Former President Donald Trump plans to direct water suppliers to stop adding fluoride to prevent cavities if voters return him to office, Trump ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday.
"On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water," Kennedy wrote on the social media website X.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who has been branded a "purveyor of health misinformation" by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, endorsed Trump after suspending his independent presidential campaign in August.
He recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to "reorganize" agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, according to the Associated Press.
Trump said during a Saturday campaign event that he told Kennedy: "You can work on food, you can work on anything you want" except oil policy, AP reported. Trump also announced at a rally in Nevada last week that he was considering assigning Kennedy to work on "women's health," which ignited controversy.
In his social media post, Kennedy cited several ills purportedly caused by fluoride, including "IQ loss."
In August, the Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program released a report that said drinking water with more than twice the U.S. recommended limit was linked to lower IQ levels in children, AP reported.
The following month, a federal judge in California ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water, in response to a 2017 lawsuit filed by the activist group Food & Water Watch, according to the AP.
The American Dental Association said it "remains staunchly in support of community water fluoridation at optimal levels to help prevent tooth decay."
"The ADA is aware there is widespread misinformation circulating online and in social media around community water fluoridation," it said.
The CDC has called water fluoridation one of 10 "great public health achievements of the 20th century."
"Water fluoridation is beneficial for reducing and controlling tooth decay and promoting oral health across the lifespan," according to the CDC, which said multiple studies have shown it's safe and effective.
