US to end fluoride recommendation despite little evidence of harm

The US Health Department will stop recommending water fluoridation.

The new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr is a longtime skeptic of fluoride, which he has linked to IQ loss, cancer, and other problems, and has urged states to follow Utah’s move last month to ban its use in public water systems.

The evidence that fluoride harms health is weak — a 2022 UK government report declared it safe — but fears of the impact of ending fluoridation may also be overblown. The respected Cochrane research institute looked at the topic last year, and found that while water fluoridation significantly improved dental health until about 1975, the rise of fluoridated toothpaste means it now makes little difference.