SANFORD, Fla. — Seminole County leaders voted to remove fluoride from its drinking water supply Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Seminole County voted to ban Fluoride in drinking water Tuesday

  • Longwood and Lake Mary also recently voted to remove the substance

  • The motion passed 4 to 1

The motion passed with a 4 to 1 vote by commissioners.

The county's water division makes up nearly 40,000 homes and businesses.

The cities of Longwood and Lake Mary have also recently voted to stop fluoridation.

It comes as a bill introduced during Florida's Legislative Session seeks to ban the addition of fluoride and other non-purifying additives into local water statewide.

CS 700 has bill moves next onto the Senate floor. If approved, the Florida House will deliver a final vote.

Also this week, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue.

Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing “new scientific information” on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is among the critics of fluoride in water. He spoke against the process at a press conference in Winter Haven in November 2024. A city east of Tampa, Winter Haven voted in November to stop adding fluoride to water.

“In this day and age, with the additional sources of fluoride that people have access to, it is public health malpractice to continue adding fluoride to community water systems that pregnant women and children have access to,” said Ladapo.