TEXAS — The Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has released a statement calling for the removal of additives from the state’s drinking water.

Miller called on Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature to ban additives such as fluoride from public water, according to a statement released from his office.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in soil, water and rocks. It has been added to the drinking water in many U.S. cities since 1945, with the City of Marshall in East Texas being one of the first to do so in 1946. 

Community water fluoridation has passively protected the oral health of Americans for decades by reducing cavities, tooth decay and dental health disparities, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“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,” said Miller.

In the statement, Miller noted states such as Florida, Utah, Tennessee, New Hampshire and North Dakota where efforts have been made to eliminate fluoride from their public water supply.

Miller is also calling on President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to end federal oversight on health decisions to “make America healthy again.”

“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,” said Miller.

The choice to remove or place fluoride in water systems has been up to cities and municipalities in Texas. About 72% of Texans drink adjusted or naturally occurring fluoride, according to the Texas Department Of Health and Human Services.