SALT LAKE CITY (AP) 鈥� U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he鈥檚 assembling a task force to focus on the issue.
Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing 鈥渘ew scientific information" on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA has primary authority to set the maximum level of fluoridation in public water systems.
Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.
Kennedy can鈥檛 order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can tell the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.
Utah last month became the first state to ban , pushing past who warned the move would lead to medical problems that disproportionately affect low-income communities.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation barring cities and communities from deciding whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral to their water systems. Water systems across the state must shut down their fluoridation systems by May 7.
Kennedy praised Utah for emerging as 鈥渢he leader in making America healthy again.鈥� He was flanked by Utah legislative leaders and the sponsor of the state鈥檚 fluoride law.
鈥淚鈥檓 very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, and I hope many more will,鈥� he said.
Kennedy oversees the CDC, whose recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory. State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much 鈥� as long as it doesn鈥檛 exceed a maximum set by the EPA, which is currently 4 milligrams per liter.
Zeldin said his agency was launching a renewed examination of scientific studies on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water to help inform any changes to the national standards.
鈥淲hen this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency鈥檚 future steps,鈥� Zeldin said. 鈥淪ecretary 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.鈥�
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 set guidelines for how much should be added to water.
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a 鈥渄angerous neurotoxin鈥� and said also it鈥檚 been associated with arthritis, bone breaks, and thyroid disease. Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommended fluoride levels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.
In November, just days before the presidential election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that Donald Trump from drinking water on his first day as president. That didn't happen, but Trump later picked Kennedy to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been expected to take some kind of action. Meanwhile, some have gone ahead and decisions whether to keep fluoridating water.
Related to all this: A massive round of staffing cuts last week across federal agencies included elimination of the 20-person Division of Oral Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That office managed grants to local agencies to improve dental health and, in come cases, encourage fluoridation.
Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
About one-third of community water systems 鈥� 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. 鈥� serving more than 60% of the population fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis. The agency currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.
But over time, studies have documented potential problems. Too much fluoride has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. Studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.
A report last year by the federal government鈥檚 National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter 鈥� more than twice the recommended level in the U.S. 鈥� was associated with lower IQs in kids.
Utah Oral Health Coalition chairperson Lorna Koci said Monday that she hopes other states push back against the removal of fluorideand that Kennedy鈥檚 visit to celebrate her state's fluoride ban underscores the political motivations of those who support it.
She predicted children will have more cavities as a result and said backers of the fluoride legislation in Utah spread false information that raised doubts about its effectiveness.
鈥淭his seems to be less about fluoride and more about power,鈥� she said.
___
Stobbe reported from New York. Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana contributed reporting,
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Hannah Schoenbaum And Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press
