In the latest battle in the country's culture wars, a growing number of cities and counties are trying to remove fluoride from their water. Many dentists are condemning the effort, but fluoride opponents cite personal choice. NBC News' Erin McLaughlin reports.
On Friday, Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced that communities in the state shouldn’t add fluoride to drinking water because of what he called the “neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.” Fluoride has long been proven to drive down tooth decay by strengthening teeth, which Ladapo acknowledged in the guidance. But he added that there are also possible “safety concerns related to systemic fluoride exposure,” including reductions in IQ.
Pediatricians were enraged in February, for example, when Ladapo left the decision on whether to quarantine children amid a massive measles outbreak to parents. He has questioned the effectiveness of Covid vaccines and threatened criminal charges against TV stations in Florida that aired an ad supporting the state’s abortion rights ballot measure until a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against him.
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