It’s not just RFK Jr — Opposition to fluoride in drinking water grows
By Douglas Main
Opposition to the US practice of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies has been growing as more evidence accumulates linking fluoride exposure to potential harmful brain impacts in children. Now, the future of the practice could be in doubt, with Thursday’s confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Kennedy, an environmental health lawyer, has been calling for an end to fluoridation in public drinking water for years. And though it is the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has regulatory oversight of fluoride levels in water supplies, the HHS plays a role in policy by publishing recommendations for fluoridation that many states follow.
An HHS task force currently recommends fluoridation based on “strong evidence of effectiveness in reducing tooth decay.”
But that could change. In his new role, Kennedy is widely expected to push for guidance against fluoridation.
Since Kennedy posted on X on November 2, 2024, that Donald Trump would end fluoridation if elected, it opened a floodgate of attention to the issue, said Chris Neurath, science research director with the anti-fluoridation group Fluoride Action Network.
That, combined with a high profile recent court case that ordered the EPA to re-evaluate the safety of fluoridation, and accumulating evidence of harm, have all caused a “snowball effect” of attention, according to Neurath.
“This elevation of the issue into the mainstream really is unique in the last 80 years,” Neurath said. Though evidence of harm keeps growing, he said, “the facts haven’t really changed — but the awareness of them has.”