A town in Florida voted to remove fluoride from its drinking water supply citing concerns from Robert Kennedy Jr, who President-elect Donald Trump nominated to serve as secretary for Health and Human Services this week.
In a 3-2 vote, the Winter Haven City Commission approved a measure removing fluoride from the town’s water supply by January 1, or on a date “as soon as reasonably practical thereafter.”
Trump had not yet announced his nomination of Kennedy at the time of the meeting, but Commissioner Brad Dantzler, who voted to support the measure “cited concerns posed by 2024 Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,” according to WFLA.
“I’ll tell you that after the recent election, President Trump has named Mr. Kennedy to be his H-something-something director, and Mr. Kennedy has made it well known and has publicly said that he wants fluoride out of the water around the entire country,” Dantzler said.
He continued: “So this issue, we may be at the front of it, but this issue is coming just based upon current events and what’s going on in Washington D.C.”
Commissioner L. Tracy Mercer, and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Yates joined Dantzler in supporting the measure.
Fluoride is a mineral that repairs and prevents damage to teeth that bacteria cause in the mouth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kennedy has said he will push Trump to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office, falsely claiming that it is linked to a slew of medical conditions such as arthritis, cancer and thyroid disease.
Health experts disagree.
Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, associate dean of academic affairs at Touro College of Dental Medicine, told CBS News that there is “excellent, solid data going back 75 years, showing that fluoride is both safe and it’s extremely effective at decreasing dental decay, that is, cavities, by strengthening the enamel of our teeth.”
Winter Haven Mayor Nathaniel J. Birdsong Jr and Commissioner Clifton E. Dollison opposed the measure to remove Fluoride from the town’s water supply.
“My mother had nine children. We grew up poor, lived in a project. I never saw a dentist until I was an adult,” Dollison said, according to WFLA. “I went to the dentist, got my first checkup … he said, ‘You do not have a cavity in your head. You must have lived in a place where there was fluoride’.”
Removing fluoride from its water will save the town an estimated $48,000 a year some of which Dantzler said can be donated to charities that can provide dental health products, WFLA reports.
During the public comment period several residents shared health concerns, including Hannah Bush, who took issue with fluoride not only being in drinking water but in dental products as well, and the impact that might have on other parts of the body.
“I can get false teeth if needed,” Bush said. “I only have one brain.”
