Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that a potential Trump White House would advise communities to remove fluoride from drinking water, which would overturn decades of public health guidance.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in water that oral physicians say can help to prevent cavities at the right doses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes community water fluoridation – the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water to increase its concentration to optimal levels – as a “cornerstone strategy” to prevent cavities and one of the “10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.”
However, health agencies warn long-term ingestion of fluoride in excess doses carries various health risks, and critics like Kennedy have campaigned to end community water fluoridation. The Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum allowable concentration of fluoride in public drinking water to prevent adverse health effects.
Kennedy declared the Trump White House would advise bringing that allowable concentration to zero on its first day in power.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS EPA FURTHER REGULATE FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER DUE TO CONCERNS OVER LOWERED IQ IN KIDS
Former President Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Turning Point Action campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Georgia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy posted on X. “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he claimed, adding that former President Trump and first lady Melania Trump “want to Make America Healthy Again.”
His statement provoked a wave of criticism on social media and renewed expert concerns about Kennedy – who has often clashed with the scientific consensus on vaccine safety –…
