The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will undertake an “accelerated review of public health risks from fluoride in drinking water.” EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, promised this action last year after our victory in federal court, the publication of the National Toxicology Program’s review on fluoride neurotoxicity, and Utah passing the first statewide law banning fluoridation. Zeldin has since promised to “expedite EPA’s next fluoride health assessment under the Safe Drinking Water Act schedule, while adhering to gold-standard scientific methods and radical transparency.”
In an EPA press release published on Friday, Zeldin is quoted as saying:
“Every American should be able to count on safe, healthy drinking water when they pour a glass to drink or use it to cook a meal, especially for a child. The Trump EPA is working in lockstep with Secretary Kennedy and following gold standard science to guide our next steps to protect drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act.”
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. adding the following:
“Science is always evolving, and our policies should too. A growing body of evidence indicates that ingesting fluoride can cause neurological harm, and other adverse effects. By contrast, fluoride’s benefits to teeth come almost entirely from topical contact, not from ingestion. Most of Europe has already moved away from water fluoridation in favor of topical products such as toothpaste, and it may well be time for the U.S. to follow suit.”
The EPA also released a preliminary assessment on fluoride’s toxicity, outlining its plans to evaluate potential harms, including brain development, children’s IQ, and dental fluorosis. The document says that the EPA will draw conclusions regarding the “harmful human health effects of fluoride” or determine the levels of fluoride exposure associated with harmful health effects as part of a forthcoming draft human health toxicity assessment. The agency states that it will consider sensitive populations, including infants and children.
The agency also said their assessment would, “reflect a comprehensive, current, and accurate review of the best available scientific data on fluoride exposure and health effects, conducted with external peer review and public input to inform potential revisions to federal drinking water regulations that bring the nation closer to evidence-based standards that protect future generations.”
–EPA’s Preliminary Assessment Plan and Literature Survey is available for public comment in the Federal Register (docket #EPA-HQ-OW-2025-3823) until February 27, 2026.
–EPA will host a public informational webinar on January 28, 2026 to discuss the assessment plan as well as next steps. Register for the webinar.
–The EPA has also set up a page to fluoride to follow their progress and see access resources on their science-based review process: https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/fluoride-drinking-water
TSCA Lawsuit
While this review is a step in the right direction and we expect it will lead to a lower MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) for fluoride in water, we still believe that the EPA should stand down on their appeal to our federal lawsuit victory and follow the court orders to start regulating fluoridation chemicals NOW, rather than take more time to complete another review. FAN’s attorney Michael Connett offered the following statement:
“The EPA issued a press release on its new ‘review’ of fluoride. EPA wants the MAHA movement to be focused on this press release. But simultaneous to issuing this press release yesterday, EPA also filed a legal brief to further challenge a federal court order requiring EPA to take action to protect the public from fluoridation’s ‘unreasonable risk’ to health. The time has come for action to reduce the public’s exposure to fluoride; not just another government review. That is what the court ordered EPA to do, and what the MAHA movement should insist upon – especially since EPA’s review will likely take 2 or more years to complete. The most pressing need right now is actual action to protect people, not another government review. That’s what the court directed EPA to do, and which EPA is refusing.”
FAN has been in touch with EPA officials and will continue to simultaneously work to ensure this review uses the best available science while we also continue to pursue our TCSA court case, which we expect a ruling from by the end of this year.
We will be providing more updates and analysis in future bulletins. Stay tuned!
Thank you,
Stuart Cooper
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network