The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 7 that it will swiftly review new scientific data on the potential health risk associated with adding fluoride to public drinking water, according to a press release dated April 7 from the EPA.
The announcement was made at an event in Salt Lake City with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has promised to recommend ending water fluoridation before President Donald Trump was reelected. Kennedy has claimed that the cavity-fighter fluoride is an "industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease."
Following the event, Kennedy said he plans to direct the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoride's addition to public water systems while putting together a task force to discuss and act on the issue.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated in the press release that the evaluation is an "essential step that will inform agency decisions on the standard for fluoride under the Safe Drinking Water Act."
Furthermore, its evaluation will be partly based on a report released in August 2024 from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) that concluded with "moderate confidence" that fluoride exposure above 1.5 mg/L was linked to lower IQ in children. Additionally, the report found that more research was needed to better understand whether health risks correlated with exposure to lower concentrations of fluoride.
The current standard under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is set by the EPA, is 4 mg/L of fluoride. The last time the EPA evaluated this standard was July 2025, prior to the NTP's report, according to the press release.
The EPA, in conjunction with Kennedy, will thoroughly review the NTP's report, as well as peer-reviewed studies, to prepare an updated health effects assessment for fluoride that will be used to inform possible revisions to the EPA's fluoride drinking water standard, according to the press release.
"Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue," Zeldin said in the press release. "His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks, and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment."
Three days before the U.S. presidential election, Kennedy announced in a social media post that the Trump White House would advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.
Since the start of 2025, the issue of water fluoridation has been abuzz. On March 27, Utah signed a law banning fluoride in public drinking water, becoming the first state to take such a drastic measure. The law takes effect on May 7. Ohio, Florida, and South Carolina are considering similar measures.
In September 2024, a U.S. judge in California issued a milestone decision that adding fluoride to public drinking water to help prevent tooth decay is risky to individuals, including children, who may face lowered IQs. Therefore, the practice requires government intervention.
Additionally, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Edward Chen ordered the EPA to take regulatory action to address these risks. The EPA must determine the potential harm of fluoride in drinking water and how to respond under its amended Toxic Substances Control Act.
