Miami-Dade Commission overrides Mayor’s veto, again moves to remove fluoride from water

FILE - A student drinks from a water fountain at an elementary school in California on Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

On the heels of new legislation to ban fluoride in drinking water statewide, the Miami-Dade County Commission just reversed Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s veto of a similar effort at the county level.

The 13-member panel, currently down a member following the departure last month of Kevin Marino Cabrera, voted 8-4 to override Levine Cava’s veto.

Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez, Vice Chair Kionne McGhee and members Juan-Carlos Bermudez, Danielle Cohen Higgins, René García, Oliver Gilbert and Keon Hardemon voted with Rob Gonzalez to reimpose his measure to remove the small amount of fluoride that has been added to Miami-Dade’s drinking water since the 1950s.

Commissioners Marleine Bastien, Eileen Higgins, Raquel Regalado and Micky Steinberg voted “no.” They fell just one vote short of upholding the Mayor’s April 11 veto.

“The people are sick and tired,” Gonzalez said, “because their government has been poisoning them.”

Miami-Dade Commissioners voted 8-2 on April 2 to remove cavity-preventing fluoride from the county’s tap water within 30 days.

Supporters of the change, including Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, cited studies linking fluoride consumption to bone damage and lower IQ levels in early childhood development.

Opponents argued that the concentration of fluoride in the county’s water is too low to hurt people and stressed its health benefits, particularly for poorer residents.

Levine Cava then issued a rare veto to block the change after speaking with health professionals who endorsed fluoridation as a safe, proven way to aid residents’ oral well-being.

Polling about the issue last month provided little clarity. One survey commissioned by EDGE Communications, the lead consulting firm to Levine Cava, found residents overwhelmingly value the opinion of dentists over politicians when it comes to their oral health, and more are for fluoridation of tap water than against it.

But another questionnaire from a public research nonprofit associated with GOP consultant Alex Alvarado found that while 9 in 10 Miami-Dade voters believe it’s important for county officials to consult dental health professionals when making decisions about fluoridation, more than 60% believe the practice poses health risks.

Notably, 82% of dentists support water fluoridation and another 10% “somewhat support it,” according to the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil, water and some foods. It is commonly added to drinking water supplies to help prevent tooth decay. In small concentrations — the optimal level is 0.7 milligrams per liter — adding fluoride to water is safe and effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and American Dental Association, among others.

Miami-Dade says the concentration of fluoride in its drinking water is 0.6 to 0.8 milligrams.

Some recent studies, particularly those involving high levels of fluoride exposure, have suggested a possible link between fluoride and lower IQ scores in children. A 2022 draft review by the National Toxicology Program determined that high fluoride exposure is associated with reduced IQ in children; however, that review was limited to higher-than-normal exposure levels (more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter).

Health agencies consider low fluoride exposure beneficial to bone density, slightly increasing it over lifelong consumption. But excessive exposure to high concentrations (2 or more milligrams per liter) over the long term can lead to skeletal fluorosis, a rare but serious condition that causes joint stiffness, bone pain, bone thickening, ligament calcification, limited joint movement and possible fractures due to bone brittleness.

On April 29, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed the Florida Farm Bill, which among other things preempted local water supply regulation to the state, banning localities from inserting additives, including fluoride.

Republicans in the House shot down several proposed amendments to the measure, including one by Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani to protect fluoridation. “Removing fluoride,” she said, “ignores basic scientific concerns.”

Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough Republican and one of the bill’s House sponsors, said eliminating fluoride from drinking water is about “liberty.”

“Does the government have the right,” he asked, “to put medicines and drugs in your body that you did not consent to?”

Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed similar disdain for the decadeslong practice, calling it “forced medication.” Another sharp critic, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has also repeatedly suggested AIDS may not be caused by HIV and recently proposed creating a registry of people with autism, referred to fluoride as “industrial waste.”

Tuesday’s veto override defied party lines. Republicans Rodriguez, Bermudez, García and Gonzalez voted with Democrats McGhee, Cohen Higgins and Hardemon to reverse the veto by Levine Cava, a Democrat.

Regalado was the lone Republican to vote with Democrats Bastien, Higgins and Steinberg to uphold the Mayor’s veto.