RFK Jr. calls for CDC to stop backing fluoride in drinking water - National | Globalnews.ca (2025)

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue.

Also on Monday, theU.S. Environmental Protection Agencyannounced it is reviewing “new scientific information” on potential health risks offluorideindrinkingwater. The EPA sets the maximum level allowedinpublicwatersystems.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of hisplansafter a news conference with EPA AdministratorLee ZeldininSalt Lake City.

Kennedy cannot order communitiestostopfluoridation, buthecan direct theCDCtostoprecommendingit and work with the EPAtochange the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first statetobanfluorideinpublicdrinkingwater, pushing pastopposition from dentists and national health organizationswho warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can’t afford regular dentist visits.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation barring cities and communities from deciding whethertoadd the cavity-preventing mineraltotheirdrinkingwater.Watersystems across the state muststopfluoridation by May 7.

Kennedy praised Utah for emerging as “the leaderinmaking America healthy again.”Hewas flanked by Utah legislative leaders and the sponsor of the state’sfluoridelaw.

“I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first statetoban it, and I hope many more will,”hesaid.

Kennedy oversees the CDC, whose recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory. State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much — as long as it doesn’t exceed a maximum set by the EPA, which is currently four milligrams per litre.

Zeldin said his agency was launching a renewed examination of scientific studies on the potential health risks offluorideindrinkingwatertohelp inform any changestothe national standards.

“When this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps,” Zeldin said. “Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumentalinour decisiontoreviewfluorideexposure risks, and we are committedtoworking alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

Fluoridestrengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, accordingtotheCDC.In1950, federal officials endorsedwaterfluoridationtoprevent tooth decay, andin1962 they set guidelines for how much should be addedtowater.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has calledfluoridea “dangerous neurotoxin” and said it has been associated with arthritis, bone breaks and thyroid disease. Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommendedfluoridelevels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.

In November 2024, just days before the presidential election, Kennedy declared that Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day as president. That didn’t happen, but Trump later picked Kennedy to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been expected to take some kind of action. Meanwhile, some localities have gone ahead with deciding whether to keep adding fluoride.

Related to all this: A massive round of staffing cuts last week across federal agencies included the elimination of the CDC’s 20-person Division of Oral Health. That office managed grants to local agencies to improve dental health and, in some cases, encourage fluoridation.

Fluoridecan come from a number of sources, butdrinkingwateris the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridateddrinkingwater, accordingtoCDCdata. The addition of low levels offluoridetodrinkingwaterwas long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

About one-third of community water systems — 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. — fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis. The agency currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per litre of water.

But over time, studies have documented potential problems. Too muchfluoridehas been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. Studies also have traced a link between excessfluorideand brain development.

A report last year by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per litre — more than twice the recommended level in the U.S. — was associated with lower IQs in kids.

The American Dental Association said decades offluorideindrinkingwaterhave been showntoreduce tooth decay. The group said it was willingtohelp conduct high-quality studiestosettle the issue.

“When government officials like Secretary Kennedy stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurioustopublic health,” said the association’s president, Brett Kessler.

Utah Oral Health Coalition chairperson Lorna Koci said Monday that she hopes other states push back against the removal offluorideand that Kennedy’s visittocelebrate her state’sfluorideban underscores the political motivations of those who support it.

“This seemstobe less aboutfluorideand more about power,” Koci said.