MAHA moment? NYC Council bill would ban fluoride in drinking water

A new City Council bill seeks to ban fluoride from New York City drinking water, ending what the bill’s two council supporters called “forced medication” of an entire population. It’s also aligned with a movement to de-fluoridate water that has a federal champion in U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The bill would require the city to provide free fluoride supplements to anyone who requests them.

Democratic Council Member James Gennaro, the lead sponsor of the legislation, said that he hasn’t always been skeptical of the benefits of fluoride in drinking water – something dentists maintain is beneficial to children’s oral health and cavity prevention because it hardens tooth enamel. But despite studies that point to those benefits, he’s grown interested in the research that questions whether Americans are getting too much fluoride and potential health risks that could come with overexposure. If a fluoride ban did pass in New York City (unlikely), it would have some close company. Fluoride is not added to the drinking water in Nassau or Suffolk counties.

One analysis published by the National Institutes of Health in January looking at many different studies found that higher levels of fluoride exposure in children was associated with lower I.Q. scores. That effect started at an exposure level of 1.5 milligrams per liter, which is double what New York City adds to drinking water. The analysis included studies that the authors reported had a “high risk of bias,” as health outlet Stat News noted, and the authors told the outlet that the analysis didn’t cover the benefits of fluoridated water and wasn’t meant to address its “broader public health implications.”

Excessive fluoride exposure can also cause dental fluorosis, a mottled appearance, on developing teeth. One oft-cited study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the prevalence of dental fluorosis was rising among adolescents in the early 2000s. In 2011, HHS lowered the recommended level of fluoride in water from a range of .7 to 1.2 mgs per liter to .7 as the optimal level. That’s the level currently used in New York City drinking water.

Gennaro is personal friends with RFK Jr. – the two worked on environmental justice issues together – but said that the idea to introduce the bill didn’t come directly from the health secretary now best known for “Make America Healthy Again.” The MAHA movement is highly skeptical of established medicine and has put the federal government’s existing vaccine recommendations in its crosshairs. “Bobby and I talk all the time,” Gennaro said. “He knows that I’m doing this, and I’m looking at the science. I’m looking at the science that’s coming out of his shop, and I’m doing my own thing, so he’s aware of it.”

Gennaro said that part of his aim in introducing the bill is to get more input on the idea from experts. But from what he’s seen so far, he said, points in the direction of de-fluoridation. “It’s definitely trending in the direction that I think action to ban is indicated.” Gennaro said he’s working with a professor at Queens College to research the issue further but declined to name the person.

New York City’s tap water has been fluoridated since 1965, and it’s seen as a particularly crucial measure for people who don’t get much dental care. The debate over the benefits and potential risks of fluoridated drinking water predated MAHA, but it has picked up steam under Kennedy’s leadership of the nation’s health department. So far, Kennedy has directed the CDC to convene an independent panel to study the issue, but individual states have taken more drastic action, including Utah and Florida which have banned fluoridating drinking water. Like other critics and skeptics, Kennedy has suggested that we get enough fluoride from toothpaste and mouthwash.

The bill was only introduced last week, but the only other co-sponsor signed on so far is Republican Frank Morano. “I think people should be able to hydrate without being forced to ingest a medication that they may not want or need,” Morano told City & State. 

New York City health department spokesperson Chantal Gomez said that they are reviewing the bill but called fluoridation of drinking water “one of the great public health achievements of the last century.” 

The bill faces an uphill battle in the council, though Gennaro said he hasn’t started to make his case to his colleagues yet. City Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours said that the bill will go through the legislative process, which allows for public engagement, and noted that the council “follows the advice of accredited public health professionals.”

Shortly after President Donald Trump was elected in November, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was asked about his position on fluoride in the drinking water. While the mayor initially seemed uncertain, his spokesperson followed up with a statement to The New York Times stating that the mayor “supports keeping fluoride in New York City’s water supply as recommended by his public health officials and experts.”

Gennaro said he’d also welcome to input from those who highlight the oral health benefits of fluoride – groups that include the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association – and argue against removing it from drinking water. “I’m going to the dentist now, so I will ask,” Gennaro said, a few minutes before ending the interview so as to not be late for his appointment.