Locals in Louisiana could soon vote to remove fluoride from drinking water

Louisiana communities are poised to gain the power to remove added fluoride from their local public drinking water systems. 

A bill carried by Sen. Mike Fesi, R-Houma, cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday. If it receives Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature, the legislation would allow a local governing body to hold an election and let voters decide if they want to keep fluoride in their water system. 

The law would apply to water service areas that serve multiple parishes down to small neighborhood water districts. It would replace existing law that requires 15% of voters in a particular service area to petition for an election to keep fluoride from being added to a drinking water system that never had it. 

The Louisiana Dental Association and other health organizations were opposed to Fesi’s bill. They point to health studies that show improved long-term dental health in areas with fluoridated water.  

Fesi considers fluoride a “hazardous waste” that he and supporters of his legislation blame for lowering the IQs of children and other health issues. Research backing those claims has been highly criticized by most recognized dental and public health organizations, which have noted the extremely low levels of fluoride, 0.7 parts per million, added to drinking water in the United States.

Less than 40% of Louisiana residents live in water districts that add fluoride, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, compared with a national average topping 70%. 

Fesi originally sought an outright ban on fluoride in drinking water throughout Louisiana, and his bill was amended in a Senate committee to give locals the authority to petition to remove it from individual systems. That change was later stripped from the legislation to allow a local government to call the election. If a water system covers multiple jurisdictions, each governing body must call an election.