WASHINGTON — Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday casually lent help 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 instructed reporters at a Capitol Hill press briefing. “There’s a priority that it could be having a adverse impact on the well being of kids.”
He conceded he doesn’t know a lot about this topic, however went on to say, “Clearly, we’ve got an obligation on the federal authorities degree 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 process drive to look at the problem.
Besides none of this aligns with what medical specialists say, which is that fluoride in consuming water is protected at acceptable 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 needed to forestall dental illness is troublesome and jogs my memory of fictional plots from previous 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.”
Consuming water is the first supply of fluoride for two-thirds of People. However some Republicans have determined it’s harmful, regardless of it being deemed protected 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 specialists who’ve warned that doing this may 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 pleased 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 received 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 unsuitable that higher-than-recommended doses of fluoride may harm folks. However there isn’t any scientific foundation for claiming that consuming water with acceptable ranges of fluoride is dangerous to kids or anybody. As not too long ago as December 2024, a research 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 america.
What occurred in Calgary, Canada, is a good test case of what occurs while you take acceptable ranges of fluoride out of consuming water. The 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 keeping with 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 actually wholesome for all People, policymakers must evaluate the related analysis with fluoridation ranges much like our nation, like Australia, that show fluoride doesn’t negatively impression 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 help of getting fluoride in consuming water.
“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 alternative of what specialists assume, the Republican senator — who voted to verify Kennedy to his present submit — merely stated, “The individuals who care for tooth strongly suggest it.”
We Do not Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.
