WASHINGTON — Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday casually lent assist to the false declare that fluoride in consuming water could also be harming kids, echoing the identical wholly unscientific nonsense that Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is utilizing to justify his efforts to take fluoride out of consuming water nationwide.
“From what I’ve learn and from what I perceive, it deserves actual analysis,” Johnson advised reporters at a Capitol Hill press briefing. “There’s a priority that it might be having a detrimental impact on the well being of kids.”
He conceded he doesn’t know a lot about this topic, however went on to say, “Clearly, now we have an obligation on the federal authorities stage to look into that.”
“I don’t have the solutions,” Johnson continued. “However I believe it’s one which the query has been begged and it must be addressed.”
The Louisiana Republican’s feedback come a day after Kennedy stated he plans to direct the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention to stop recommending that communities put fluoride of their consuming water. He additionally plans to arrange a job drive to look at the difficulty.
Besides none of this aligns with what medical consultants say, which is that fluoride in consuming water is secure at applicable ranges and good for your health, because it prevents cavities, tooth decay and different well being issues. The truth is, the addition of low ranges of fluoride to consuming water is taken into account one of the greatest public health achievements of the final century.
“The rising mistrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening,” Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Affiliation, stated in an announcement.
“The myths that fluoridated water is dangerous and not crucial to stop dental illness is troublesome and jogs my memory of fictional plots from outdated films like ‘Dr. Strangelove,’” stated Kessler. “When authorities officers, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and mistrust peer-reviewed analysis, it’s injurious to public well being.”
Ingesting water is the first supply of fluoride for two-thirds of Individuals. However some Republicans have determined it’s harmful, regardless of it being deemed secure and efficient for many years, and wish to take out of their water. Final month, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its public consuming water, ignoring medical consultants who’ve warned that doing it will result in medical issues that disproportionately hurt low-income communities.
Kennedy, who can’t use his place to make communities cease placing fluoride in water however can direct the CDC to cease recommending it, applauded Utah for its coverage change.
“I’m very, very happy with this state for being the primary state to ban it,” he stated during a Monday visit to Salt Lake Metropolis. “And I hope many extra will.”
Kennedy, who’s infamous for spreading harmful misinformation about vaccines, is already under fire for his response to a measles outbreak in Texas. He’s now apparently acquired his sights set on attacking the advantages of fluoride, a mineral he’s known as a “dangerous neurotoxin” and related to arthritis, bone breaks, and thyroid illness.
He’s not flawed that higher-than-recommended doses of fluoride may damage individuals. However there isn’t a scientific foundation for claiming that consuming water with applicable ranges of fluoride is dangerous to kids or anybody.
As lately as December 2024, a examine from the College of Queensland found no measurable effect on cognitive neurodevelopment or IQ scores in kids in consuming water that had ranges of fluoride akin to that in the US.
The irony of Kennedy baselessly claiming that fluoridated water may damage kids is that taking fluoride out of consuming water will result in a spike in tooth decay amongst kids, stated Dr. Bruce Dye, chair of the Division of Neighborhood Dentistry and Inhabitants Well being on the College of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
“This improve might be most noticeable in kids over time, notably amongst kids dwelling in or close to poverty,” he stated. “We might additionally anticipate to see a rise in poorer dental well being outcomes in lots of rural areas given the present dental well being challenges many rural communities already expertise.”
And since eradicating fluoride from consuming water would have an effect on extra individuals dwelling in or close to poverty, Dye stated that may doubtless result in a rise in Medicaid expenditures for weak teams ― together with kids.
“If the mission of the CDC is to offer science-based steering to the American folks that advances our well being and well-being, then the present science continues to assist that including fluoride to water at really useful ranges is secure and gives vital dental well being advantages, particularly with serving to to stop tooth decay,” stated Dye.
What occurred in Calgary, Canada, is a good test case of what occurs once you take applicable ranges of fluoride out of consuming water. Town council voted to take away it from the town’s water provide in 2011, solely to reinstate it 10 years later. Why? The speed of individuals’s cavities and tooth decay “elevated considerably,” in response to metropolis council member Gian-Carlo Carra, whereas different research in that interval confirmed the “significant advantages” of fluoride.
“If we wish to do what is really wholesome for all Individuals, policymakers have to evaluate the related analysis with fluoridation ranges much like our nation, like Australia, that display fluoride doesn’t negatively influence IQ ranges,” stated Kessler. “The ADA depends on evidence-based analysis to enhance the oral well being of the general public and stands able to advance gold medal requirements in any future research on water fluoridation.”
Not all Republicans on Capitol Hill are giving credibility to Kennedy’s assaults on science. Sen. Invoice Cassidy (R-La.), who’s a doctor, stated Tuesday he stands with the medical neighborhood in assist of getting fluoride in consuming water.
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“The American Dental Affiliation strongly recommends fluoride. It says it should lower cavities as a lot as 25% in some populations,” stated Cassidy. “It speaks for itself.”
When HuffPost famous that Kennedy thinks the other of what consultants assume, the Republican senator — who voted to verify Kennedy to his present submit — merely stated, “The individuals who deal with tooth strongly suggest it.”
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.
