Name: Why is Fluoride in our Water? | May 7, 2025
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What's up, Sunshine? I'm Coy Wire. Welcome to CNN 10. I've got your news for you this

Wednesday, May 7th, and I have some exceedingly awesome submissions for hashtag YourWordWednesday, so listen up to see if your word helped us write today's show. We're heading into 10 minutes of news and a little bit of fun.

We begin today in Utah, which this week became the first U.S. state to ban the use of fluoride in public water. Fluoride is a natural occurring mineral that can be found in soil, plants, and food in tiny amounts. And studies show that at optimal levels, it helps prevent tooth decay, helps prevent cavities. The U.S. has added it to public drinking water systems since the 1940s to improve dental health, and the practice is considered to be one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. But it's created some contratoms, with debate over adding fluoride to public water ramping up, and some states like Florida are following in Utah's footsteps to pass laws to ban it. Those in favor of banning fluoride in drinking water point to research that shows consumption of high levels of fluoride could cause adverse health effects in children, but exposure to levels that concentrated are rarely seen in the U.S. Proponents of the ban add that when it comes to fluoride improving dental health, evidence is mixed, and some studies find that our modern dental hygiene routines like brushing and flossing regularly have had more of an impact than fluoride in drinking water. Other advocates of the ban acknowledge that fluoride does have benefits, but people should have the individual choice to not have it added to their drinking water.

Our Meg Terrell is here to explain. Hi, Meg.

Well, Koi, fluoride's been added to public drinking water systems since the 1940s in the

United States because it helps strengthen our teeth enamel and helps prevent cavities. And in fact, the CDC has called this one of the top 10 public health interventions of the last century because it does this so well. Dentists have called this one of the frontline defenses, really, against cavities. And they like this approach so much because it can help everybody in a community regardless of their ability to pay to go to the dentist or buy fluoride products. So it really creates a baseline sort of defense for oral health. About two-thirds of the U.S. population currently has fluoridated public drinking water. But of course, that is starting to change. We are seeing states start to ban adding fluoride to drinking water, starting with Utah, perhaps Florida, and others as well. And the concerns there really have been around fluoride's potential to affect brain development at higher levels than is recommended in the U.S.

drinking water systems. And experts point out that we haven't seen these risks at the low levels recommended to be added to U.S. drinking water. So dentists are pretty concerned about the fact that fluoride may be removed from drinking water systems. And they emphasize that it's really important to brush with fluoride toothpaste, see your dentist regularly, and of course, have those good brushing habits to keep your smiles bright.

Now to one of the biggest pop culture moments in the news this week, the Met Gala at New York's

Metropolitan Museum of Art. Celebs like Rihanna, Bad Bunny, Janelle Monáe, Simone Biles, and many more rocking the blue carpet in many custom looks. Hat tip to outcast Andre 3000 for sporting an entire piano. He looks like Brolicia Keys out there. But the very exclusive Met Gala isn't just an extravagant fashion show. It's a major fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute, which is a time capsule of sorts for fashion with more than 33,000 pieces dating back to the 15th century. Each year there's a theme that parallels one of the exhibits, and this year's theme is

Tailored for You. The exhibit explores style from the early 1900s Harlem Renaissance movement called Black Dandyism, known for wide-shouldered, high-waisted zoot suits popularized during the time. 10 second trivia. What is the oldest operating airline in the world? Avianca, KLM, Finnair, or United?

If you said KLM, you are correct. The Dutch national airline formed in 1919, taking their first flight in 1920 from London to Amsterdam, carrying two journalists, a letter from the mayor of London to his counterpart in Amsterdam, and a stack of newspapers. All right, would you fly on a plane that flies itself? We've covered the rapid advancements of self-driving cars and taxis and posed questions about how you feel about those. Now we may be one step closer to air travelers having their planes operate without a human pilot at the helm. Our aviation correspondent

Pete Muntean shows us a new development in aviation, an automated landing function for small planes built with the goal of saving lives in an emergency. Control freak Pete is like, is this going to be okay? I'm about to go fly in a plane that can land itself. It answers the age-old question, what happens if your pilot can't fly anymore? That's it? That's the button. And it's red, it's very eye-catching. It's red, yes, it's an emergency system. That system is called safe return autoland, meant to save passengers with no flying experience if the pilot becomes incapacitated, which happens on private planes more often than you think. Okay, so just do it?

