Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending the addition of fluoride in water, while also putting together a task force to take on the issue.
The Associated Press reported that Kennedy told the publication about his plans after attending a news conference with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The EPA announced Monday that it is reviewing new science on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water, as the agency has the authority to set maximum levels of fluoride in public water systems.
While Kennedy does not have the authority to tell communities to stop adding fluoride to water systems, he can direct the CDC to stop recommending it, while also working with the EPA to set allowable levels.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he plans to tell the CDC to stop recommending the fluoridation of drinking water. (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
Kennedy oversees the CDC, though the agency’s recommendations are just that, and are not mandatory.
Utah became the first state last month to ban the addition of fluoride in public drinking water, despite opposition from dentists and national health organizations that warned the action would lead to medical issues among low-income communities.
Still, Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed the legislation that prohibits cities and communities from deciding whether to add fluoride – a mineral that prevents cavities – to water systems managed by those cities and communities.
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A water utility foreman at a plant where fluoride is added to the drinking water in Healdsburg, California. (Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
By May 7, all water systems across the state will be required to have fluoridation systems shut down.
Kennedy told the AP he was proud of Utah for being the first state to ban fluoride, adding that he hopes other states will follow suit.
More than 200 million people in the U.S. receive fluoridated water through community water systems, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first city to implement water fluoridation in 1945, according to the CDC.
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A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta. (REUTERS/Tami Chappell)
“Community water fluoridation benefits all members of a community by preventing cavities, reducing oral health disparities, and saving money for everyone,” the CDC’s website states.
Kennedy and supporters of his initiative to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) have been outspoken about banning fluoride in drinking water.
“Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease,” Kennedy wrote on X in November.
A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives on July 20, 2012, conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, “found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children.”
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A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives on July 20, 2012, conducted by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, “found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children.”
The CDC does not mandate community water fluoridation, but it named fluoridation of drinking water one of 10 great public health interventions of the 20th century, citing the dramatic decline of cavities.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
