There has been a growing trend among cities to stop adding fluoride to water after decades of use.
The Florida City of Melbourne has joined a growing number of municipalities across the United States in moving to halt the addition of fluoride to drinking water, after a federal judge last year ruled that the compound may pose a risk to children’s mental development.
Several cities and towns in Texas, New York state, North Carolina, and Florida in 2024 opted to cease water fluoridation after U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled in September 2024 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to address impacts posed by fluoride, which has long been added to U.S. drinking water to combat tooth decay. Chen noted that recent studies have found that fluoride is linked to lower IQ scores among children.
In a statement on social media on Wednesday, Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey announced that fluoridation of the city’s water will be ended after the City Council voted 6–1 to remove the compound, a move that would be “effective immediately.”
He echoed a campaign slogan used by President-elect Donald Trump and his Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that the move may “make America healthy again.”
“Prior to the Council meeting I spoke to our Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo about the hazards of adding hydrofluorosisilic acid to our water supply without our resident’s informed consent,” the mayor said in a social media statement, adding that Ladapo provided “support and guidance” for their decision.
On social media, Ladapo had written in November 2024 that fluoride should be removed from drinking water because the compound “increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disease in children and reduces their IQ.”
In 2019, the council voted to keep fluoride in Melbourne’s water supply. But, according to the mayor, “as more information has come out,” council members overwhelmingly voted to remove it.
Trump named Kennedy to lead the HHS just days after his election win, although he still needs to be confirmed by the Senate. Kennedy has been an opponent of water fluoridation, affirming his viewpoint in a post on social media platform X.
