Utah Set to Be the First State to Prohibit Fluoride in Public Drinking Water

March 11, 2025 TruthUSA

The governor has announced his intention to enact the law against it.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has declared he will approve a law that bans the addition of fluoride to public drinking water, positioning his state as the first in the nation to undertake such a measure.

In an interview broadcast on March 9, the Republican governor remarked that approximately half of Utah’s water supply already lacks fluoride, and dentists he consulted indicated no significant differences in dental health outcomes between areas with and without fluoridated water.

“There’s got to be a very high threshold for me to support a requirement for citizens to receive medication from their government,” Cox stated during his conversation with Lindsay Aerts of ABC4 Utah.

The proposed legislation, HB81, would bar public water systems from introducing fluoride and permit pharmacists to dispense fluoride tablets as an alternative for those who wish to utilize it.

The bill recently passed in the state legislature with a blend of bipartisan backing, with lawmakers across party lines voting in favor and against the proposal. The discussions prominently revolved around local governance, particularly as two counties—Salt Lake and Davis—had previously opted to add fluoride to their water supplies.

Should this legislation be signed, it will come into effect on May 7, mandating that the 66 public water systems currently fluoridated in Utah—out of a total of 484—discontinue the practice.

“This isn’t a piece of legislation I feel passionately about, it’s not something I am particularly invested in, but it is a bill I will sign,” said Cox.

The American Dental Association has urged Governor Cox to veto the measure, highlighting the known advantages of fluoridation for dental health and cavity prevention.

“Despite many advancements in preventive health over the 20th century, community water fluoridation remains one of the most effective,” the Association stated in a letter addressed to Cox.

“The ongoing oral health of the state—its decline—is linked to various chronic illnesses, including heart disease, low birth weight, and diabetes, and it depends on you.”

The fluoride controversy in Utah intensified following a 2019 incident in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City, where a malfunctioning fluoride dosing pump contaminated 270 homes with excessive fluoride. An independent investigation later revealed systemic failures in the government’s emergency response to the crisis.

This debate also coincides with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a long-time opponent of fluoridation, has claimed that fluoride negatively impacts IQ levels—an argument supported by recent studies indicating potential correlations between fluoride exposure and cognitive development in children, as well as issues with bone health when fluoride exceeds recommended U.S. levels.

Utah might not be the only state moving away from fluoridation; lawmakers in Florida, Montana, and Tennessee are contemplating similar statewide prohibitions.

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