RFK Jr. directs CDC to stop promoting fluoridation; EPA will re-assess practice

Citing health concerns, newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week that he will direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending that states add fluoride to their water, and will convene a federal taskforce of independent health experts to study the health risks presented by the practice while establishing a new “optimal” level.

The comments came as Kennedy spoke alongside Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at a news conference in Utah on Monday. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox finalized a law banning water fluoridation on March 21, a move that Kennedy praised.

“In the era of fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash, it makes no sense to have fluoride in our water,” Kennedy said at the event. “The evidence against fluoride is overwhelming.”

The EPA said in a press release that it will “expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.” In the release, Zeldin said when the review is completed, the agency will have “an updated foundational scientific evaluation” to inform its actions on the issue.

“Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue,” Zeldin said in the press release. “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.”

Though more than 70% of the US population receives fluoridated public water supplies and many medical professionals support the practice, opposition has been growing following the publication of several studies suggesting fluoride may have neurotoxic effects on fetuses and young children.

As Kennedy noted, there is an apparent linear relationship between fluoride exposure and IQ loss, according to the most exhaustive meta-analysis of data on the topic, performed by government scientists and published in January in JAMA Pediatrics.

The National Toxicology Program released a report in August 2024 that found with “moderate confidence” that fluoride exposure above 1.5 milligrams per liter is associated with lower IQ in children.

The moves by Kennedy and Zeldin represent major blows to the practice of water fluoridation. Experts say that it is likely that some states will consider ending fluoridation on the advice of CDC, since this agency had been the one states looked to for guidance, including the federal recommended “optimal” level of fluoride in water, which the CDC pegs at at 0.7 parts per million (ppm).

In a landmark legal case, an Obama-appointed judge in California sided with the Fluoride Action Network in a seven-year-long lawsuit against the EPA, concluding in September 2024 the fluoridation presents an “unreasonable risk” to the health of children’s brains and neurodevelopment. The case ordered the EPA to re-evaluate the practice.

Biden’s EPA appealed the decision, and as of this week, the EPA had not said it would drop the case. If the government doesn’t file more documents with the court by April 11, however, the appeal will be effectively dropped, and the order to re-evaluate the practice effect upheld.

The point may be moot, however — Zeldin’s vow to assess the evidence essentially promises to comply with that court decision.

“I think it is prudent to end water fluoridation until an independent scientific committee has had ample time to review the evidence indicating that fluoride is neurotoxic and water fluoridation does not appear to effective at reducing dental cavities,” said Bruce Lanphear, an expert on environmental neurotoxins and a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

Last week, the CDC’s Division of Oral Health, the main promoter of water fluoridation in the US government, was completely dissolved, and the Chief Dental Officer role was also eliminated.

“The more fluoride you get, the higher the levels in your drinking water and your urine, the more likely it is you’ll lose IQ, and also other neurological injuries like ADHD,” Kennedy said at the Utah event.

The American Dental Association has lamented Utah’s banning of fluoridation and Kennedy’s views on the topic, saying that the practice is safe and effective for reducing cavities.