Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been urged to introduce a ban on fluoride and other additives in the state’s water supply.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said Texans should have the “right to choose” whether to add anything to their drinking water.

Newsweek has contacted Abbott and Miller for comment via email.

Why It Matters

The debate over fluoride in drinking water has intensified in recent months amid public skepticism from newly confirmed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

What To Know

Miller is calling on Abbott and the state Legislature to prioritize a statewide ban on fluoride and other non-water additives in public drinking water.

In a statement Wednesday, Miller said he endorses recent efforts in Florida, Utah, Tennessee, New Hampshire and North Dakota, which have taken steps to ban the addition of fluoride to their drinking water.

He said he also supports Kennedy and Trump’s push to end “forced government health decisions and truly making America healthy again” while calling on Abbott to introduce a fluoride ban.

The introduction of small doses of fluoride in water in 1945 is credited with reducing tooth decay in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said drinking fluoridated waterreduces tooth decay by 25 percent in children and adults, and water fluoridation is recommended by nearly all public health, medical and dental organizations. It has also frequently been praised as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

The addition of fluoride in drinking water has faced opposition over concerns that it causes health issues, such as neurocognitive harm. There are also arguments that adding fluoride to water is now unnecessary since it became widely available in toothpaste decades ago.

In August 2024, a report from the National Toxicology Program, part of the HHS, said fluoride in drinking water at more than twice the recommended limit is associated with lower IQ in children.

The CDC recommends a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, while the World Health Organization says fluoride in drinking water is safe at a level of 1.5 milligrams per liter.

The findings of the report were dismissed by some medical experts, including those at the American Dental Association.

Some local authorities in Texas have already taken steps to ban fluoride in their water. In November 2024, the Abilene City Council decided to temporarily ban fluoride in the city’s water pending further decisions from Kennedy and the Trump administration.

The Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District in Williamson County also stopped adding fluoride to its drinking water in November 2023 over concerns about the long-term effects and potential risks associated with water fluoridation.

What People Are Saying

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller: “While we work to expand and improve our aging water infrastructure amid our growing water crisis, we must also address the fact that our water infrastructure should not be used as a delivery system for government-mandated chemicals without the consent of the people. Private businesses and the public should retain the right to sell and purchase water with non-water additives, but we must eliminate the forced decision by our local, state, and national governments to allow chemicals to be added to our water. Texans deserve clean, unaltered water, free from additives they did not choose.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a November 2 post on X, formerly Twitter: “On January 20, 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.”

Abinash Achrekar, vice chair of medicine at the University of New Mexico, previously told Newsweek: “There is no question that fluoride improves dental health. The question is too high of a fluoride level. Can that cause other medical or behavioral compromises? Are there any proven risks with the levels typically found in public supplies currently? No, there’s not.”

What Happens Next

Any move to initiate a statewide ban on fluoride in Texas’ drinking water would need support from state lawmakers. There is currently no law filed at the Texas Capitol to institute such a ban, local news site Concho Valley Homepage reported.