Many Michigan cities add fluoride to their water. RFK Jr. wants that to end

Communities across the U.S. have been adding fluoride to their water systems since the 1960s, and in Michigan even longer, but that could change under Donald Trump’s second term. President-elect Donald Trump recently nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fluoridation opponent, to run the Department of Health and Human Services. “For too long, Americans have […]

What Wisconsin experts say about the safety and benefits of putting fluoride in drinking water

In the last year, at least nine Wisconsin communities have decided to stop adding fluoride to their public drinking water, concerned that possible health risks outweigh the benefits. Community water fluoridation became widespread throughout the U.S. in the 1960s and is heralded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the 20th century’s greatest public […]

The New(ish) Fight Over Fluoride

IF YOU’D LIVED in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1945, you’d have been one of the first people in America to sip fluoridated tap water. As of 2024, about 73 percent of us get the mineral in our water supply. And for almost 80 years, there’s been nonstop drama around that addition. In 1956, Clive McCay, […]

Colorado Springs’ mysterious brown teeth led a dentist to discover the benefits of fluoride. Now it faces a new chapter.

In the early-1900s, a dentist arrived in Colorado Springs and made an observation that was something like: Holy cow, the people in this town have strong but ugly teeth. Residents’ teeth looked gawdawful — stained dark brown with what the dentist, Dr. Frederick S. McKay, called “mottled enamel.” But there was a shockingly low incidence […]

As the federal government scales down fluoride in drinking water, San Diego’s levels rise

New studies show high fluoride levels can lead to behavioral issues and lower IQ’s in children. SAN DIEGO — The federal government is scaling back its dependence on fluoride in drinking water after new studies found a link between high fluoride exposure to behavioral issues and lower intelligence in children. Despite this, data obtained by […]

With fluoride again drawing criticism, sorting out its prevalence in Pittsburgh-area drinking water

Nearly 100 years ago, it was a Pittsburgh chemist who first identified fluoride as the mystery ingredient in the water supply affecting teeth — trying to understand why children in some communities had teeth with mottled brown spots. Further research found that while the children’s teeth looked unpleasant, they were surprisingly resistant to decay. And […]

MAP: Fluoride in Drinking Water, by State

Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’ll recommend that local governments remove fluoride from their water supplies. But the mineral is much less prevalent in the drinking water of some states than others, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. Less than one-tenth of Hawaii’s municipally served […]