HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He’s Ordering CDC To Stop Recommending Fluoride In Drinking Water

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would tell the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water.

On Monday, the HHS said that it is reconvening the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of public health and prevention experts, to “study and make a new recommendation on fluoride.”

Earlier this month, HHS announced that it is cutting 10,000 full-time employees across health agencies in addition to the 10,000 employees who have voluntarily left.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in a news release Monday that the agency will “expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.”

“Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps,” he said in a statement.

Although the CDC makes recommendations, the EPA sets limits on what is allowed in water and makes recommendations under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

On Monday, Kennedy and Zeldin went to Utah, which banned municipal drinking water systems from adding fluoride in March, starting in May.

“I think it’s a moral imperative that we all believe in freedom of choice in this country,” Kennedy stated. “It is one of the bedrock principles of our democracy, and the government shouldn’t be making decisions, intimate decisions about our own lives.”

Fluoridation of public water systems was long thought to be one of the most successful public health advances of the 20th century. Municipalities across America have added fluoride to water since approximately the 1940s after scientists noticed that people who got water in areas with high rates of naturally occurring fluoride had fewer cavities.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dental Association and the CDC all believe fluoride is an effective and safe way to maintain dental health.

The CDC stated that adding this naturally occurring mineral to drinking water is the most cost-effective way to strengthen teeth and protect them from normal wear and tear and cavities, specifically among children.

The CDC calls cavities the most common chronic disease of childhood in the United States, and Kennedy has said that chronic conditions are his primary concern.

The organization also noted that fluoride is used in public drinking water systems supplied to 75% of Americans.

“As soon as I was nominated by President Trump as administrator of the EPA, the secretary instantly reached out to start talking about issues that he is so passionate about, and number one on that list was fluoride,” Zeldin said on April 7.

On Monday, the EPA mentioned that it has committed to a “thorough review of these findings and additional peer-reviewed studies.”

Salt Lake County claimed that removing fluoride from the drinking water would be expensive for local families.

The county Health Department told CNN on April 7 that it supports community water fluoridation as a “safe, proven, and efficient way to improve oral health communitywide regardless of income level or access to regular dental care.”

During a press conference last week, Kennedy mocked Gov. Patrick Morrisey‘s (R-West Virginia) weight and suggested that he hold public weigh-ins.