Just do it. Okay, here we go. Now I'm along for the ride. Emergency autoland activating. Okay.

This is a demonstration by Cirrus Aircraft, which is now installing this in its entry-level planes with one engine and one pilot. So this is essentially an autonomous airplane now. Absolutely.

This is kind of weird for me. I know. Well, if you can think about it, like the autopilot is flying the airplane, but the safe return system is acting as the pilot. Safe return is now making all the judgment calls, flying around hazards and lining up with the best runway. Throttle came out.

Hands off. Hands off, feet off. And beautiful. Pretty good landing, all told.

So those brakes are going to start engaging. Here we are, right on the center line.

The system brings the plane to a stop and even shuts down the engine. The latest safety innovation, meant to save lives in the sky. Pretty impressive. That was fun. Pretty cool. Nice job.

Some of us might be doing a double take next time we walk down the toy aisle. Mattel, the makers of Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Polly Pocket, and others, say prices are about to go up due to the recently announced 145 percent tariff placed on Chinese goods.

80 percent of all toys in the U.S. come from China, did you know? So it would only make sense that the tariff would end up costing toy shoppers dollars and cents. This news is a microcosm of how many different types of businesses will be looking to adapt and stay profitable, and ultimately how consumers will be affected by likely unavoidable price increases with new tariffs. While Mattel

CEO Enon Kryze didn't say exactly how much costs of their toys are going to go up, he did say price adjustments are part of their plan to adapt. Our Vanessa Jorkiewicz is here to tell us about how this news might affect our Polly Pocket books and the toy makers business decisions moving forward.

Hi Vanessa. Hi Coy. Yeah, the toy company Mattel that makes Barbies and Polly Pockets says it's going to have to raise prices because of tariffs. The company said they're going to keep about 40 to 50 percent of their toys under $20, but the tariffs are going to cost the company $270 million this year. So Mattel is looking to relocate the manufacturing of 500 of their toys out of China to other countries so they don't get charged that 145 percent tariff. Here in the United States, 80 percent of the toys we buy are manufactured in China. Mattel says 40 percent of the toys they make are from China, but by 2027 they hope to make just 10 percent there. The research firm

Telsey Advisory Group found that the cost of a Barbie doll with a swimsuit sold at Target rose by almost 43 percent in mid-April to $14.99. That is one of the biggest jumps that this group found,

Coy. An Olympic athlete just received 10 medals on the same day. Monday, the International Olympic

Committee awarded American swimmer Gary Hall Jr. replacement medals after his original ones were all burned in the California wildfires earlier this year. Five golds, three silvers, and two bronzes, which he won during three summer Olympics from 1996 through 2004. Los Angeles is slowly rebuilding what it can when it can. Some homeowning families are struggling with insurance claims. Some families who were renting are still being forced to find residence elsewhere. The California

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection estimates that Eaton and Palisades fires in LA destroyed more than 16,000 structures, with total property damage estimated to be somewhere from 28 to 53 billion dollars. Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10, a doggone adorable play date for the record books. Two families of Reginald, a seven-year-old Great Dane who holds the Guinness

World Record for tallest living male dog, and Pearl, the world's shortest living dog, got the prize-winning pooches together for what has to be one of the funniest, cutest, silliest displays of species diversity. Reggie stands at shocking three foot three inches tall. Pearl, three and a half inches. This gentle giant and delicate diva hit it off right from the start. I was surprised that

Pearl wasn't more afraid of Reggie. Usually when we meet other dogs, it's usually the other dog that's like, whoa, hold up, back up. But Pearl was so excited and she is very interested in him and he is kind of like, whoa, I have no idea what that is and I don't think I want them near me.

All right, let's bring it home. Thanks to all of you erudite individuals who submitted an array of scintillating words. Congrats to Dr. Martinson and all our friends at North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Legacy High School submitting contratumps, a noun meaning minor dispute or disagreement.

Longhorns, horns up. All right, shout outs today. The first one, we're going to

Fork Union Military Academy at Fork Union, Virginia. Rise up and salute. And this shout out goes to Fortuna Middle School in Fortuna, California. Thanks, Fortuna Inn. Go Spartans and make it an awesome day, everyone. I'll see you right back here tomorrow on CNN 10.