Utah is on track to become the first state to ban fluoride from its water supply. A bill that takes away local government’s choice to add fluoride passed the state legislature and now awaits Republican Gov.

Fluoride will be banned from Utah water systems by May 7, if Gov. Spencer Cox signs a bill now headed to his desk. Friday evening, the Utah Senate approved HB81, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, prohibiting fluoride from being added to water systems, the latest battle in a war that has been waged in Utah for five decades.

Fluoridation, or water fluoridation, is the action of raising naturally occurring levels of fluoride in water systems to aid in oral health of those who drink it.

Utah appears to be the first state ready to put a full ban on fluoride in public water systems under a bill that doesn't allow cities or communities to decide whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral.

Both Davis and Weber counties have previously voted to introduce fluoride into drinking water by a vote of the citizens, as has Brigham City. But Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, emphasized the bill allows people to go to a pharmacist to get fluoride supplements for dental care.

The Utah Legislature has approved a bill that bans adding fluoride to public water systems. The Utah Senate on Friday voted 18-8 to give final legislative approval to HB81, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Gricius,

Utah appears to be the first state ready to put a full ban on fluoride in public water systems under a bill that doesn’t allow cities or communities to decide whether to add the cavity-preventing mine

A Senate committee Thursday moved to advance a controversial fluoride bill after hearing from supporters and opponents and from those who assert systemwide injection of fluoride into drinking water violates bodily autonomy and self-will.