On April 7, 2025, the EPA announced it will expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.
The National Toxicology Program released a report in August 2024 concluding with “moderate confidence” that fluoride exposure above 1.5 milligrams per liter is associated with lower IQ in children.? The report also concluded that more research is needed to better understand if there are health risks associated with exposure to lower fluoride concentrations.
Fluoride naturally occurs in some sources of drinking water, including groundwater, and it has been added to drinking water by drinking water systems to improve dental health.
On January 25, 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, earned the distinction of being the first U.S. city to fluorinate its drinking water by adding a level of 1.0 part per million (ppm).
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA sets standards that limit the amount of potentially harmful substances in drinking water provided by public water systems. The current standard is 4.0 milligrams of fluoride per liter and was last evaluated by the Agency in July 2024, before the latest scientific review by the National Toxicology Program.
The EPA’s review is being done in coordination with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, and the HHS department.
“Without prejudging any outcomes, when this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps to meet statutory obligations under the [SDWA],” said Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Agency’s news release. “Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. 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.”
On the same day of the EPA announcement, Kennedy “said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide,” according to AP News. “Kennedy said he’s assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations.”
Last month, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water. State lawmakers passed the regulation in spite of “opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would disproportionately hurt low-income residents who can’t afford regular dentist visits,” AP News continues.
The CDC, which is overseen by Kennedy and can only make recommendations rather than mandates, many abide by these recommendations.
“State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much — as long as it doesn’t exceed” the EPA maximum level.
The National Toxicology Program’s fluoride report was “cited in a federal judge’s ruling in September that ordered the EPA to take steps to lower the potential risk of fluoride,” CBS News reports. “U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said more research was needed to understand if the typical amounts of fluoride in the water in the U.S. were causing lower IQ in kids.”
“‘I think we need to apply the cautionary principle in this country that we should do no harm,’ Kennedy said. ‘And it clearly is doing harm, and the tradeoff is IQ loss in kids, and we can’t afford that in this country. We need all the brain power that we can to handle the challenges of the future.’”
Before the November presidential elections, one of Kennedy’s pledges was to remove fluoride from all U.S. drinking water systems.
Original article online at: https://ehsdailyadvisor.com/2025/04/epa-considers-fluoride-removal-from-drinking-water/