NAPLES, Fla. — A growing movement in Naples is calling on the city to remove fluoride from its public water supply. The push comes after Collier County commissioners voted to stop fluoridating the county's water earlier this year.
At a city council meeting on Wednesday, residents voiced concerns over fluoride's potential health risks, citing issues like birth defects, joint problems, and skin irritation. They urged the city to ban its use in the local water supply.
"The City of Naples is poisoning us," said one resident as she addressed the council. "We wash our hands, we swim in the water, we splash water on our faces," she explained. "It's causing harm to us everyday," she added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that water fluoridation is safe and promotes good oral health, but debate over its possible toxicity persists.
“And every research study that people are promoting and saying this is great for human health, none of them say to ingest, swallow, or absorb fluoride, and it’s a known neurotoxin,” said Ashley Jenkins, a Naples resident leading the effort to remove fluoride.
Jenkins, who has lived in Naples for eight years, was instrumental in pushing the county to end water fluoridation in February. She now advocates for similar action at the city level, where the water supply is separate from the county’s.
“This is not something that’s healthy,” Jenkins said. “Once you put that substance in the water, we don’t have reverse osmosis pulling it out. It’s destroying the sea life right off our coast, and that’s not something that’s permissible at all," she added.
While some local dentists and medical experts support Jenkins’ concerns, others disagree.
The Collier County Dental Association says that community water fluoridation is both safe and effective.
“Fluoride is important in water because we’re getting it systemically,” said Dr. Alexis Diaczynsky of the Collier County Dental Association. “Having fluoride in our water provides a baseline level of fluoride in our saliva that helps prevent tooth decay," Diaczynsky explains.
Naples City Council agreed to address the issue of fluoride in the local water supply at their next meeting on October 14.
