RFK Jr. tells CDC to change its guidance on fluoride in drinking water
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change its fluoridation recommendation for drinking water, the agency said Monday, disturbing public health experts and dentists, who say the longtime practice is critical in fighting tooth decay.
Most Americans drink fluoridated water. The CDC for years has recommended that small amounts of fluoride be added to community water systems to prevent cavities.
But Kennedy has assailed the practice of community water fluoridation, alleging that it can harm brain development and bones. In an email on Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services said it “is reconvening the community preventative services task force to study and make a new recommendation on fluoride.”
Earlier Monday, after a news conference in Salt Lake City, Kennedy told the Associated Press that he planned to direct the CDC to stop recommending fluoridation. At the same event, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that his agency will reexamine research on the possible risks of fluoride in drinking water.
John Swartzberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health, said a shift in the longtime fluoridation guidance would be disastrous.
“We will have a lot more people with dental disease than we have now, a lot more dental caries, or cavities,” Swartzberg said. “It’ll impact everybody, but mostly those people who do not have access to dental care.”
The move comes as Kennedy continues to overhaul the nation’s health and science agencies - recently forcing out the nation’s top vaccine regulator - and two weeks after Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water. Utah’s law prohibits adding fluoride to public water systems and would bar cities and counties from requiring the mineral in their water.
Kennedy applauded Utah for its new statute, the AP reported, calling the state a leader “in making America healthy again” and adding that he hopes “many more” states follow suit.
Community water fluoridation has reduced cavities by about 25 percent in children and adults, according to the CDC, though recent research suggests the benefit could be smaller. The CDC lists the practice as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
As of 2022, more than 60 percent of the country receives fluoridated water. Before widespread community water fluoridation, “we saw an awful lot of people with dental disease,” Swartzberg said. “Today, you just don’t see that.”
Debate around the issue is common, but tensions have historically been local rather than partisan. Blue states such as Oregon and New Jersey have some of the lowest fluoridation rates, while some red states, including Kentucky and South Carolina, boast some of the highest.
But Kennedy has brought the issue to the national stage. Days before the presidential election, Kennedy signaled that a future Trump administration would advise water districts to remove fluoride, which he referred to as “an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.” Medical organizations said Kennedy’s assertions are unfounded; Trump supported the idea.
“The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening,” Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a statement Monday evening. “The myths that fluoridated water is harmful and no longer necessary to prevent dental disease is troublesome. When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health.”
The federal government does not mandate fluoridation or directly control local water systems. About a dozen states require fluoridation - otherwise, communities that add the mineral do so voluntarily.
“Just like with vaccines, the CDC can only recommend. The CDC can’t tell a state what to do,” Swartzberg said. “But the states tend to, in general, follow CDC recommendations.”
If top health officials change their recommendations, he said, states may feel emboldened to throw out sound policies without fear of repercussion.