Secretary Kennedy of the HHS has decided to instruct the CDC to remove any and all recommendations that support fluoride be added to community drinking water in the US. He made this announcement in Salt Lake City, UT, the first state in the country to ban fluoride from public drinking water. As is typical of Kennedy, he asserted that fluoride was "an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,"¹ without a single citation or scientific reference (which, to be frank, is not necessarily a bad thing). And obviously, this follows on the heels of a published "study" by the Greier father and son team - selected by Mr. Kennedy to conduct the already settled research of the MMR vaccine and autism - conveniently titled, "Tooth decay prevention and neurodevelopmental disorder risk following childhood fluoride exposure," with enough deceptive and purposely faulty design & methodological errors, but who are thankfully already locked in the capable sights of the folks at Unbiased Science.

This is not to say that there has not been legitimate investigation of fluoride in drinking water, including a 2024 study, conducted by Canadian investigators, that examined the combined dose of fluoride derived from all sources (e.g. tap water, but toothpaste, mouthwash, lozenges, resins, etc.) on pregnant and nursing women to determine levels of toxicity and the impact on the IQs of their developing infants. Obviously, with scrutinizing research comes scrutinizing criticism, and this study is no exception. This study aligned itself with earlier, prospective studies, as well as promote a reduction in current fluoride levels,

The prospective studies offer strong evidence of prenatal neurotoxicity, and the benchmark results should inspire a revision of water-fluoride recommendations aimed at protecting pregnant women and young children. While systemic fluoride exposure has been linked to dental health benefits in early studies, these benefits occur in the oral cavity after teeth have erupted, thus suggesting that use of fluoridated toothpaste and other topical treatment should be considered for alternative caries prevention... These findings, using a linear concentration dependence, suggest an overall BMCL for fluoride concentrations in urine of approximately 0.2 mg/L. The results of this benchmark analysis should be incorporated when developing strategies to facilitate lowering fluoride exposure among pregnant women.²

It has major drawbacks in terms of how the measurements have been made. The results are very borderline in terms of statistical significance. It’s a weakness that the self-reported consumption was not linked directly to levels of fluoride measured in bodily fluids. What’s more, the sex difference in IQ — the drop observed for boys but not girls — it makes no sense. If you see a gender difference claim for this type of association, it’s far more likely to be a spurious finding rather than something true.³

Both the CDC, The National Cancer Institute, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and The American Dental Association were quick to defend the use of fluoride in public drinking water to eliminate childhood caries. The CDC in particular noted the numerous reductions in concentrations over its 70-year history of usage, and acknowled the need to be aware of the variety of ways that fluoride may be ingested. The American Academy of Pediatrics stated that <

Some public figures have made false claims that adding fluoride to drinking water poses health risks, such as reduced intelligence in children and cancer. When used at recommended levels, fluoride in drinking water is safe and effective for preventing tooth decay, which also provides benefits for people’s overall health. Extensive research has consistently demonstrated that optimal fluoridation does not pose a detectable risk of cancer or other serious health issues.⁴

[In] one of the studies reviewed by the PHS, scientists at NCI evaluated the relationships between water fluoridation and both the number of cancer deaths in the United States during a 36-year period and the number of new cancer cases during a 15-year period. After examining more than 2.2 million cancer death records and 125,000 cancer case records in counties using fluoridated water, the researchers found no indication of increased cancer risk in people who consumed fluoridated drinking water.⁵

As Sec. Kennedy continues in his unrelenting march through the system of public health, this, perhaps, is an issue where he, thankfully, has much less influence than most. Even the president - who lacks even the fundamental knowledge necessary to create an "executive order" that would require all 50-states to obey his directive to stop the fluoridation of tap water to the detriment of the public health in states that wish its use - would risk such a foolish decision when upwards of 200,000,000 Americans support its use. Or would he?

¹ https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/07/rfk-flouride-drinking-water-cdc/

² https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9831700/

³ https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/08/19/study-raises-questions-about-fluoride-childrens-iq/

⁴ https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/fact-checked/fact-checked-fluoride-is-a-powerful-tool-for-preventing-tooth-decay/

⁵ https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/fluoridated-water-fact-sheet