The Environmental Protection Agency said it would review “new science” on fluoride in drinking water in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services this week.
The agency’s announcement comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is reportedly instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its guidance on fluoridation - telling the agency to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide.
Last fall – then as a nominee – the former presidential candidate said that the Trump administration would “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” citing potential health risks.
“Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin explained.
Zeldin has faced intense criticism for rolling back dozens of regulations meant to combat pollution and climate change and protect Americans’ health.
“Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency's future steps to meet statutory obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” he said.
But, a decision to remove fluoride from the nation’s drinking water would come with major consequences to public health, according to experts.
“We will have a lot more people with dental disease than we have now, a lot more dental caries, or cavities,” John Swartzberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. “It’ll impact everybody, but mostly those people who do not have access to dental care.”
A request for comment was not immediately returned by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Fluoride is a mineral that is naturally present in sources of drinking water, like ground water. Fluoride has been added to drinking water to strengthen teeth, replacing minerals lost due to wear and tear. Hundreds of millions of Americans currently receive fluoridated water through community water systems. The American Dental Association says studies prove fluoridation reduces dental decay by at least 25 percent in children and adults.
Dentists say that the benefits of fluoridation outweigh any potential risks. The EPA cited a National Toxicology Program that previously determined with “moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children. Other studies have found no link between fluoride and IQ – although some Americans are exposed to higher than recommended levels because of natural fluoride contamination.
“There is still no evidence that community water fluoridation, with the fluoride levels used in the United States, is associated with any adverse health effects,” Dr. Scott Tomar, a public health dentist and oral epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, told The New York Times.
The government’s actions come after Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water.
“I’m very proud of Utah,” Kennedy told reporters in the western state on Monday, “it has emerged as the leader in making America healthy again.”
“It’s concerning that we have a secretary of health and human services come out and be against a program that for 80 years is very effective and the most cost-effective way of preventing cavities that the world has ever seen,” Darren Chamberlain, a pediatric dentist in South Utah County, told ABC 4.
“We welcome public discourse on health policy,” said Dr. Rodney Thornell, President of the Utah Dental Association. “But it’s important that these discussions are rooted in sound science and public health evidence. Fluoridation is one of the most studied and beneficial public health interventions of the last century.”
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