Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken out against the addition of potentially harmful chemicals to public drinking water systems, such as fluoride, and has suggested that such additives should be banned.

Kennedy won't have to worry about that in Utah, where Republican Gov. Spencer Cox on Thursday signed into law a bill that prohibits the addition of fluoride to public water systems across the state, Just the News reported.

The ban will take effect on May 7 but won't be broadly impactful, as less than half of the state currently has fluoridated water systems, and for those that do want fluoride in their drinking water, the bill authorizes doctors to prescribe it to individuals and families in tablet form.

Gov. Cox signs fluoride in water ban into law

On Thursday, Gov. Cox signed into law 78 bills passed out of the state legislature in this year's legislative session, and one of those bills dealt with fluoride in public water systems.

H.B. 81, known as the Fluoride Amendments, was passed in the House on Feb. 7 with a 51-19-5 vote, and was passed through the Senate two weeks later with an 18-8-3 vote, and was sent to the governor for his signature in mid-March.

The bill prohibits any person from introducing fluoride into a public water system and bans any "political subdivision" within the state from enacting or enforcing any ordinance that would permit or require the fluoridation of a public water system.

The bill further amended existing state law to allow doctors and pharmacists to prescribe fluoride tablets to their patients if they want to add it to their drinking water themselves.

Less than half of Utah residents have fluoridated water systems

The Associated Press reported that Utah became the first state to completely ban the addition of fluoride to public water systems but acknowledged that many communities and municipalities across the country have already imposed similar prohibitions.

In fact, only around 63% of the nation, or around 200 million people, get their water from fluoridated public systems, and that percentage is even lower in Utah, where only around 40% of state residents have fluoridated water systems.

"You would think you would see drastically different outcomes with half the state not getting it ... we haven’t seen that," Gov. Cox, who grew up and raised his own children in a community that doesn't have fluoridated water, said in an interview about the mineral additive. "So it’s got to be a really high bar for me if we’re going to require people to be medicated by their government."

Kennedy skeptical of purported safety of fluoridated water

Per the AP, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long claimed that the addition of low levels of fluoride to public water systems is safe and helps to strengthen tooth enamel and prevent cavities and tooth decay in the general public, and many dentists and public health officials have echoed that assertion.

But not everybody agrees, however, including HHS Sec. Kennedy, who has expressed his skepticism toward the purported safety of fluoridated water, including in a November 2024 X post, in which he suggested that "the Trump White House will advise all U.S​. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease."

Kennedy further noted that, just one month prior, "an Obama appointed Federal Judge held against EPA after reviewing thousands of scientific studies and weeks of expert testimony ruling that the agency had improperly approved this dangerous neurotoxin."

It is unclear if or when Kennedy, who is now in charge of the CDC and FDA, will make a move at the federal level to ban the fluoridation of public water nationwide.