC News
Utah became Friday the first state of the United States that prohibits fluoride in public water supply systems.
The state governor, Republican Spencer Cox signed a law that prohibits any government or government entity to add this mineral to state water systems.
Fluorine can prevent tooth decayaccording to experts.
The bill was presented in January and was approved in the state Senate on February 21. It will enter into force on May 7.
In 2022, approximately 44% of the population of Utah received fluorinated water, one of the lowest percentages in the country, according to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC).
“One would think that I would see drastic results, since half of the state that does not take it and half of the state. “For me, the difference has to be very big if we are going to demand that the government medicate people.”
The main medical associations and public health groups – including the American Pediatrics Academy, the American Dental Association and the CDC – support that fluoride be added to the drinking water, arguing that it helps prevent caries.
But the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has criticized the fluorization, associating it with diseases such as bone cancer and thyroid disease, despite the fact that scientists have affirmed that there is not enough evidence that supports a relationship.
Kennedy said days before the November presidential elections that, if chosen, Trump would recommend eliminating the fluoride of all water supply systems.
Dr. Marty Makary, whom the Senate confirmed this week to direct the Food and Medicines Administration (FDA), suggested in early November that adding fluoride to the drinking water was potentially harmful, an affirmation rejecting most public health experts.
Some studies have suggested that fluoride can negatively influence the neurological development of children, as a recently published in the Jama Pediatrics magazine, which found a relationship between greater exposure to fluoride and a lower intellectual coefficient in children.
However, according to the authors, the majority of the 74 studies analyzed
A study in Australia last year did not find any link between children who drink fluorked water and negative cognitive development. And a 2018 study discovered that greater availability of fluorid water in a county was associated with less caries among children.
The only documented health risks of fluoration are cosmetic problems such as faded dental enamel and small holes in the teeth, according to CDC.
Even so, the campaign to eliminate fluoride from drinking water has gained popularity throughout the country. More than 150 cities or counties have voted in favor since 2010, according to the action Action Network, a group that opposes the use of the mineral.
Kentucky, Montana and Tennessee legislators have submitted bills so that the fluorization is optional in water supply systems or to prevent the mineral from being added to the systems. And in Florida, a bill proposed in the current legislative session aims to prohibit the “additives”, including fluoride, in drinking water.
